Intent

Technology is the future and here, at Abbey Gates Primary School, we aim to deliver a high-quality computing education. At Abbey Gates Primary School, teaching computing allows us to equip our children with the life skills that will enable them to be ready in our rapidly changing world, which is increasingly being transformed by technology. 

At Abbey Gates Primary School, we aim for our children to be digitally literate and knowledgeable around what computing and technology has to offer. During their time at primary school, we want our pupils to have a variety of computing and technological experiences to develop creativity, independence, resilience and problem solving skills. We also aim for the children to understand their responsibilities as members of the digital world. 

We want our pupils to be able to be successful in the future, where computing and technology will play a huge part in their lives. We want the children to understand how to be safe, to be confident and to enjoy themselves when using technology and our computing curriculum supports this in a variety of ways.

We want our pupils to understand that there is always a choice with using technology and as a school we utilise technology (especially social media) to model positive use. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education. Building our knowledge in this subject will allow pupils to effectively demonstrate their learning through creative use of technology.

At Abbey Gates Primary School, the computing curriculum is delivered from Purple Mash’s computing scheme of work. During computing lessons, children use a variety of devices including: Laptops, iPads and Android tablets. This gives the pupils the computing skills to use a range of devices and software. The computing lessons focus on the curriculum skills of: information technology, digital literacy and computer science. 

Equip - Through well-planned teaching, up-to-date technology and valuable learning experiences, children will become confident with computing and know how to stay safe.

Embed - Through regular computing lessons and cross-curricular activities, we will enthuse the children by highlighting success, exemplifying the possibilities beyond the subject.

Extend – We aim to ensure challenge for all through breadth of learning in Computing. Aim High from starting points maximizing learning opportunities for all children.

Enrich – We celebrate success and provide opportunities to highlight talent at Abbey Gates. We share our experiences by using technology and displaying this on our school website and twitter page. We invite experts into school to inspire our children for the future.

Key Concepts

Our Computing teaching encompasses 3 key concepts, these are developing an understanding of:

Safety - The condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger or risk online

Creation - Using technology to bring something into existence

Coding - Computational thinking to compose a program which achieves a specific goal.

Implementation

At Abbey Gates Primary School, computing is taught in discrete computing lessons. Staff use the ‘Purple Mash’ scheme, published by 2Simple. Every lesson in the scheme has been individually planned so that it can meet the needs of all of our pupils. The scheme has been closely referenced against the 2014 National Curriculum attainment targets, in order to ensure progression and coverage. Having discrete lessons means that the children are able to develop depth in their knowledge and skills over the duration of each of their computing units of work.

Where appropriate, meaningful links will be made between the computing curriculum and the wider curriculum. Employing cross-curricular links motivates pupils and supports them to make connections and remember the steps they have been taught. Some of our computing learning is not taught in specific lessons but rather it is repeatedly revisited across the year. Examples of this type of longitudinal learning are:

• Understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions
• Create and debug simple programs
• Use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
• Use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital Content
• Recognise common uses of information technology beyond school
• Use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.
• Understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
• Use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact. This is linked to our RSE curriculum and frequently revisited.

Teachers also provide learning to support our curriculum drivers – Possibilities, Diversity and Community. Examples of this in action are:

• Children use video recording technology to record a Haka dance. They then upload it to our school YouTube channel and share these videos with other schools.
• Whilst using Purple Mash software, children create academic games for children to use.

Impact

We want the pupils to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact that computing has on their learning, development, well being and their future lives. Finding the right balance with technology is key to an effective education and a healthy life-style. We feel the way we implement computing helps children realise the need for the right balance and one they can continue to build on in their next stage of education and beyond. We encourage regular discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand this.

The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work also shows the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence through reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills digitally through Purple Mash, Office 365 and by observing learning. 

When using Purple Mash, staff have access to the Purple Mash assessment tool that links to their scheme of work, which links to the objectives from the National Curriculum. During the units of work, the computing lead and the class teachers will be able to analyse and evaluate the impact the computing lessons are having on the pupils.

The impact of our Computing offer is measured through our monitoring cycle. This includes learning walks, pupil voice, planning scrutiny and curriculum intent reviews. Once reviewed the subject team feeds their findings into our action plan for improvement which teachers from each phase then take back to their teams for action.

Through POP (Proof of Progress) tasks, we assess and track Computing against our sequencing documents, ensuring children maintain a good knowledge, skills and understanding. In assessing we are looking for sustained mastery, inspired learners and children who are fulfilling their potential whilst having a good sense of enjoyment and achievement.

Below is an outline of the impact we are looking for in our pupils in the curriculum area of Computing:

• Children can articulate and explain what computing is.
• Children are equipped with skills and computing knowledge.
• Children have a passion and enjoyment for computing.
• Children are confident and are able to use technology safely.
• Children are equipped with extensive computing knowledge and vocabulary, which is embedded.
• Children use their imagination and creativity to create their own pieces of work.
• Children use computing in a variety of ways to express their individuality.
• Children can enjoy and appreciate a variety of technology.