St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Computing

Intent

We believe that every child should have the right to a curriculum that champions excellence; supporting pupils in
achieving to the very best of their abilities. We understand the immense value technology plays not only in supporting the
Computing and whole school curriculum but overall in the day-to-day life of our school.

We believe that technology can provide: enhanced collaborative learning opportunities; better engagement of pupils; easier access
to rich content; support conceptual understanding of new concepts and can support the needs of all our pupils.

Our aims:

• Provide an exciting, rich, relevant and challenging Computing curriculum for all pupils.
• Teach pupils to become responsible, respectful and competent users of data, information and communication
  technology.
• Provide technology solutions for forging better home and school links.
• Enthuse and equip children with the capability to use technology throughout their lives.
• Teach pupils to understand the importance of governance and legislation regarding how information is used,
  stored, created, retrieved, shared and manipulated.
• Utilise computational thinking beyond the Computing curriculum.
• Give children access to a variety of high quality hardware, software and unplugged resources.
• Equip pupils with skills, strategies and knowledge that will enable them to reap the benefits of the online world,
  whilst being able to minimise risk to themselves or others.
• Instil critical thinking, reflective learning and a ‘can do’ attitude for all our pupils, particularly when engaging with
  technology and its associated resources.
• Use technology imaginatively and creatively to inspire and engage all pupils, as well as using it to be more efficient
  in the tasks associated with running an effective school.

We also recognise and champion the importance on online safety. We ensure this profile is maintained and that pupil needs
are met by the following:

• Through our home/school links and communication channels, parents are kept up to date with relevant online safety
  matters, policies and agreements. They know who to contact at school if they have concerns.
• A curriculum that is threaded throughout other curriculums and embedded in the day-to-day lives of our pupils.
• Training for staff and governors which is relevant to their needs and ultimately positively impacts on the pupils.
• Our online safety policy (part of our safeguarding policy) clearly states how monitoring of online safety is
  undertaken and any incidents/infringements to it are dealt with.
• Scheduled pupil voice sessions and learning walks steer changes and inform training needs.
• Filtering and monitoring systems for all our online access.

Implementation

As St Mary’s, we have chosen the Purple Mash Computing Scheme of Work from Reception to Year 6. The scheme of work supports
our teachers in delivering fun and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all pupils to achieve to their full
potential. We are confident that the scheme of work more than adequately meets the national vision for Computing. It provides
immense flexibility, strong cross-curricular links and integrates perfectly with the 2Simple Computing Assessment Tool.

Early Years

• Early Years learning environments should feature ICT scenarios based on experience in the real world, such as in
  roleplay.
• Pupils gain confidence, control and language skills through opportunities to ‘paint’ on the interactive board/devices
  or control remotely operated toys.
• Recording devices can support children to develop their communication skills. This is especially useful for children
  who have English as an additional language.

Key Stage 1 outcomes

• Understand what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs
  execute by following a sequence of instructions.
• Write and test simple programs.
• Organise, store, manipulate and retrieve data in a range of digital formats.
• Communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private, and recognise common uses of
  information technology beyond school.

Key Stage 2 outcomes

• Design and write programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems;
  solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.
• Describe how Internet search engines find and store data; use search engines effectively; be discerning in
  evaluating digital content; respect individuals and intellectual property; use technology responsibly, securely and
  safely.
• Use logical reasoning to explain how a simple algorithm works 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 worldwide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration.
• Use sequence, selection and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output;
  generate appropriate inputs and predicted outputs to test programs.
• Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to
  accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.

Further details on which unit is taught when can be found on our curriculum overview page of the website.

Impact

Children will understand the importance and relevance of computing in our modern society; They will know what to do if they ever encounter something they are unsure of online and will champion online safety both in school and at home.

 

Programme of Study - Computing St Mary's Progression of Skills - Computing St Mary's Progression of Skills - Online Safety