Computing

Intent

Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in students' lives. Therefore, we want to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our pupils to be able to access a variety of information technology types and understand how technology is used to influence the everyday. Our broad curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this.

We want our pupils to understand that there is always a choice with using technology and as a school we utilise technology (especially social media) to model positive use. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education.

We recognise that technology can allow pupils to share their learning in creative ways. We also understand the accessibility opportunities technology can provide for our pupils. Our knowledge rich curriculum has to be balanced with the opportunity for pupils to apply their knowledge creatively which will in turn help our pupils become skilful computer scientists. We encourage staff to try and use information technology across the whole curriculum to make learning creative and accessible.

Implementation

The children are taught in classes, mostly by the class teacher, following a programme of units of study that progressively build up skills and understanding, throughout the school. We use a mixture of resources and programmes of work to achieve this. We have an e-Safety scheme of work that requires at least one lesson per term to focus solely on matters relating to staying safe online. These lessons are mapped out to show progression throughout the school. There is a flexibility within the school, surrounding the timetabling of explicit computing teaching. For example, some year groups choose to complete units of work over shorter periods of time (e.g. each afternoon for a week), whereas other year groups choose instead to complete weekly computing lessons. Key skills and key knowledge for Computing have been mapped across the school to ensure progression between year groups. Computing lessons are also taught as a block so that children’s learning is focused throughout each unit of work.

Impact

We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver.  We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning, development and well-being. Finding the right balance with technology is key to an effective education and healthy lifestyle.  We feel the way we implement computing helps children realise the need for the right balance and one they can continue to build on in their next stage of education and beyond.  We encourage regular discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand this. The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum.  Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes.