Ada Lovelace’s legacy as ‘the first computer programmer’, as a brilliant agile thinker and problem solver will be at the heart of our Digital Specialism. The ‘Lovelace Leap’, referring to the way Ada Lovelace courageously challenged her contemporaries to think about computers in a totally different way than was common at the time, is central to our school motto ‘Make the Leap’ and we encourage students to make their own leap in knowledge and understanding through our digital specialism.

The curriculum at Ada Lovelace ensures that all students have two lessons of Computing per week, and have the opportunity to study Computer Science to GCSE and beyond. The foundations of computational thinking are not only taught in Computing lessons but also through cross curricular links, developing the skills of abstraction, algorithms, decomposition and pattern recognition.

The school’s Self-Guided Learning programme will also provide students with opportunity to develop their skills in Computing and Digital technologies outside of the classroom, offering students the chance to enhance their ability to learn independently via digital platforms. Courses that students will be able to complete using online learning include Python Programming, HTML and CSS, Data Representation and more, which supplement the Computing curriculum taught in lessons.

Links with industry partners such as IBM will provide opportunity for work based learning in the Sixth Form via advanced technical qualifications including the Digital T Level. This will be supplemented by Careers Information Advice and Guidance (CIAG) to develop students who are confident, and capable of making an effective transition from education into the workplace.

In 2021 Ada Lovelace became part of the P-TECH network, now known as SkillsBuild.