Computing

Computing at John Perryn

Intent

We want the children at John Perryn Primary School to be developers, engineers and experts of technology. Children need to understand this integral part of society, and it is essential that our curriculum combines knowledge with opportunities for children to discover and experience technology so that they become digital citizens.

The National Curriculum states that:

Children across the school are taught the fundamentals of computer science including different reasoning, logic, algorithms and data representations.
They are taught to analyse problems in computational terms and have practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve problems.
Children evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
All children are responsible, competent, confident, creative users of information and communication technology.

In line with this, all children are exposed to a wide variety of information technology, computer science and digital literacy. We want children to understand the choices involved when accessing technology and show them positive models of doing so safely.

We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education and open, trusting conversations within the safety of the classroom. We therefore focus closely on being S.M.A.R.T with a <3 so that all children can make safe choices when using information technology and computers linked to our PSHE curriculum. Building our knowledge as pupils, teachers and parents in this subject will allow pupils to effectively demonstrate their learning through innovative use of technology.

We recognise that technology can allow pupils to share their learning in creative ways. We also understand the accessibility opportunities technology can provide for our pupils. Our knowledge rich curriculum has to be balanced with the opportunity for pupils to apply their knowledge productively which will in turn help our pupils become skilful computer scientists, technicians and artists.

We strive to embed computing across the whole curriculum, where possible, to make learning inventive and accessible. We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding and hope, by Upper Key Stage 2, children will have the independence and confidence to choose the best tools, programmes and skills to fulfil the task and challenge set.

Implementation:

Each lesson follows a similar structure and begins with our SMART with a <3 initiative promoting the rules of internet safety. Click here to find out more.

SMART

They recap what the letters mean and what different letters can look like across the internet as well as advice they can give to each other about different aspects of the rule. Lessons are then laid out using PowerPoints based on themes.

Each lesson dives into using a wide range of computational vocabulary, programmes and information. Computing requires children to problem solve, inquire, research and be creative in order to use technology in the safest and most effective ways. We try to ensure that our computing curriculum links with other areas of the curriculum to mirror the role technology has in all aspects of our lives.

In some lessons children use programmes and software on computers for different purposes, whilst in other lessons they use devices such as a camera, touchpad or physical equipment to enhance their learning journey into understand technology and how it is used in everyday life for different purposes.

To further prepare children to navigate the online world, we have identified children to be online safety ambassadors which we call the Online Safety Agency (OSA). The children receive weekly training on privacy, online safety and fully understanding how to keep themselves safe on popular online sites. As of Spring Term they run an open classroom where children across the school are invited to come in and discuss anything they have questions about regarding online safety during a lunch time once a week. Children are trained to listen carefully, write down notes and give clear advice after discussion with their lead teacher. Children will also be given clear safeguarding advice and any safeguarding issues will be escalated to the DSL where necessary.

By the end of each year children will have dived deeply into computer technology, safety and information technology. They will have a good understanding of an aspect of coding and how to problem solve using different devices or programmes to best design a game, web page, quiz, artistic creation, video or podcast recording. Each child at John Perryn primary school will know where they can go if they have any queries about online safety and identify how to be S.M.A.R.T with a <3 when using technology.

Whole School Overview

Updated: 03/11/2022 411 KB

To find out more about the computing curriculum, please contact either the school office, speak to your child's class teacher or to the computing subject coordinator Ms. Wareing.