Meet the team: Welcoming Ross Dempster-Johnson, our Head of Programmes

What’s your role at Apps for Good?

As Head of Programmes, my role is to ensure the high-quality delivery of Apps for Good’s educational services and content programmes. I will be working closely with Emma our Senior Learning Manager to ensure that our educational courses are inclusive, interesting and relevant to the young people who will be engaging with them. I will also be working closely with Jodie, our Education Community Manager, in order to support existing schools and recruit new schools to sign up to Apps for Good so that more young people can benefit from the fantastic free courses.

What were you doing before you joined us?

Before joining Apps for Good, I was a Deputy Headteacher in a vibrant, diverse, inner London Primary School. In this role I was primarily responsible for curriculum development and teaching and learning. Over time, I worked with subject leaders to ensure that the school’s curriculum was high-quality, engaging, representative and relevant to the young people within the school and their community. I ensured that the school’s curriculum not only fulfilled the requirements of the Primary National Curriculum but provided students with a broad range of experiences, allowing them to develop as confident, well-rounded individuals, with the knowledge and skills to challenge the status-quo. Prior to my time in school leadership positions, I was a class teacher and have experience of teaching across the primary phase. One of the best things about being a class teacher was building strong relationships with the pupils and taking them on a journey from novice to expert; inspiring them to reach their potential.

What motivates you about Apps for Good’s mission?

Having spent my professional career to date as a teacher and senior leader in a school, I am passionate about empowering young people to take action on the things that matter most to them, on the things that they can, as active citizens, positively improve through the use of technology. In an ever-changing digital world, I want to be able to say that I have helped to engage young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with technology and industry. In doing so, I aim for them to be able to gain life-long skills, key knowledge and an intrinsic motivation to make their communities and the world a better place.

What are you looking forward to in your new role?

I am looking forward to working as part of an innovative team in order to successfully roll out the Innovate for Climate Change course to more schools this academic year as well as have an input into future courses and projects. I am keen to hear about what both students and teachers think of the AfG courses!