Computing
Intent
Technology is everywhere, and at Newton Leys Primary School want to make sure that we equip our children with the right tools and knowledge to use it safely and effectively when they leave us.
We want our children to be Masters of technology, so our broad curriculum encompasses Computer Science, Information Technology, Digital Literacy and Online Safety to reflect 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/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 is planned 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 hope that by the end of primary school, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by teachers.
We believe that being digitally literate is a fundamental life skill to succeed in the wider world.
Implementation
We have chosen to implement the Teach Computing curriculum within our school. Computing is taught every week. We have chosen this as it is a well structures and resources scheme, which our teachers can all assess and implement no matter what their computing level and confidence. The children also use Project Evolve which enables us to assess the children’s understanding and maintain a high profile of e-safety. The lessons are designed to follow the same 6 subjects so the progression is clear and the children can make links between each module.
These 6 subjects are:
- Computing systems and networks - Creating media 1
- Programming A - Data information
- Creating media 2 - Programming B
Impact
We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver and ask questions about their learning. We will constantly ask the WHY behind their learning and not just the HOW. We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning, development, and well-being. The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence through reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills digitally through tools such as Seesaw, and Project Evolve and observing learning regularly. Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes.