Barefoot Computing, a BT-sponsored programme helping teachers bring computer science to life in the classroom, are very excited to introduce their latest data-focused resource…a Pizza Party! Each Barefoot Pizza Party is a five-lesson resource that teaches 7 to 11-year-old pupils about data. It teaches young people about collection, analysis and evaluation using something nearly every 7 to 11-year-old can understand – pizza.

Using various methods of collecting and analysing data, pupils will work together throughout the five lessons to plan a pizza party for their class. To help facilitate this, Barefoot are providing the first 200 primary schools to request a workshop using the code ‘PIZZA’ with a pizza box full of goodies. This includes a poster, stickers, a lesson overview, a recipe card, a shopping list and a chef’s hat.

Once the school has completed their workshop, they will be provided with a £25 gift voucher that can be used to purchase the ingredients for making their own pizzas. This has been done to ensure that all primary schools, no matter their budget, can enjoy a pizza party. There are also suggestions provided of how to take part if a school doesn’t have cooking facilities.

Schools that have already had a workshop can get involved too simply by downloading the resource. Every week from 6 May 2019 until 28 June 2019, a prize draw will take place with a winning school chosen at random. That school will then be sent their own pizza box, with 40 additional boxes created exactly for this purpose.

As with all other Barefoot resources, this is fully curriculum aligned and completely free. This campaign, with its inclusive incentives, is designed to draw attention to data – an often overlooked, yet crucial element of computing. Pizza Party makes data not only relatable, but exciting. And the promise of delicious homemade pizza means that pupils will stay engaged right until the end.

Teachers can register and download the resource from the Barefoot website from the 29 April onwards.