Computing at Ferham Primary School 

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Intent 

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The understanding and use of technology is integral for everyday life.  At Ferham Primary School, we recognise the importance of providing our pupils with the knowledge and skills they need in order to access and flourish in a digital world.  By the end of Year Six, we want our pupils to be equipped with skills to apply their knowledge in different areas of computing, gaining a level of understanding which will equip them for the future workplace.   

Our Computing curriculum has been developed in line with the National Centre for Computing Excellence.  The curriculum is progressive and aims to support our pupils to become fluent and confident in using technology responsibly and safely.   

Implementation 

Pupils make progress in Computing by knowing, remembering and applying knowledge and skills they have learned in these three key areas:   

• Computer Science 

• Information Technology 

• Digital Literacy 

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Computer Science 

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Computer Science covers knowledge of computers and computation, including concepts such as data, algorithms and programming.  Our curriculum is rich in computer science knowledge as this underpins the whole of the subject, enabling pupils to make sense of the computing curriculum.  At Ferham Primary, our Computing curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to work with or without a computer to develop their computational thinking.  We aim for our pupils to become confident in generating algorithms and successfully debugging to solve problems.   

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Information Technology 

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Information technology provides a context for the use of computers in society.  It focuses on how computers can be used to create digital media, including text, image, video and sound.  Our pupils are taught how to design with usability in mind.  Computing units in digital media are progressive across the year groups and provide pupils with the knowledge of how computers are used in a range of contexts.  We use a spiral curriculum so that repeated encounters are built in to support the development of long-term memory knowledge.    

 

Digital Literacy 

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The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) defines digital literacy as the ‘skills and knowledge required to be an effective, safe and discerning user of a range of computer systems.’  For pupils to use computing devices effectively, they need to be taught how to use them.  Our curriculum supports our pupils to discern whether digital content is reliable.  This is linked with our E-Safety curriculum to ensure that subject content is appropriate for pupils at each stage of their education and pupils can make positive choices about the use of digital media. 

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Our Curriculum 

Computing is taught discreetly in a weekly computing lesson.  We also provide opportunities to apply the use of technology in other areas of the curriculum.  We use a spiral curriculum approach to progress skills and concepts from one year group to the next.  This ensures that learning ‘sticks’ and we use retrieval and explicit vocabulary teaching to start lessons in order for our pupils to make links to their prior learning and help them understand new knowledge.  The curriculum is structured into units for each year group, and each unit is broken down into lessons.  The lesson plans created by the NCCE to ensure that learning is well-sequenced and broken down into smaller steps.   

 

EYFS

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Although the technology strand was removed from the EYFS framework, at Ferham Primary School we recognise the importance of using computing and technology at EYFS.  Computing in EYFS will be focused on ‘tinkering’ – giving our pupils a taster of how technology can be used to support their everyday lives.  This may take the form of taking photos with a tablet, tinkering with a Bee-bot, doodling on an iPad or having a keyboard in the role play area.   We aim to ensure that pupils enter Year 1 with a strong foundation of problem-solving abilities and resilience.  By integrating computing into EYFS, pupils also begin to build their digital literacy and their understanding of e-safety.   

 

Key Stage 1

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In Key Stage 1, pupils learn what information technology is and its common uses beyond school.  Pupils learn to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content through the use of photography and creating music.  They learn how data is stored and presented, learning how to create simple tally charts and pictograms.  As part of computer science, pupils learn what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs carry out a sequence of instructions.  They begin to learn how to debug and solve simple problems.  Pupils have opportunities to write and test programs using a programmable robot and Scratch Jr.  Pupils learn how to communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Key Stage 2

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In Key Stage 2, pupils build on the foundations of computer science and computational thinking in Key Stage 1.  They learn how to use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output and generate appropriate inputs and predicted outputs to test programs.     

Building on their prior learning with algorithms, pupils in Key Stage 2 learn how to design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals.  They use logical reasoning to explain how a simple algorithm works and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs using the Scratch program; in Y5 and Y6, they learn physical computing using Microbits.   

They will learn how to 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.   Pupils will learn how to use search technologies effectively and be taught how to be discerning when evaluating digital content; respect individuals and intellectual property and use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly.    

 

Adaptation

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At Ferham Primary School, it is our ambition that all children should achieve their full potential.  Where appropriate, all pupils will be exposed to age-related expectations in Computing.  As a school we are aware that many of our pupils may not have regular access to technology at home so our curriculum is designed to be taught with and without computers so that the skills of problem solving and knowledge can still be acquired.  Teachers will adapt the lesson appropriately to meet the needs of their pupils.     

In the wider curriculum, we recognise the flexibility technology brings to allow pupils to access learning opportunities and access to technology is provided throughout the school day in every class. 

 

Impact

 

Assessment in Computing takes three forms: assessment for learning; assessment as learning; and assessment of learning. 

Assessment for learning in Computing is continuous as teachers adapt their teaching according to learners’ needs during lessons.  This may include additional scaffolding and modelling.   

Assessment as learning takes place at the beginning of each lesson as retrieval practise of previously taught units, lessons and objectives.  Vocabulary will be taught discreetly and returned to at the beginning of lessons to support the acquisition of ‘sticky knowledge’. 

In Computing, assessment of learning is measured over time, reflecting the intended curriculum.  We will measure how well pupils progress against outcomes for each of the four strands of computing.   

 

The subject leader measures impact through talking to teachers and pupils, lesson drop ins and a school evidence bank at the end of each unit.  The subject leader carries out pupil interviews to identify if the knowledge and vocabulary have been understood and transferred to long-term memory.