Computing
Miss Roberts, our computing lead, supports our school community to prepare our children for a rapidly changing world through the use of technology. Our Computing curriculum is designed to enable them to use computational thinking to further understand our world.
What?
Our curriculum has links with mathematics and design and technology. At the core of our computing curriculum is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, we intend for our children to use information technology to create programs and a range of content. We aim to ensure that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.
How?
Our Computing curriculum uses Purple Mash and teaches the skills of Computing through three aspects: Digital Literacy, Computer Science and Information Technology. Computer Science underlines the knowledge and skills relating to programming, coding, algorithms and computational thinking. Information Technology underlines the knowledge and skills relating to communication, multimedia and data representation and handling. Digital Literacy underlines the knowledge and skills relating to online safety and technology uses.
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in computing, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. It provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each key stage. Computing teaching delivers these requirements through our half-termly units. We use and follow the Purple Mash scheme of work from Year 1-6, ensuring consistency and progression throughout the school. We recognise that computing is a specialist subject and not all teachers are computing specialists. Units are practical and engaging and allow computing lessons to be hands on. They cover a broad range of computing components such as coding, spreadsheets, Internet and Email, Databases, Communication networks, touch typing, animation and online safety. Purple Mash has an online portal of age-appropriate software, games and activities as well as topic materials and materials to support our children’s learning in other subject areas for all key stages.
Our children are fully encouraged to engage with IT and technology outside of school. Each teacher and pupil has his or her own unique Purple Mash login and password. Computing work can be stored and saved using pupil log in details and homework or ‘2do’s’ can also be set for pupils to access and complete tasks at home that link with their current class learning. We provide a variety of opportunities for computing learning inside and outside the classroom. Computing and safeguarding go hand in hand and we provide a huge focus on internet safety inside and outside of the classroom. Online safety is taught at the start of every half term as part of their computing lessons and every year we also take part in National Safer Internet Day in February and hold internet safety workshops for parents through Concero.
So?
Our Computing Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression and build on and embed current skills. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills in the different computational components and, like other subjects, have discreet vocabulary progression which also forms part of the units of work. The children are taught to use the internet responsibly and there is an internet protocol in place that requires parents to consent to their child’s use of the medium, being required to sign a permission form for their child to use the internet, bearing in mind that the children are always supervised when using it. If needed, penalties are imposed for any abuse of the internet or server system.
computing curriculum overview.pdf