Bessacarr Primary School

Computing Curriculum 

Intent

Knowledge and understanding of Computing is of increasing importance for children’s future both at home and for every day life. At Bessacarr Primary we follow the Teach Computing scheme of work. This Computing curriculum focuses on a progression of skills in computer systems and networks, creating media, programming, data and information and internet safety to ensure challenging and progressive links to the National Curriculum. We teach a spiral curriculum which ensures each strand is revisited through a range of themes during each child’s time in school. This ensures learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed.

Our computing curriculum is intended to do the following things:

• To enable children to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information in a variety of ways in an ever changing technological world.
• To focus on developing the skills necessary to use information in an effective and purposeful way. We want children to know more, remember more and understand more in computing so that they leave primary school computer literate, able to apply their knowledge and problem solve using techniques that they have learnt.
• To build a computing curriculum that develops pupil’s learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge of the world around them that ensures all pupils can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science. This includes the application of logic, algorithms and data representation so children can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.
• To build a computing curriculum that prepares pupils to live safely in an increasingly digital society where pupils can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
• To provide and support children’s creativity and cross curricular learning to engage children and enrich their experiences in school.

Implementation

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.

• We teach the National Curriculum content through the Teach Computing design. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise progression and learning for all children.
• Computing is taught across four main strands: computer systems and networks, creating media, programming, data and information and internet safety. These link to the National curriculum areas of digital literacy, computer science and information technology. As part of the strands, children learn to use and express themselves through the development of ideas whilst using a range of computing skills. For example, writing and presenting as well as exploring art and design using multimedia.
• We teach children to develop practical skills in the safe use of ICT and the ability to apply these skills to solving relevant, worthwhile problems for example understanding safe use of internet, networks and email.
• Children learn to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of data, information and programming, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. They also learn to analyse problems with computational terms and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems by debugging algorithms.
• We teach a clear progression of Computing vocabulary to support children in their understanding while building on prior knowledge.
• At Bessacarr Primary, we give children access to a range of good quality resources including programming robots, iPads, laptops and apps (data loggers, book creators, audio creators)
• Online safety is taught within each Computing lesson as a short starter activity. This ensures that online safety is ongoing, familiar and high on our curriculum agenda. We use Project Evolve which links closely to the Teach Computing scheme of work. There are clear focuses linked to the Teach Computing scheme. For example, Year 6 learn about online reputation and managing information online while focusing on the unit of ‘Internet

 Impact

Through implementing this policy, we hope to see impact in the following ways:

• Pupils make good progress through the different aspects of Computing
• Pupils will beconfident and competent users of technology.
• Pupils become critical thinkers that can solve problems by applying their knowledge of technology and technological systems.
• Pupils will demonstrate responsible, respectful and safe use of data, information and communication technology.
• Pupils show creative and imaginative ways of using technology to present, record and share their work to a wider audience
• Pupils are aware of technological uses and developments in the wider world.

Teach Computing and Coding

At Bessacarr Primary we follow the Teach Computing scheme to ensure children access a wide variety of software and hardware to prepare them for a future using technology.

Coding robots: Mice, Sphero, Coding Critters-

Beebots and Mice- KS1

Scratch-Y2-Y6

Crumbles- Y5

Microbits- Y6