Intent
Through our computing curriculum we aim to give our pupils the life-skills that will enable them to embrace and utilise new technology in a creative, as well as responsible and safe way in order to flourish. Our curriculum recognises that all children have the right to learning experiences that balance all aspects of Computing. We acknowledge that technological devices and software are an integral part of everyday life and that society is becoming more and more reliant on technology to guide, innovate and develop practice in many sectors of work, education, and daily life.
We want children to become autonomous, independent users of computing technologies, gaining confidence and enjoyment from their activities. We want the use of technology to support learning across the entire curriculum and to ensure that our curriculum is accessible to every child. Not only do we want them to be digitally literate and competent end-users of technology but through our computer science lessons we want them to develop creativity, resilience and problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. We want our pupils to have a breadth of experience to develop their understanding of themselves as individuals within their community but also as members of a wider global community and as responsible digital citizens.
Implementation
The computing curriculum has been tailored to focus and build upon the three core aspects of Computing; Digital Literacy, Computer Science, and Information Technology. We do so with a progression framework of skills and knowledge that allows the pupil to make the necessary connections within their learning as they progress through the Computing Curriculum. We use this framework to create a scheme of work for each class building upon the skills learned in previous years. Our scheme of work for 2022-2023 uses DFE funded Teach Computing (https://teachcomputing.org) which has been customised for schools to include relevant digital and learning resources.
Impact
Our approach to the curriculum results in a relevant, engaging, and high-quality computing education. The quality of children’s learning is evidenced in online folders and portfolios including Google Classroom, Scratch and Tinkercad.
Evidence such as this is used to feed into teachers’ future planning, and teachers can revisit misconceptions and knowledge gaps in computing when teaching other curriculum areas. This supports varied paces of learning and ensures all pupils make good progress.
By the end of Year 6, pupils should feel confident in using a range of technology. They should be able to recognise how to keep themselves safe online, and they should understand the importance of being an exceptionally good digital citizen. Pupils should have a sound knowledge of up-to-date technologies and how they can be used to enhance their learning and the curriculum.