Are you fed up with coding platforms that appear… then disappear just as you’ve got your scheme of work sorted?

This week At the Chalk Face, we’re joined by two brilliant guests who might just restore your faith in programming platforms.

We sit down with Matthias De Witte (Co-founder & CEO) and Peter Dawyndt (Co-founder & CTO) from Dodona Learning Technologies to talk about a seriously impressive coding platform that’s been quietly supporting tens of thousands of students for nearly a decade.

Dodona wasn’t built by a venture capital team chasing profit – it was built by educators, for educators.

Designed originally to support university teaching, it’s now used by schools and universities across Belgium and beyond, offering:
Automated, meaningful feedback (not just pass/fail)
Powerful visual debugging – including the ability to step backwards through code
A fully web-based platform (no installs, no tech headaches)
Tools that genuinely support independence without removing the teacher from the loop
A thoughtful, research-led approach to AI (no “AI writes the code for you” nonsense here)

We also talk candidly about:
Why teachers are frustrated with platforms coming and going
The real challenges of teaching programming at scale
Feedback, debugging, plagiarism, and learning analytics
How Dodona keeps pedagogy front and centre
Why Time to Code now lives inside Dodona

If you’re a computer science teacher looking for a robust, proven, education-first coding platform – this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

👉 Find out more about Dodona here: https://dodona.be/

👉 And yes… they’ll be at the Craig’n’Dave Festival of Computing this July!

Let us know your thoughts in the comments – and whether Dodona could work in your classroom.

#TeamCompSci #CraignDave #ComputerScienceTeachers #CodingEducation #ProgrammingInSchools #EdTech #TimeToCode

At the chalk face: Too much pushback on exclusions

Do schools get too much pushback on exclusions – or not enough support to deal with persistent disruptive behaviour?

In this episode, we tackle one of the most complex and emotionally charged issues in education: school exclusions.
From short-term removals to permanent exclusions, we explore why exclusions happen, how behaviour in schools has (and hasn’t) changed, and why the conversation is far more nuanced than “kids are just worse these days”.

We dig into the real pressures facing schools and teachers – shrinking budgets, reduced pastoral support, changing societal expectations, and the impact of home life, mental health, and social media on behaviour. Along the way, they ask some uncomfortable but vital questions:
– Who gets forgotten when one student disrupts learning?
– Are schools judged unfairly for excluding pupils?
– And what is the real, long-term impact of exclusion on young people?

Drawing on nearly two decades of classroom and leadership experience, this is an honest, reflective discussion that balances empathy for individual students with the reality of teaching 30 children in one room.

If you work in education – or care about what’s really happening in schools – this is a conversation worth watching.

👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the bell if you enjoy honest conversations about teaching, technology and life in schools.

🔗 More from us:
Website & resources – Craigndave.org
Smart Revise – smartrevise.online

#Teaching #Education #Pedagogy #CraigAndDave #AtTheChalkface #TeacherLife #news #educationnews #EducationDebate #exclusion #schoolexclusion #excluded

At the chalk face: Fail an Ofsted inspection for safeguarding | Should mobiles be banned in schools?

In this episode of At the chalk face, Dave is joined once again by the brilliant Kat Morgan for a lively, honest and (at times) nerdy deep dive into the mobile phone debate in schools.
From Ofsted inspections and safeguarding to behaviour management, social media, and the realities of modern classrooms, nothing is off the table.

Following headlines about proposals to fail schools at Ofsted if pupils are seen using phones, Dave and Kat unpack what’s actually going on in classrooms across the UK.

With lots of schools already having some sort of phone ban in place, is this political posturing, a genuine safeguarding concern, or a blunt solution to a very complex problem?

Together, we explore:
📱 Whether banning phones really changes behaviour
🏫 The role of behaviour management and senior leadership
🎓 Supporting new and less confident teachers
🌍 Preparing students for the real digital world (not a fictional one without phones)
⚖️ Why calling phone use a safeguarding issue could be genuinely dangerous
😂 And why students will always find something to distract themselves (yes, even the numbers 6 and 7…)

As ever, here at the chalk face, we don’t have shouty debates or easy-answer rants. We have thoughtful, nuanced conversations from people who’ve actually worked at the chalk face — and know that education is never as simple as a headline makes it seem.

💬 Where do you stand?
Should phones be banned outright? Managed better? Or used more intelligently in lessons? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the bell if you enjoy honest conversations about teaching, technology and life in schools.



#AtTheChalkface #EducationDebate #Ofsted #Safeguarding #MobilePhonesInSchools #UKTeachers #EdTech #TeachingLife #CraigNDave #EducationPolicy

If you’re a teacher, leader, or education watcher, you’ll find plenty to nod along with — and maybe a few points to debate.

🔗 More from us:
Website & resources – Craigndave.org
Smart Revise – smartrevise.online

#Teaching #Education #Pedagogy #CraigAndDave #AtTheChalkface #TeacherLife #news #educationnews #mobilesinschool

🌐 Explore more Computer Science resources: https://www.craigndave.org

Discover how Smart Revise boosts attainment and frees up your evenings:
👉 https://smartrevise.craigndave.org/

👉Learn more about our Resource Centre here - https://craigndave.org/study-tools/resource-centre/

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