Computing

 The National Curriculum Purpose of Study states that:

 A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing has deep links with mathematics, science and design and technology, and provides insights into both natural and artificial systems. The core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.

Whilst the Computing Curriculum has an increased focus on Computer Science including developing pupils’ programming skills and their understanding of what happens ‘behind the scenes’, it is important that they also continue to develop their Digital Literacy and e-safety capability and our school curriculum us designed to reflect this.

Intent

Our Curriculum

Computers are part of nearly every aspect of modern life. Through teaching computing, we intend to equip children to participate in a rapidly-changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed and enhanced by technology. Computing skills and knowledge are a major factor in enabling children to be confident, creative and independent learners, which is what we want for all pupils at Earlham Primary School. We intend to give our pupils the knowledge and understanding that will be essential for a future which is going to be heavily reliant on computers and technology along with the necessary skills and experience to access the opportunities and challenges that they will encounter. This includes enabling them to be independent critical thinkers who can use their knowledge and understanding to problem solve. At Earlham Primary, we believe it essential that children learn how to use a wide range of technologies and are exposed to a variety of software to build their knowledge and confidence in computing. It is our intention to ensure that all our pupils receive this exposure and become familiar with many areas of computing through the teaching of our curriculum.

Implementation

At Earlham Primary School, teachers are encouraged to progressively develop pupils’ Computing skills and capability through discrete learning opportunities, and also to exploit this capability as a tool to support objectives in other curriculum areas meaningfully. These links include, but are not limited to, the use of a range digital devices in a wide range of contexts. Opportunities are provided for children to learn using technology as well as about the theory behind computing. These opportunities may well be presented within other subject areas (e.g. sequencing instructions in English, problems solving in Maths or isolating variables in Science). In this way Computing and the use of technology become integrated into the curriculum and are used as a truly beneficial tool for learning.

At Key Stages 1 and 2, the planning, organisation and delivery of the Computing curriculum is supported by National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) https://teachcomputing.org/.  Some units are also delivered using Barefoot Computing or Switched On (see Computing Curriculum Overview). 

In the EYFS, opportunities for the use of technology are an integral part of each area of learning and the school ensures that children have opportunities  to engage in Computational Thinking  (see appendix 1).

Assessment for learning will take place during lessons and at the end of modules to ensure that misconceptions are addressed and so that the children make good progress in their computing lessons

Computing also covers online safety (see Online Safety Policy for details) which is taught to the pupils regularly through Project Evolve to ensure they know how to use digital technology safely and responsibly at school and at home. Project Evolve cover all eight aspects of online safety: Self-image and Identity, Online Relationships, Online Reputation, Online Bullying, Managing Online Information, Privacy and Security, Copyright and Ownership and Health, Well-being and Lifestyle. More details about online safety at Earlham Primary can be found in our online safety policy.

Teaching and Learning Approaches

When delivering the National Curriculum for Computing, teachers are expected to employ a range of strategies and to use their professional judgement to decide on the most appropriate teaching and learning approach for the class, groups of pupils or individual pupils.

Approaches and strategies used may include:

• an ‘unplugged’ approach in order to develop their understanding of some of the underlying concepts of Computer Science
• ‘plugged’ activities which allow pupils to practise and demonstrate their levels of understanding.
• using presentation technology to demonstrate something to a group of pupils or the whole class
• leading a group or class discussion about the benefits and risks of technology • individual or paired work
• collaborative group work
• pupil led demonstrations / peer mentoring. NB - Where one pupil is used to demonstrate or teach a skill to others, the teacher must feel confident that this is of benefit to all those involved.
• Adapted activities planned to allow different levels of achievement by pupils or to incorporate possibilities for extension work.
• teacher intervention where appropriate to support a pupil, reinforce an idea, teach a new point or challenge pupils’ thinking.

Access and Inclusion

Each pupil’s access to technology varies greatly dependent on the nature of the activity they are involved in (e.g. some activities benefit from prolonged access to a computer whilst other are best served with brief access to a digital device for a focussed purpose). However, on average, pupils have approximately 6 hours allocated to Computing each half term using a mixture of unplugged activities and the following technology:

• Laptops
• Programming equipment (Scratch, Beebots, microbits)

In addition to discrete Computing sessions, opportunities to develop and extend Computing capability are provided in other curriculum areas and technology is used to support most other subject areas. All children have equality of access to appropriate technology in order to develop their personal Computing capability. When children are working in groups, we endeavour to ensure that their hands-on experience is equitable. We check resources, software and documentation to ensure that gender and ethnicity are reflected in a balanced way without stereotyping.

Children with access to technology at home are encouraged to use it for educational benefit and online safety guidance is offered to both pupils and parents where appropriate.

Extended Opportunities for Learning

The school uses a variety of online tools and environments to extend learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Our online learning tools allow pupils to access learning materials and tools anytime, anywhere and provide channels of communication to both adults and children alike and break down barriers to learning. Our online learning tools are also used to teach children the skills and capabilities they need to stay safe and well in the digital world. Other examples of Extended Opportunities for Learning at Earlham Primary School include:

• Google Classroom
• Times table Rockstars
• Scratch
• Ed Shed
• Numbots

Monitoring

The Computing Subject Leader follows a systematic and regular programme of evaluation and monitoring of the Computing curriculum, across the school. This is so that she / he can monitor the quality of education being provided to all pupils, including: • Checking that the school’s curriculum ‘Implementation’ matches its ‘Intent’

• Evaluating the success (or otherwise) of curriculum planning and delivery
• Having an awareness of impact and be able to demonstrate progression and attainment
• Having an overview of resource and staff training needs Monitoring is completed via a variety of methods including:
• Informal learning walks
• Monitoring of planning
• Work scrutinies
• Pupil interviews / pupils voice
• Parent feedback
• Staff feedback

As a result of monitoring, appropriate CPD opportunities are provided for staff on an individual, group and whole school basis in line with the school’s School Development Plan. A record of these opportunities is kept by the Subject Leader. 

Recording and Assessment

Pupils’ work is recorded in individual Computing folders.  Teachers use assessment for learning to gauge those who have met the overall objectives across the unit and those that require further support. 

At the end of a unit, teachers gather a random sample of pupil voice that highlights the learning and use the assessment slide at the end of lesson to gather children’s self-assessment. 

Where children are identified as requiring additional support, teachers adapt lessons so that pupils are supported by their peers or the adult in the class. 

Pupils’ achievement and attainment is measured against the relevant National Curriculum requirements at the end of each Key Stage and reported according to government guidelines (including statutory requirements for reporting to parents).

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is that throughout their time at Earlham Primary, our pupils will demonstrate progression in their computing skills and complete a variety of tasks and projects related to the computing curriculum.

Children will build on skills learnt in previous year groups and leave Earlham Primary with a broad understanding of computing and the ability to use their computing skills to help them solve problems and achieve outcomes. These skills will also translate into other areas of the curriculum including mathematics, science, design technology and art.

Finally, our pupils will leave with a solid understanding of online safety, the risks which they may face and how to deal with these risks (see our online safety policy for more detail).