Computing

Intent

At St Mary’s, we believe that preparing our children for the world beyond school is extremely important. Many jobs and careers require people to have strong computing and technology skills to be successful. This will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of the skills they will need to become successful in their later lives. Our schools long term planning builds on what children know and develops their understanding, skills and confidence to prepare them for the modern world. Most importantly, they know how to use technology safely, to access the internet appropriately and stay up to date with technological changes and their benefits and pitfalls. There is also a big focus on programming and coding, our children leave school ready to engage with the world around them. 

Implementation

At St Mary’s Computing is taught across each year group in units that enable pupils to study in depth key skills and understand applications of technology. Each unit aims to activate and build upon prior learning starting in EYFS through to Year 6.

Pupils are taught from EYFS how to stay safe when using technology and what to do if they come across content that they know is not child safe. They recognise the benefits and limitations of technology. Teachers encourage curiosity and experimental approach so children know it is OK to try and sometimes fail. Through this, their resilience is built and applied to further explore new skills and ideas. 

We follow the Kapow scheme of work:

KS1 will be covering:

-Use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private.

-Identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.

-Understanding algorithms, create and debug simple programs, use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs.

-Use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content.

-Recognise uses of technology.

KS2 will be learning to:

-Use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.

-Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.

-Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output.

-Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.

-Understand computer networks including the internet, how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web, and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration.

-Use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content.

-Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information

Impact

Our children are aware of how to stay safe when using technology. They leave school ready to access an ever changing, fast paced world where technology is all around them. They are ready to move on to Secondary school with the confidence and skills they need.