Subject Leader - Mr V Patel

Link Governor - Mrs C Laughlan

Computing Curriculum Documents

Computing Policy

Online Safety Policy

Curriculum Overview

Intent

Computing education in primary schools is essential for equipping students with the necessary skills to thrive in today's digital world. It encompasses digital literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, computational thinking, future workforce readiness, digital citizenship, integration with other subjects, and engaging learning experiences.

Computing education focuses on developing digital literacy skills by familiarizing students with digital devices, software applications, and online resources. It promotes problem-solving and critical thinking through coding and programming activities, helping students break down complex problems and approach challenges systematically. Additionally, it nurtures creativity and innovation by allowing students to design and create digital content.

Digital citizenship and online safety are important aspects of computing education, teaching students responsible online behaviors, privacy, and awareness of cyberbullying. It also integrates with other subjects, enriching the learning experience by using technology for research, data analysis, presentations, and simulations. Overall, computing education offers an engaging and enjoyable learning experience through hands-on activities like coding and robotics. It fosters a positive attitude towards learning and technology, equipping students with the skills they need to navigate the digital world confidently.

Curriculum Drivers

Cultural Heritage:

• Our Computing curriculum aims to inspire our children to be curious about their surroundings, by encouraging them to question, investigate, and explore how the world around them works.
• Through structured lessons and a broad curriculum, we aim to give our children the opportunity to partake in activities that will enrich their experiences and develop their problem-solving abilities, such as debugging and programming.
• Ultimately, we recognise that our Computing curriculum should provide pupils with the chance to acquire the skills they will need in order to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
• Where possible, we use school trips and internal visitors to enrich children’s understanding of how and why Computing and IT features within the wider world.

Aspirations:

• Our Computing curriculum is planned around the ideology that all of our pupils will be able to engage with computing, and therefore conversations around computing, throughout their lives. 
• We enrich all curriculum areas, including Computing, by introducing our children to different career options linked to subjects, such as programmers, software engineers and jobs that have not yet been developed. We do this through lessons, in assemblies and by inviting people within these careers to come and talk to our children.
• We aim to inspire our children to leave primary school with a love of Computing and a desire to want to study it at secondary school and at university.

Awe and Wonder:

• Pupils should enjoy what they are learning and topics should foster curiosity, giving the opportunity for children to ask meaningful questions.
• High-quality resources are created and used within each topic area to inspire children within Computing.
• Where possible, we form partnerships with external organisations and projects to give our children opportunities to learn outside of the curriculum and learn from specialists.

Experiential learning:

• We firmly believe in the power that meaningful ‘real life experiences’ can have upon children’s retention and enjoyment.
• Within every topic, we focus on practical examples, embedding this within ‘real-life’ scenarios to engage children in the topic.
• Our specialist Computing room is used to deliver Computing lessons, ensuring that children have access to high-quality resources and provisions. 
• Topic planning within Computing includes extensive lists of resources that are shared with teachers in advance of lessons being taught. This ensures that each lesson is sufficiently equipped to give children as many experiences and opportunities to practice their designing skills.
• We believe in giving pupils the freedom to make their own choices about the equipment, materials, and techniques they use for their products, encouraging them to learn from experience by constantly reflecting and evaluating their work.

Language and oracy:

• Vocabulary is an integral part of our Computing curriculum based on the needs of our pupils. Throughout all Key Stages and topics, key vocabulary is chosen and built upon. This forms a key part of the Computing progression maps.
• To support our children with engaging in conversations around computing, children are encouraged to share good practise and present information to others.
• To further encourage the use of higher-order vocabulary, our curriculum provides an opportunity for rich dialogue through Philosophy for Children (P4C), helping children to articulate their own choices and understanding.
• Storytelling is used to introduce new themes and ideas to help our children retain information and be excited about design and technology. Book lists are shared with parents to encourage wider reading at home.