Computing

A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.

Intent

At our school we want pupils to be masters of technology and not slaves to it. 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 creators not consumers and 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 to model positive use. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology and social media is through education. Building our knowledge in this subject will allow pupils to effectively demonstrate their learning through creative use of technology.

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 embed computing across the whole curriculum to make learning creative and accessible. We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding and expect that by Upper Key Stage 2, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by teachers.

Implementation

Our computing curriculum is designed with three strands which run throughout:

Computer science
Information technology
Digital literacy

Our Curriculum Overview shows which of our units cover each of the National Curriculum attainment targets as well as each of these three strands.

Our progression of knowledge and skills shows the skills that are taught within each year group and how these skills develop year on year to ensure attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage.

Our scheme of work is organised into four key areas, creating a cyclical route through which pupils will develop their computing knowledge and skills by revisiting and building on previous learning:

• Computer systems and networks • Programming • Creating media • Online safety

The implementation of Teach Computing ensures a broad and balanced coverage of the National Curriculum requirements and provide pupils with the opportunity to learn and apply transferable skills.

Where meaningful, units have been created to link to other subjects such as science, art and music to enable the development of further transferable skills and genuine cross curricular learning.

Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as unplugged and digital activities. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. We ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available throughout our computing curriculum.

Our pupils benefit from computing being taught as a block of lessons within each half term. This gives our pupils a greater opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the topic and aids with the retention of important skills for future development.

There is an abundance of devices available to each class. Each child in KS2 has a Google Chromebook available to use when the lesson requires and all children throughout the school can use a laptop when needed. We use our virtual and augmented reality devices in all year groups to further enhance the

Throughout the academic year, we strive to raise the profile of online safety. We do this through whole school assemblies, discussions with parents and carers, online safety lessons and ensuring that children are aware of an online safety worry box that’s available to all. Any online safety issues that may arise are dealt with in accordance with our E-safety policy.

Impact

The impact of computing at St Mark’s is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. During each lesson, teachers assess pupils’ understanding against the learning objectives. At the end of a unit, each classroom teacher completes a formative assessment, data is collected and a whole school picture becomes clearer. This data allows targeted support and informs future developments. We also take each child’s opinion seriously. We make sure that their voice is heard after units of work, we listen and we act on feedback.

We are committed to ensuring that pupils leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be active participants in the ever-increasing digital world.

The expected impact of computing at St Mark’s Primary School is that children will:

Be critical thinkers and able to understand how to make informed and appropriate digital choices in the future.
Understand the importance that computing will have going forward in both their educational and working life and in their social and personal futures.
Understand how to balance time spent on technology and time spent away from it in a healthy and appropriate manner.
Understand that technology helps to showcase their ideas and creativity. They will know that different types of software and hardware can help them achieve a broad variety of artistic and practical aims.
Show a clear progression of technical skills across all areas of the National Curriculum - computer science, information technology and digital literacy.
Be able to use technology both individually and as part of a collaborative team.
Be aware of online safety issues and protocols and be able to deal with any problems in a responsible and appropriate manner.
Have an awareness of developments in technology and have an idea of how current technologies work and relate to one another.

We use a range of strategies to assess the development of the children’s knowledge and skills.