“It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out”
                                                                                                                                                                  Proverbs 25:2

Statement of Intent
                                                                                                                                                

St Mary’s believes 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. Wherever we can, links are made with “real-life” professions and contexts which rely on ICT to make Computing real, relevant and purposeful. We achieve this by providing a rich, diverse curriculum, underpinned by our school’s goal of enabling every member of our school family to have a ‘Love for Learning’. 

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.
• 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.

Implementation

As a school, we have chosen the Kapow Primary 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 flexibility and strong cross-curricular links.

The Kapow Primary scheme is designed with three strands which run throughout:

• Computer science
• Information technology
• Digital literacy

It is organised into five key areas, creating a cyclical route through which pupils can develop their computing knowledge and skills by revisiting and building on previous learning.

The implementation of Kapow Primary Computing ensures a broad and balanced coverage of the National curriculum requirements, see National Curriculum mapping document, and our ‘Skills showcase’ units provide pupils with the opportunity to learn and apply transferable skills.  Where meaningful, units have been created to link to others subjects such as science, art and music to enable the development of further transferable skills and genuine cross-curricular learning.

Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work as well as unplugged and digital activities.  This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles.  Knowledge organisers for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary.

We have a class set of Ipads and 2 class sets of laptops, these can be used by children during the children’s timetabled computing sessions and throughout the week for cross curricular learning.

To 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, we teach online safety through or RSE curriculum as well as the computing curriculum.  Parents have an online safety newsletter regularly to strengthen our partnership with parents to safeguard our children online.

Impact

After implementation of St Mary’s computing curriculum pupils should leave us equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and be active participants in the ever-increasing digital world.

Children will:

• Be critical thinkers and able to understand how to make informed and appropriate digital choices in the future.
• Understand the importance that computing will have going forward in both their educational and working life and their social and personal futures
• Understand how to balance time spent on technology and time spent away from it in a healthy and appropriate manner
• Understand that technology helps to showcase their ideas and creativity. They will know that different types of software and hardware can help them achieve a broad variety of artistic and practical aims
• Show a clear progression of technical skills across all areas of the National curriculum- computer science, information technology and digital literacy.
• Be able to use technology both individually and as part of a collaborative team
• Be aware of online safety issues and protocols and be able to deal with any problems in a responsible and appropriate manner
• Have an awareness of developments in technology and have an idea of how current technologies work and relate to one another
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Computing

Free software and websites to help develop computing skills

Please see below a list of free software or websites that will help your child develop their computing skills.

• Scratch Scratch is an increasingly popular programme that allows users to create games and animations.

• Kodu Kodus is a free programme that allows users to create games. It is 3-D and is compatable with X-Box controllers.

• Inkskape Inkskape is a free open source graphics editor. It is used in school predominantly as a design tool.

• Sketch up Sketch up allows 3-D drawings to be created. It has been used this year in Computing lessons. It has also been used to support Mantle of the Expert lessons. As an example, Year 4 used this program to design and draw a new bridge linking Kent and Essex.

• Terregan Classic Terregan is used to create realistic landscapes by controlling a variety of variables.

• Audacity Audacity is used to create audio files. Children can record multi-layered mp3s. This is used in school to record music. It has been used to record audio stories with sound effects.

• Isle of Tune Isle of Tune is available for both tablets and for desktop computers. Using this software children can create pieces of music with repeating patterns. 

• BBC Bitesize - Key Stage One BBC Primary Computing is an excellent website that discusses various topics related to coding.

• BBC Bitesize - Key Stage Two BBC Primary Computing is an excellent website that discusses various topics related to coding.

• Code.org UK

• Code.org UK is another excellent free website. Children are able to use this website to work through a series of tutorials looking at coding.

Useful websites 

• Scratch Great site for children to practise computing skills. Recommended for KS2

• BBC Bitesize - What is the internet? Find out what the Intenet is...

• BBC Bitesize - What is a computer? Find out what a computer is.

• BBC Bitesize - How can a computer help you to learn?Find out more about using computers.

• Blockly learn computer programming skills- fun and free

• Idea Digital Awards Free mini online courses in subjects including computing

• Hour of Code Learn to code with these short challenges

• BBC Dance Mat Learn to touch type. Recommended for KS2