Two Outwood Staff Are Going Back To School

Two members of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) computer science team are going back to school this summer.

Ben Barnes, OGAT Director of Computer Science, and Tristan Kirkpatrick, OGAT Associate Director of Computer Science, have been accepted onto the Google Certified Innovator Program.

The Google for Education Certified Innovator Program recognises and supports top educators around the globe who are using technology to solve meaningful challenges in education.

The program kicks off with an in-person three day Innovation Academy focused on helping new participants define, design and eventually launch a transformative project. This will take place in London, this July.

This is one of seven Google Innovator cohort academies taking place this year, with others being run in Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Stockholm and Sao Paulo.

After the Academy, Innovators stay engaged through mentorship, ongoing learning and development trainings, and special opportunities from Google to advocate for transformative technologies and practices.

Ben, who along with Tristan is currently a Google Certified Educator, level 1 and level 2, said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for Tristan and I, and we cannot wait to get started.

“The technical skills we learn on the course, in addition to the ongoing support resources, will really help us to drive through and improve our ongoing teaching and work at OGAT.

“By helping us to further improve our own teaching methods and giving us the skills to keep on bettering the resources we create and make available to other OGAT staff, the course can allow us to keep raising standards for our students to help them reach their potential.”