At St Mary’s, computing is taught in discreet computing lessons weekly and developed further through cross curricular and topic learning. We teach the National Curriculum using both the Purple Mash and Teach Computing schemes of work, adapting and evaluating lessons to best suit the needs of our children. To implement this and encourage creativity and motivation, our children have access to a wide range of resources, including a class set of Ipads and Laptops, enabling them to access a variety of apps and software.
Within the academic year, our children will study computing in blocks with spaced repetition between units, ensuring appropriate progression and development on skills taught in previous years. At St Mary’s we teach a balance of the three key strands of computing, as laid out in the National Curriculum; Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy. Each strand is taught in every year group with the subject knowledge and skills becoming increasingly in depth and complex as the child moves through the school.
As part of Information Technology, children learn to use and express their ideas through writing or presenting as well as exploring art and digital media. We use a range of different software to develop children’s skills from stop motion animation, picture editing studios and Microsoft Powerpoint. Within Computer Science children are taught how to read, write and create algorithms and solve computational problems with practical experience in writing computer programs. Development of skills starts from using Beebots to experience algorithms in a practical setting to using Scratch to write and debug their own codes. In Digital Literacy children develop an understanding of safe technology use; applying these skills when being safe on the internet, looking at computer networks and using emails.
At St Mary’s we are aware of both the benefits and risks of technology which is why e-safety lessons are taught on a half term basis to prepare our children to stay safe online. Online safety is also communicated with all staff and parents to ensure good practice both at school and when at home.