YORKSHIRE school staff who need a confidence boost to help teach technical computing issues to pupils are being given the chance to get expert help.

A report released by the Royal Society last year revealed that many teachers have found it “challenging” to give instruction in some of the more specialised aspects of IT classes since the introduction of Computing to the National Curriculum in 2014.

Now nationally-recognised experts are heading to the county to lead a conference aimed at helping teachers to develop exciting and effective ways to convey the subject in the classroom.

The conference, called #exabytes18, which takes place at the Midland Hotel, in Bradford, on Friday, June 29, is being hosted by exa.foundation and funded by Exa Networks, the city centre-based internet service provider.

It offers teachers a full day of workshops and presentations and includes keynote sessions by Miles Berry, Subject Leader for Computing Education at the University of Roehampton, and Phil Bagge, a Computing Master Teacher and contributor to the National Computing Curriculum.

There will also be a session led by Jessie Harris, Lead Education Facilitator at The Emmerdale Studio Experience, which will look at why STEM job roles are vital in the process of making an “explosive” episode of Emmerdale, covering everything from set design and build to special effects and what takes place in post-production.

Conference organiser Alan O’Donohoe, exa.foundation’s specialist leader in education, said: “When I became the first-ever Computing teacher in my school, to say I was daunted is an understatement!

“With #exabytes18, I really wanted to provide an event which was genuinely useful for teachers – with absolutely no sales pitches, or demonstrations of expensive resources – just, fun, innovative ways of teaching with technology.”

The conference is in its third year and Mr O’Donohoe said it keeps improving as teachers become more engaged.

“Teachers in Yorkshire are some of the most enthusiastic and committed I’ve ever met, and each year #exabytes just gets bigger and better as more and more come to share ideas, get inspiration and learn from expert educators,” he said.

The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) event is open to teachers across all Key Stages and offers more than 20 different sessions – workshops, discussions and presentations – to choose from.

Tickets are available to book from www.exa.is/exabytes18.