Intent- What do we plan to do.
At Ewyas Harold Primary School, we believe that every child should have the right to a curriculum that champions excellence, supporting pupils in achieving to the very best of their abilities. We understand and recognise the immense value technology plays not only in supporting the Computing and whole school curriculum but overall, in day-to-day life. We aim, therefore, to equip children with the skills to adapt to new technology and to use computing confidently and safely to prepare them for the technology-filled world they live in. In doing so, all pupils will have access to computing equipment and resources, according to their ability and age range.
We believe that technology can: promote enhanced collaborative learning opportunities; lead to better engagement of pupils; allow easier access to rich content; champion independent learning; support conceptual understanding of new concepts and support the needs of all our pupils.
Our aims:
- To develop children’s computing capability and understanding.
- Provide an exciting, rich, relevant and challenging curriculum for all pupils.
- Teach pupils to become responsible, respectful and competent users of data, information and communication technology.
- Equip children with the confidence and capability to use technology throughout their education, home and further work lives.
- Utilise computational thinking beyond the Computing curriculum.
- Give children access to a variety of high-quality hardware, software and resources.
- Equip pupils with skills, strategies and knowledge that will enable them and others to navigate the online world and stay safe at all times.
- To stimulate interest in new or unfamiliar technologies.
- Instil critical thinking, reflective learning and a ‘can do’ attitude for all our pupils, particularly when engaging with technology and its associated resources.
Implementation- How do we plan on achieving this?
As a school, we have chosen the DfE’s approved Teach Computing Scheme of Work. The scheme of work supports our teachers in delivering fun and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all pupils to achieve to their full potential. We are confident that the scheme of work provides us with a well sequenced and progressive curriculum which provides immense flexibility and strong cross-curricular links. Furthermore, it gives excellent supporting material for less confident teachers.
Key stage 1 and 2 units are taught using a spiral curriculum, where each theme is revisited at least once per year group. Pupils will revisit these themes through units that support consolidation of prior learning before building. This embraces the principles of Bruner’s spiral approach which focuses on three elements: Cyclical learning, increasing depth on each iteration, and learning by building on prior knowledge. This will aim to reduce the knowledge that is lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly.
The key concepts in computing we plan a progression for are:
- Computer systems and networks
- Creating media
- Programming
- Data and Information.
The Teach Computing curriculum also allows us to consider and develop our pupils’ skills and knowledge of Ofsted’s subject research review ‘the Pillars of Progression’ (2022)
- Computer Science- knowledge of computers and computation.
- Information Technology- how computers, software, networks and other electronic devices are used.
- Digital Literacy- knowledge and skills required to effectively, confidently and safely use digital technologies.
Online Safety-
As a school, all children sign an Acceptable Use policy at the beginning of each school year for how technology should be accessed whilst at school. The acronym SMART is also shared to at the beginning of the year and is clearly displayed near access to technology and in classrooms. We ensure that, as a whole school, we partake and engage with Safer internet day, where safe and responsible use of digital technology for children and young people gets promoted. This is completed using a whole-school assembly, discussions and activities within classrooms. This helps to raise awareness about online safety, encourage conversations about the internet, and inspire change for a better online experience.
Within classes, throughout the year, students will learn about online safety through carefully planned lessons, activities, and online resources such as ‘Hinterlands’,
Impact- How will we tell we have achieved our aims?
Subject leader will monitor the impact of our computing curriculum alongside the headteacher. This will happen using learning walks, observations, feedback from class teachers (possibly in the form of staff surveys), pupil surveys and computing floor books.
To assess pupils’ computing knowledge, both formative and summative assessment opportunities will occur.
Formative:
Each lesson has formative assessment opportunities which are listed in the lesson plan and are included to ensure that misconceptions are recognised and addressed if they occur. These vary from teacher observations to questioning or marked activities. These are vital to ensure teachers are adapting their teaching to suit the needs of the pupils.
The learning objectives and success criteria are introduced and shared with the children at the beginning of every lesson. At the end, pupils are invited to assess how well they feel they have met them with a thumbs up, down or sideways, given them and teachers a reflection opportunity.
Summative:
Each unit has an optional summative assessment framework as either a multiple-choice quiz or a rubric.
All units are designed to cover both skills and concepts from across the computing national curriculum. Units that focus more on conceptual development include a Multiple-Choice Quiz (MCQ). Units that focus more on skills development end with a project and include a rubric. However, within the ‘Programming’ units, the assessment framework (MCQ or rubric) has been selected on a best fit basis.