Intent

Our aim of Computing at St Peter’s and St Gildas’ is to provide our children with a comprehensive and innovative education, that prepares them for the digital age we live in and equips them with the knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving demands of the wider world. We support children in their learning by providing a nurturing and inclusive environment that encourages curiosity and creativity, and by offering individualised support and resources to help them achieve their full potential. Our high-quality Computing curriculum has natural deep links with Mathematics, in terms of systematic thinking and logical processes, but there are many other links across the curriculum.  This can be in computer aided design in Design and Technology, research in History, data collection in Geography and Science or digital presentation to aid Speaking and Listening.  We want pupils at our school to see the value in having excellent computing knowledge and skills, to recognise the links between what we teach and application in the real world and the endless possibilities computing can offer in an ever-changing digital world.

Implementation

At St Peter’s and St Gildas’ we follow the Teach Computing scheme of work which has been developed by The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE).

The Teach Computing curriculum is a spiral curriculum, in which key concepts are presented repeatedly throughout the curriculum with deepening layers of complexity and in different applications. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. It has been designed to introduce children to a variety of programmes and online scenarios whilst covering all the National Curriculum objectives. To ensure a broad range of skills and understanding, computing is taught across three main strands: digital literacy, computer science and information technology.

Our Computing Curriculum has been tailored to support all pupils. Each lesson is sequenced so that it builds on the learning from the previous lesson, and where appropriate, activities are scaffolded or adapted so that all pupils can succeed and thrive. Scaffolded activities provide pupils with extra resources, such as visual prompts, to reach the same learning goals as the rest of the class. Exploratory tasks foster a deeper understanding of a concept, encouraging pupils to apply their learning in different contexts and make connections with other learning experiences.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, children use iPads to learn key skills in Computing and other subjects across the curriculum.  Vocabulary is always a focus and from Reception, pupils begin to use programmable toys such as Bee Bots to develop their understanding of an algorithms through practical experiences. In Key Stage 2, children continue their digital journey using Chromebooks and can access a variety of different Computing programmes. Pupils are taught Computing across multiple devices and platforms, such as Micro-bits. Through a variety of software and programming, children develop computer skills that prepare them for their future.

We believe that every child should feel included and encouraged when engaging with Computing education. We make sure that diversity and inclusion is integral to our planning, our programmes and materials, the way we work and how we behave online.

E-Safety

At the forefront of our teaching of Computing is E-safety. High quality online safety must be taught if children are to keep themselves safe in the virtual world. It is therefore essential, to ensure pupils are equipped with the skills to recognise risks online, to be critically aware of the materials and content they access online, along with guidance on how to accurately validate information accessed via the internet. Teaching the children to be safe online, whether they are at school or at home is an area that we focus on throughout the year with every year group. Children learn how to use technology safely and respectfully and learn how to always report concerns. In addition to this provision, the whole school participates in ‘Safer Internet Day’ in February to reinforce the importance of using technology responsibly. Online safety is also a topic that is regularly revisited within our ‘Ten Ten’ lessons. (Ten Ten is our Relationships and Health Education Program)

Impact

We see the impact of our curriculum through the outcomes of every lesson.  We know children learn more and remember more as they progress through school as the curriculum revisits key knowledge and skills.  This can be through their basic mouse and keyboard skills to more specific areas such as their knowledge of algorithms within programmes.  Our use of assessment for learning lets us adapt lessons and units to the needs of each new cohort and our assessment quadrants help us to gauge understanding of more specific knowledge as pupils move through school.

By the time children leave St Peter’s and St Gildas’, they will be competent, safe and responsible users of computing technology and will have a secure understanding of the fundamental principles of computer science; be able to express themselves using digital media and be equipped to apply their computing skills in the future.