This is what strong Computational Thinking really looks like in practice.
Over the last week, I designed and built a fully bespoke, production-ready digital platform for my academy — single-handedly, end to end.
Not as a commercial developer.
But as a Computer Science teacher, applying the very thinking we aim to instil in our students.
What made this possible was not speed, shortcuts, or “coding tricks”.
It was computational thinking — rigorously developed during my PGCE and Masters in Teaching & Learning at King’s College London, under the guidance of Dr Sue Sentance, Patricia Lockhart, and Mary Webb.
And just as importantly, it was shaped over decades through chess.
As a FIDE Master, chess has trained me to think in exactly the same ways we value in Computer Science:
decomposition of complex problems
abstraction and pattern recognition
constant evaluation and re-evaluation
planning, testing, and adapting under constraints
That mindset — built through study, discipline, and reflection — directly informs how I design systems, solve problems, and teach.
It is also the same thinking that has enabled me to help students in the UK win over 20 National Junior Chess Championships.
Chess and Computer Science reinforce each other powerfully.
Both reward clarity of thought, structured reasoning, and the ability to adapt when conditions change.
In building this platform, those principles allowed me to:
break down a complex real-world problem (bookings, payments, safeguarding, capacity, operations)
design robust logic before writing code
evaluate edge cases involving children, parents, and schools
build something ethical, resilient, and genuinely usable
What might traditionally have required:
a development team
months of Agile cycles
layers of management
…was completed solo, in one week, because the thinking came first.
For school leaders, this is the deeper value of Computer Science education.
When taught well, it doesn’t just teach students to use technology —
it teaches them to think, design, evaluate, and build responsibly.
That same thinking underpins success in:
Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Chess
and life well beyond school
Computational thinking isn’t abstract.
It’s transferable.
And it works.
🔗 If you’d like to evaluate the platform yourself, visit:
👉 https://GenAiusAcademy.ae
♟️💻 You’re also welcome to book a chess or coding session for your child, or secure a block of 5 sessions
The ultimate Christmas gift forna child...
GenAius for life.
GenAius Academy | Cybersecurity, AI, Coding & Chess GenAius Academy – world-class education in Cybersecurity, AI, Coding & Chess, founded by FIDE Master & Computer Science Teacher Charles Storey.
18/11/2025
02/04/2024
30/03/2024
15/08/2023
14/07/2023
11/05/2023
08/05/2023