This term, as your child settles back into lessons, or perhaps even starts school for the first time, they will be taught a new, forward-thinking national curriculum. As well as a strong emphasis on getting the basics right in English, maths and science, they will also be taught new skills such as coding.
The new curriculum has been designed to ensure children leave school with the knowledge and skills they need to survive and thrive in the modern world, so technology seemed an obvious place to start.
We use technology for everything now – to work, to socialise, to make a noise about the issues we care about – and our children are growing up to rely on computers and tablets more than ever.
That's why for me the introduction of computing to the national curriculum is one of the most important and exciting changes of all.
In designing the new content we looked to countries like Estonia, where they have already introduced computing from the start of school. We also heard from digital innovators like Microsoft, Google and even leading figures in the gaming industry.
The result is an innovative curriculum that will get children excited about the subject and teach them the skills they need to compete not just in modern Britain, but in a modern and increasingly digital world.
ICT lessons used to focus too much on how to use a computer – but just learning how to word process or use a spreadsheet is at odds with how we use technology today.
Now, from the age of five, children will learn coding and how computers actually work. They will learn how to create computer games, rather than just playing them and they’ll understand how the gadgets that fill our homes are made.
For a generation of parents who, like me, probably didn't even have computers in their school, the changes can seem daunting. A new computing curriculum brings with it a whole new language – of algorithms, outputs and programming – which might seem totally alien to a primary school classroom.
But in the schools that are already successfully teaching these new topics, teachers are coming up with creative ways to translate that ‘alien language’.
Whether it’s instructing their teacher how to make a sandwich, or directing their classmates through an obstacle course, children can learn about algorithms – precise, step-by-step instructions intended to achieve a specific goal – in a way that makes it fun and relevant to their everyday lives.
These are not niche skills. Computing reinforces important concepts like problem solving and logical reasoning, which will help your child in maths and science. These are also the skills most valued by employers and so will give children a competitive advantage in the future jobs market.
Of course, we also have a responsibility to teach children to use technology safely. We know children are accessing computers and the internet from a younger age. Schools – and parents – need to work with the technology to ensure children are safe online.
For the first time, e-safety will be taught when children start school at key stage one, helping them understand how to use technology safely and respectfully, how to keep personal information private, and where to go for help and support if they are worried about any content or contact on the internet.
When I entered the world of work, many of the digital careers available today didn't even exist. It was quite easy then to think of these skills as only relevant to a very narrow group of people. Careers in computing were male dominated and seemed to involve hours spent staring at lines of code on a screen or stuck in a computer lab.
This new curriculum is an important step in challenging those outdated stereotypes, and encouraging our children – whatever their gender – to aspire to a career in the new digital world.
Through initiatives like the Government-backed Your Life campaign we need to do more to celebrate female entrepreneurs in the world of technology so that girls, as well as boys, see how computing can open the door to careers in marketing, manufacturing and everything in between.
We may not be sure exactly what the jobs of the future will look like, but our plan for education will give children the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to succeed in them.