South Korean visitors at Hillcroft Primary School

A group of teachers and advisers from South Korea made the long trip to Caterham and visited Hillcroft Primary School to learn about computer teaching.

The delegation of 20 from the country's Ministry of Education arrived at the school on Friday (16) to observe lessons and take tips and information back to their own classrooms to benefit pupils.
Hillcroft's computing lead Wendy MacLeod has welcomed groups from around the world wanting to learn about teaching methods which led to her being awarded Master Teacher status from the Computing at Schools organisation.
As a result of her work the school became a lead school in the Network of Excellence and Mrs MacLeod shared her knowledge with other, local schools. But word spread internationally and groups of visitors from Zambia, Japan and South Korea have been learning about her teaching methods.
"Computing is an integral part of daily life and we teach our children to be confident, effective and safe users of technology. We are well-resourced and continually invest in the subject," said Mrs MacLeod.
"The visitors were extremely impressed by the computing teaching at the school and watched lessons from years one to six.
"The information they take with them has a direct impact on the teaching of computer skills in South Korea. The fact we get visitors from around the world is a huge compliment because it indicates we are getting it right."
A You Tube video created by Mrs MacLeod showing ways of helping children understand computational thinking proved very popular and the delegation asked if it could be translated into Korean.
It is the second year a delegation from South Korea has visited Hillcroft, a member of the GLF Schools multi-academy trust, and another trip seems to be on the cards.
"They are extremely keen to visit again next year, as they asked me if they could contact me directly to arrange this," said Mrs MacLeod.
Computing technology features strongly in the curriculum at Hillcroft where the children use iPads and Chrome books from the start.  They begin learning about algorithms and programming and go on to create, write and debug programmes to accomplish specific goals.
Pupils are also taught how to use technology safely and identify where to go for help if they have concerns with E-safety a key priority.