Congratulations to Prof Simon Peyton Jones, Chair of NCCE, on his OBE award

The National Centre for Computing Education is delighted that its Chair, Prof Simon Peyton Jones, is to receive an OBE for his services to education and computing science.

Prof Peyton Jones’ work to deliver outstanding computing education has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Since 2018, Prof Peyton Jones has been Chair of the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). He leads the NCCE’s Academic Board, supporting and inspiring all those working in computing education, including industry partners, academics, and teachers.

Prof Peyton Jones said: “I am thrilled to receive this honour.  It celebrates the new vision of computing as a foundational and creative subject that equips and empowers all children; the commitment, passion, and expertise of our computing teachers; and the sustained, evidence-driven support that the NCCE is giving to those teachers.    We have not reached our destination, but we are well embarked on our journey, and we have much to be proud of. This is very much the result of a community effort, not that of one person. I am proud to receive this award on behalf of that community.

As chair of the NCCE, Prof Peyton Jones extends extensive support, encouragement and inspiration to all of the NCCE’s partners, including industry, academia, schools and colleges and students.

He stimulates debate and discussion, developing opportunities to bring people together to make a difference to his overall goal – for every child to have a world-leading computing education.

Prof Peyton Jones works with each of the NCCE’s 34 Computing Hubs, to understand the regional and local challenges, is an active participant in online and face-to-face CAS community discussions. He brings together industry supporters and works to secure additional funding and resources to support the NCCE’s aims of delivering outstanding computing education. Computing at School (CAS) was founded in 2008 by a small group led by Prof Peyton Jones and Simon Humphreys, establishing a small volunteer group with the aim of establishing computer science as a discipline and supporting teachers to develop their subject knowledge.

Today the network is made up of over 360 volunteer communities covering the whole of the UK and has 20,000 members sharing advice, guidance, and peer-to peer support, in person and across digital platforms.