You may have thought that the committee and working members of CAS #include had been a little quiet since the success of events like ‘#define’ and ‘Hack the Curric’ but that is because we have been crossing our fingers, toes, and quietly wishing as we go about our daily lives. Today we discover that wishes sometimes do come true!

Towards the end of 2013, we applied for the Google RISE Awards which are designed to support organisations that promote access to Computer Science education and give students aged 7-18 the opportunity to become creators - and not just consumers - of tomorrow’s technological innovations.

At CAS #include, we are a group of teachers, academics and professionals who are passionate about giving ALL students the opportunity to study Computing regardless of gender, race, socio-economic status, SEN or disability.

We want to begin to change the status quo at school so that the coders, designers and developers of the future come from a diverse variety of backgrounds. To do this we run events for students where we introduce them to technology, such as Raspberry Pi and we also provide support for teachers seeking to make Computing more inclusive in their classroom.

Today it has been announced that CAS #include has been recognised by the Google Rise Awards. We can continue our work and plan to run more events in 2014 thanks to the recognition of Google through the Google RISE Awards.

Without the efforts of our committee members, most notably Emma & Dan, this achievement would not have been possible.