“A computer is like a violin.” You can imagine it making beautiful music, but you have to learn how to play it.”
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, emphasises the need to learn and apply knowledge to make the most of a computer’s capabilities. His quote recognises the importance of education and hard work when it comes to taking full advantage of a computer’s potential.
Intent
Within our ever-changing and technological world, it is important to understand the importance of teaching Computing from a young age. Our aim is to equip children to use computational thinking and creativity, to understand the world. We intend to motivate and inspire children through lessons that engage and challenge all learners.
Our curriculum is designed to deepen knowledge and develop skills, ensuring effective progression within each aspect of Computing, across all year groups. It aims to instil a sense of enjoyment around using technology and to develop pupil’s appreciation of its capabilities and the opportunities technology offers to, create, manage, organise, and collaborate.
'Tinkering’ with software and programs forms a part of our ethos as we want to develop pupils’ confidence when encountering new technology, which is a vital skill in the ever evolving and changing landscape of technology. Through our curriculum, we intend for pupils not only to be digitally competent and have a range of transferable skills at a suitable level for the future workplace, but also to be responsible online citizens.
Implementation
At Slyne-with-Hest, St Luke’s CE Primary School, we intend equip children with the relevant skills and knowledge that is required to understand the three core areas of Computing (Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy) and to offer a broad and balanced approach to providing quality first teaching of this subject.
We deliver computing through using the Kapow scheme of work, which is written in line with the National Curriculum, providing progression and a breadth of knowledge across all year groups. We prioritise and recognise internet safety within each unit of our Computing curriculum providing a safe space in which pupils can navigate and interact with the digital world, whilst exploring their own personal expression and identity.
The scheme is organised into five key areas, creating a cyclical route through which pupils can develop their computing knowledge and skills by revisiting and building on previous learning:
Computing is an integral part to a child’s education and everyday life. Therefore, we intend to support our pupils to access and understand the core principles of this subject through engaging and cross-curricular opportunities and providing them with opportunities to learn and apply transferable skills.
In order to achieve this, Computing is delivered through weekly timetabled lessons. Having discreet lessons means that the children are able to develop depth in their knowledge and skills over the duration of each of their computing topics. Where appropriate, meaningful links will be made between the computing curriculum and the wider curriculum. In computing lessons, the children have access to iPads, laptops and programmable equipment in order to access a range of apps and software.
A key part of implementing our computing curriculum is to ensure that safety of our pupils is paramount. We take online safety very seriously and we aim to give children the necessary skills to keep themselves safe online. Children have a right to enjoy childhood online, to access safe online spaces and to benefit from all the opportunities that a connected world can bring them, appropriate to their age and stage.
Children build online resilience through the use of the ‘Project Evolve – Education for a Connected World’ framework. The framework aims to support and broaden the provision of online safety education, so that it is empowering, builds resilience and effects positive culture change.
We have a ‘relevant’ and ‘progressive’ Online Safety Curriculum. Issues such as cyberbullying, online wellbeing, screen time/ addiction, the reliability of information and ‘Stanger danger’ are discussed in PSHE lessons and assemblies. Parents are informed when issues relating to online safety arise and further information/support is provided if required. We take part in Safer Internet Day each February to raise awareness within school and the local community about the possible dangers of using the internet and mobile technologies, and to advise on ways in which to reduce risk.
At Slyne-with-Hest, St Luke’s CE Primary School, we see it as our responsibility to share real world examples of digital skills, developing fundamental concepts of computing – providing an insight into future careers and possibilities.
Impact
Our Computing curriculum allows children to become both users of technology and digital creators. Throughout EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2, our children understand algorithms and programming and how this all fits into our digital world.
Children are given the opportunities to build their resilience to the ever–changing digital world we live in, whilst embedding the safe, respectful and responsible use of technology, recognising both acceptable and unacceptable online behaviour and identifying a range of ways to report concerns about content or contact.
As a result, our pupils leave school equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be responsible, confident and creative users of information and technology in an ever-increasing digital world.