Computing
Intent
Our aim is to provide a computing curriculum that is designed to balance acquiring a broad and deep knowledge alongside opportunities to apply skills in various digital contexts. We want to enable pupils to use computational thinking and creativity that will enable them to become active participants in the digital world.
Our curriculum uses threshold concepts, which are organized into milestones, providing children with a broad, balanced, sequential and ambitious curriculum, that is responsive to the needs of our children, their experiences and which aims to explore and develop our schools key characteristics and qualities. The focus upon developing a progression of skills, ensures that children become competent in safely using, as well as understanding, technology. These concepts are revisited repeatedly through a range of themes during children’s time in school to ensure the learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed.
It is important to us that the children understand how to use the ever-changing technology to express themselves, as tools for learning and as a means to see success into the future. Beyond teaching computing discreetly, we will give pupils the opportunity to apply and develop what they have learnt across wider learning in the curriculum.
Implementation
Our scheme of work for computing has been adapted from a combination of existing, yet current (based upon the latest pedagogical research), computing schemes (Purple Mash, Teach Computing, Twinkl etc) to provide a bespoke curriculum, which meets the needs of our children and covers all aspects of the National Curriculum.
Our curriculum aims to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to thrive in the digital world of today and the future. The curriculum can be broken down into 4 threshold concepts – to code, connect, collect and communicate, with the aims of the curriculum reflecting this distinction.
A key part of implementing our computing curriculum was 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 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.
Impact
The implementation of our curriculum ensures that when children leave us, they are competent and safe users of computing devices with an understanding of how technology works. They will have developed skills to express themselves and be creative in using digital media and be equipped to apply their skills in computing to different challenges going forward.
