Our Lady and St John's Catholic Primary School
Computing
Intent
The school’s aims are to:
- Provide a broad, balanced, challenging and enjoyable curriculum for all pupils.
- Develop pupil’s computational thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
- Meet the requirements of the national curriculum programmes of study for computing at Key Stage 1 and 2
- To respond to new developments in technology
- To equip pupils with the confidence and skills to use digital tools and technologies throughout their lives.
- To enhance and enrich learning in other areas of the curriculum using IT and computing.
- To develop the understanding of how to use computers and digital tools safely and responsibly.
The National Curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Can understand and apply the fundamental principles of computer science, including logic, algorithms, data representation, and communication
- Can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
- Can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
- Are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology
Implementation
The National Curriculum purpose of study states:
‘The core of computing 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, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures 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’.
Therefore, our scheme of work is designed with three strands which run throughout:
- Computer Science
- Information technology
- Digital literacy
The Kapow National Curriculum mapping document shows which of the units cover each of the National Curriculum attainment targets as well as each of these three strands.
The Computing Progression of Skills document 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 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:
- Computer systems and networks
- Programming
- Creating media
- Data handling
- Online safety
The implementation of our Computing scheme of work ensures a broad and balanced coverage of the National Curriculum requirements, and the ‘Skills showcase’ units 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. Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective and robust computing curriculum. The units of lessons include teacher videos from Kapow to develop staff subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD. This supports teachers to feel confident delivering the computing curriculum and to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
Inclusion
We believe that all children have the right to access IT and computing. We recognise that in all classes there are children with particular teaching and learning requirements which go beyond the provision for that age range and if not addressed, could create barriers to learning. This includes more able pupils, those with SEND or those who have EAL. Teachers must take account of these requirements and plan, where necessary, to support individuals or groups of pupils to enable them to participate effectively in the curriculum and assessment activities. During any teaching activities, teachers should bear in mind that special arrangements could be made available to support individual pupils. Differentiated guidance is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed by all pupils and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.
Resources and access
The school acknowledges the need to continually maintain, update and develop its resources and to make progress towards consistent, compatible computer systems by investing in resources that will effectively deliver the objectives of the National Curriculum and support the use of IT, computer science and digital literacy across the school. Teachers are required to inform the computing subject leader of any faults as soon as they are noticed. Computing network infrastructure and equipment has been sited so that:
- Every teacher from EYFS to Y6 has a laptop connected to the school network and an interactive whiteboard is available in each classroom.
- Internet access is available in all classrooms.
- Each class from Y1 – Y6 has an allocated session one afternoon per week for teaching computing as a discrete subject.
- We teach Online safety as the first lesson in each half term
- Laptops and iPads are available for use throughout the school day as part of computing lessons and for cross-curricular use.
- The school has a computing technician who is in school on Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings.
