Greave Primary School

Intent

“We are intending to deliver a Computing curriculum that engages and includes all learners, with the main aim of equipping them with lifelong skills that they can use beyond primary school.”

At Greave we aim to create responsible, confident and enthusiastic learners who have a secure subject knowledge with all areas of computing so that all children make at least good progress. The aim for computing in particular, is for children to develop a lifelong love and excitement for computing to prepare them for life after school. Our computing curriculum is structured so children are able have the opportunity to experience all fundamental aspects of computing such as logic, algorithms and data presentation. We also challenge our children to analyse problems and have repeated opportunities to write computing programmes, such as Scratch, in order to solve such problems. A message that runs through the core of Greave is the safe, respectful and responsible use of computing to identify where they can go for help if they’re concerned about content or contact on the internet or any other platform.

In Key Stage 1, children are starting their in-school journey using technology and we aim for them to be exposed to programmes on as many digital platforms as possible such as iPads, interactive whiteboards and computers. Teachers at Greave will provide children with the chance to access different platforms on a regular basis and will teach children how to create and debug simple programmes, use logical reasoning, use technology purposefully and recognise common uses of computing beyond school.

When the children progress into Key Stage 2, their technological journey continues and advances to deepen their love and knowledge of computing. We design, write, debug programs that can solve problems, use sequence and selection to work with a variety of forms of input or output, use computer networks including the internet and use logical reasoning to explain how simple algorithms work.

Across the whole of Greave, computing is used in a cross curricular capacity through units such as word processing, data entry and using search engines.

Implementation

Computing is taught using the 2014 National Curriculum as its basis. To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in computing, we implement a curriculum thatis progressive throughout the whole school. In EYFS, computing is covered in the ‘Technology’ section of Understanding the World and is delivered through continuous provision. Children in nursery and reception have the opportunity to play games, draw pictures, move mechanical objects and use technology to deepen their own understanding of computing.

We encourage children to develop their confidence in using computers in real-world contexts by giving them a range of web apps that they can access at home such as MyMaths, Class Dojo and Google Classroom (for home learning.)

At Greave, we regularly audit staff strengths and areas they would like to develop. 

To implement the curriculum we have a computing suite, iPads and laptops. 

Impact

By the end of the year we want to have confident, responsible and most importantly safe computer technicians who thoroughly enjoy the variety of units covered in our inclusive curriculum. Children will have been given the opportunity to access computing through the use of cross curricular teaching. Children should leave their current year group with a greater and deeper understanding of what a good computer technician looks and behaves like, and how they can use those skills to benefit them in life beyond school.

It is important for us to understand that the progress of the children should not be defined by hitting the next data point, rather they should be engaging with the curriculum that we have developed, which, in turn, will show progress.