Watching Computer Science teacher and Thirds Form tutor, Mr Hughes, in action, it’s rapidly apparent that he has a lively and inquiring mind. He’s always been deeply fascinated by what makes things tick, quite literally. 

“I like taking things to bits to see how they work,” he admits. “I once took a family heirloom clock to pieces and put it back together again, although my grandparents complained that it was never quite the same again. It was curiosity; I just wanted to know what all those cogs and wheels did.” 

As an adult, Mr Hughes has migrated to larger, more challenging items and his biggest success to date is the renovation of a 40-year-old yacht he acquired a few years ago: “I had to learn how to get its diesel engine working again. It runs a treat now, so I’m taking it into the 21st century by adding Raspberry Pi devices for electronic navigation and to monitor engine statistics.” 

When Mr Hughes graduated, it was the .com boom era and he decided to pursue his interest in information technology and take advantage of the many exciting opportunities in this area. “It was the wild west. It was before Paypal and Amazon. No one knew how to leverage the internet and it was fascinating to be at the forefront of these new business strategies.”  He spent a few years working as a project manager, with clients such as Jaguar and Thames Water, but gradually realised that something was missing. 

“There was a massive skills shortage in teaching Computer Science, and I had good, real-world experience.” He went from teacher to Head of Department to Assistant Principal, and also spent a while as a special needs co-ordinator “I was very pleased to apply to LEH when the opportunity came along. I liked that the school is highly ambitious for its pupils, but it does it in an empowering way, it builds the whole person and gives them key life skills.” 

Computer Science is a relatively new subject to study at school and the numbers taking it at LEH increase year-on-year. There are currently more than 40 students studying it for GCSE and ten taking it at A level, with an increasing number going on to study university courses in subjects such as programming, cyber security and data analytics. A recent webinar with young professionals working in organisations such as Spotify highlighted that having a technical background ensured they were at the forefront of business evolution, which was rewarding and offered fantastic career development opportunities.  

Mr Hughes’s passion for the subject is infectious.  “It’s about so much more than basic digital skills,” he explains. “Computer Science is very creative – coding is all about problem solving and designing efficient code. You get the same joy writing code as you do from playing scrabble or solving a puzzle. It’s all about testing ideas and making things that whir, buzz and flash!” 

In fact, one of the current projects at the lunchtime Raspberry Pico Club, which teaches pupils how to use micro controllers, is to make a Christmas tree decoration with a motion sensor, LED and sound, that lights up and plays a tune when you walk past it. 

Taking Computer Science also gives students strong transferrable skills, developing critical thinking, teamwork and effective communication. “You will have learnt how to build a prototype, test it and refine it,” says Mr Hughes. “You will have developed design skills and know how to work collaboratively.  These are essential skills for life.” 

It’s clear that one of the topics that Mr Hughes particularly relishes is the ethics of information technology. He is keen to stress that human values and attitudes must be kept front and centre when developing new systems and platforms to ensure they provide beneficial, useful gains to meet our needs: “One of the things we need to do as educators is to teach pupils to ask the ethical and technical questions that will guide its use now and tomorrow, in our personal lives and on a national and international level. As technology continues to evolve, Computer Science empowers young people to embrace the opportunities and mitigate the pitfalls, now and in their onward journey beyond LEH".