Intent 

Our aim is to provide a high-quality computing curriculum which is ambitious, creative and inclusive. It should equip children with relevant skills and prepare them for an ever-evolving digital world. They should become effective computational thinkers and be digitally literate.

The curriculum will teach children to be competent, confident and creative users of technology and responsible digital citizens. Learners will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of different kinds of computational systems. Children will develop the knowledge and skills needed to be able to express themselves and their ideas clearly through digital media. It will enable them to see how these skills will be useful to them as active participants in both a digital world as well as in the workplace, such as being inspired to pursue further study and career paths in Programming, Engineering and Computer Science. Computing has deep links with maths, science and design technology. Children will recognise how some skills are transferable and can help them to solve problems across these subject areas and in real-life situations. By the time they leave Lings Primary School, children will understand and apply core principles and concepts of computer science, including logic, algorithms and data representation. They will learn to analyse problems in computational terms and have repeated practical experience of writing computing programs to solve problems. They will evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies analytically to solve problems.

Implementation

At Lings Primary School, Children will engage in alternate terms of full computing teaching, followed by shorter embedding terms in which computing knowledge and skills are applied to other subject areas. Employing cross-curricular links supports children to make connections and remember the steps they have been taught. Lings Primary School’s computing curriculum is based on the Teach Computing Curriculum, which is aligned to match the breadth and ambition of the National Curriculum, and we have developed this using the expertise of the Denbigh School Computing Hub.

The Teach Computing units for Key Stages 1 and 2 are based on a spiral curriculum. Substantive and disciplinary knowledge are mapped across each topic and year group to ensure systematic progression. This means that each of the themes is revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that theme. This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly. The implementation of the curriculum also ensures a balanced coverage of computer science, information technology and digital literacy. The children will have experiences of all three strands in each year group, but the subject knowledge imparted becomes increasingly specific and in depth, with more complex skills being taught, thus ensuring that learning is built upon.

The following high dividend concepts are covered in this Computing curriculum: Computing systems and networks, Creating media, Data and information and Programming. These will form the ‘Big Ideas’ through which all science will be taught. Predicting, problem-solving, decision-making, communicating, thinking critically and evaluating will form common threads which will underpin the learning of computing throughout the curriculum.

Online Safety

Online safety will be at the heart of all learning. These are taught every term through the Teach Computing curriculum where online safety forms a part of each unit. We also use Project Evolve resources, which cover each of the 330 statements from the UK Council for Internet Safety’s Framework: Education for a Connected World”. These focus on the themes of self-image and identity, online relationships, online reputation, online bullying, managing online information, health, wellbeing and lifestyle, privacy and security, and copyright and ownership.

Early Years

Our children will begin their computing journey in the Early Years and Foundation Stage.

They will have access to a wide range of digital devices and will explore technology in real-life contexts, such as a supermarket checkout, pelican crossing, microphones, speakers and CD player. Children will use navigational vocabulary through use of Beebots and will use technology to communicate by using walkie-talkies/phones. They will be encouraged and supported to navigate around a programme or piece of software to enhance learning in other curriculum areas, as well as being taught about keeping safe online, such as through use of screen time.

Subject Documents