Computing

Intent of our Computing Curriculum

At Bicton C.E. Primary School and Nursery, our computing curriculum ensures a high-quality computing education to prepare children for their future, by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills that will equip them for an ever-changing digital world.

We focus on a progression of skills in digital literacy, computer science and information technology to ensure that children become competent in using and understanding technology. We recognise the critical importance of children understanding how to keep themselves and others safe online.

 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 of our Computing Curriculum

At Bicton C.E. Primary School and Nursery, computing is taught in discrete computing lessons and technology is used to support learning across all curriculum areas. We use the NCCE (National Centre for Computing Education) Computing Curriculum scheme of work to cover the three areas of the Computing National Curriculum: Digital literacy, Computer Science, and Information Technology.

Our scheme has been closely referenced against the 2014 National Curriculum attainment targets, to ensure progression and coverage.  Having discrete lessons means that the children can develop depth in their knowledge and skills over the duration of each of their computing topics. Where appropriate, meaningful links are made between the computing curriculum and the wider curriculum. In computing lessons, the children will use either iPads or laptops to access a range of Apps and software.

Online Safety is taught using Project Evolve resources which incorporates the statements from the UK Council for Internet Safety’s (UKCIS) framework “Education for a Connected World.” This is taught within computing lessons and through PSHE lessons. Through these lessons, the children can explore and respond to key issues such as digital communication, cyberbullying, online safety, security, plagiarism and social media.

The national curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils:

can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs to solve such problems
can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

Impact of our Computing Curriculum

At Bicton C.E. Primary School and Nursery we want every child to be a confident user of technology and to be able to use it to accomplish a wide variety of goals, both at home and in school. They will have a secure and comprehensive knowledge of technology and digital systems, enabling them to confidently progress with future studies and modern life in this digital age.

 We want children to know how to be responsible, safe and respectful online. They will be able to recognise the dangers that exist from the use of technology and articulate well about the potential risks of being online. They will be able to talk about ways to keep safe online and know what to do if they feel unsafe or see something that they do not like.

 Children will meet or exceed the progression of skills requirements in Computing.

 We measure the impact of our curriculum by: –

Teacher assessments made against the planned outcomes using the NCCE ‘I can’ statements for each area of Computing.
Pupil discussion and feedback (pupil voice) (skills and knowledge).
Reflective staff feedback (teacher voice).
Monitoring by the Computing Subject Leader during learning walks.
Opportunities for dialogue between teachers.
Monitoring of children’s work.