Inspire Technology (Computing)

Intent

At Larkrise Primary School, we want to Inspire our children through the Technology (computing) Curriculum. We have adapted our computing curriculum using Teach Computing. This is based on the Computing National Curriculum. 

The Technology (Computing) Curriculum also covers key aspects of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage where technology is used to enhance the seven areas of learning. 

Inspire Knowledge and Skills: We provide a computing curriculum that is designed to balance acquiring broad and deep knowledge alongside opportunities to apply skills in various digital contexts. Beyond teaching computing, we will allow children to apply and develop what they have learnt across wider learning within the Inspire Curriculum.

Inspire Creativity & Adventure: Computing at Larkrise intends to develop ‘thinkers of the future’ through a modern, ambitious and relevant education in computing. We want to equip children to use computational thinking and creativity that will enable them to become active participants in the digital world. It is important to us that the children understand how to use the ever-changing technology to express themselves, as tools for learning and as a means to drive their generation forward into the future.

Inspire Kindness: Whilst ensuring they understand the advantages and disadvantages associated with online experiences, we want children to develop as respectful, responsible and confident users of technology, aware of measures that can be taken to keep themselves and others safe online. The unit overviews for each unit show the links between the content of the lessons and the national curriculum and Education for a Connected World framework. These references have been provided to show where aspects of online safety, or digital citizenship, are covered within the Teach Computing Curriculum. Not all of the objectives in the Education for a Connected World framework are covered in the Teach Computing Curriculum, as some are better suited to Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education(PSHE).

Our scheme of work for Computing is adapted from the ‘Teach Computing’ Curriculum and covers all aspects of the National Curriculum. This scheme was chosen because it was created by subject experts and based on the latest pedagogical research. It provides an innovative progression framework where computing content (concepts, knowledge, skills and objectives) has been organised into interconnected pathways which can be found in the Technology (Computing) Progression Grids.

The Computing Curriculum is structured in units. For these units to be coherent, the lessons within a unit must be taught in order. However, across a year group, the units themselves do not need to be taught in order, with the exception of ‘Programming’ units, where concepts and skills rely on prior learning and experiences.

Each year the children will have the opportunity to explore the following areas of the Computing Curriculum.

• Computing Systems and Networks
• Creating Media
• Programming
• Data and Information

The units for key stages 1 and 2 are based on a spiral curriculum. This means that each theme is revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that theme. This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly. It also ensures that connections are made even if different teachers teach the units within a theme in consecutive years.

Implementation 

The Teach Computing Curriculum has been written to support all children. Each lesson is sequenced to build on the previous lesson's learning, and where appropriate, activities are scaffolded so that all pupils can succeed and thrive. Scaffolded activities provide pupils with extra resources, such as visual prompts, to reach the same learning goals as the rest of the class. Exploratory tasks foster a deeper understanding of a concept, encouraging pupils to apply their learning in different contexts and make connections with other learning experiences.

We are developing our learning resources for the Technology (Computing) Curriculum. We have invested in 90 chromebooks and our wireless infrastructure in the past two years. We also have high-speed internet with a dedicated school connection, which allows super-fast upload and download speeds. 

Like all areas of our Inspire Curriculum, we have used research evidence to develop our teaching and learning pedagogy. For more information, please see our Inclusive Quality First Teaching Key Principles.

Impact

By the time children in Year 6 leave us, we want them to have the following experiences and understanding: 

Inspire Knowledge and Skills: Children will have the knowledge and skills to be able to:

• Understand and use technology to enhance their learning across the Inspire Curriculum.
• Create and edit media, including music, audio, photographs and video.
• Develop their own websites.
• Understand the key principles of programming and coding to create their own simple games, quizzes and control robots.
• Use technology to understand, interpret and use data to answer questions. 

Inspire Creativity & Adventure: As part of the Inspire Technology Curriculum, children will be involved in the following projects:

• Use Raspberry Pi to write simple programmes
• Create their own building designs using 3D modelling.
• Create a website linked to the Inspire Curriculum.
• Use data programmes to create and interpret their own data.
• Use Scratch programming to create their own simple game.

Inspire Kindness: By the end of Year 6, children will have:

• A clear understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe online and when using technology.
• An understanding of being able to question material that they see online and the validity of this material.

More information on the impact of the Curriculum can be seen in our celebration Magazine, ‘Larkrise Look’.