Computing

At Cronton CE Primary School our KEYS Curriculum is built around the National Curriculum, enriched to reflect the children and community we teach in. As a church school our Christian ethos and school values are the heart of everything we do.

We believe every child can be their BEST with our Vision statement reflecting this.

“I can do everything through God who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13

How computing links to our KEYS curriculum

At Cronton, we have designed a curriculum that meets the needs of all of our children. We recognise the importance that computing has in a world where technology, which is continuously evolving and improving, is fundamental to everyday life. Our computing curriculum ensures that all of the children leave school with a secure understanding of the three strands that underpin computing: computer science, digital literacy and information technology.

Key attributes of our Computing students at Cronton CE

• The ability to collaborate, communicate and express yourself effectively by choosing the right media and applications from a range of information, communication technology.
• Confidence and creativity to adapt technology and explore ideas.
• Curiosity to ask questions and the perseverance to want to know more about the online world.
• The ability to make connections and links between learning in maths, science and design technology with Computing.
• Resilience to be able to see the challenge of overcoming errors, bugs and mistakes as important and exciting steps to learning and discovery.
• Systematic thinking to break instructions, processes and systems down into small steps
• Adaptability and confidence to transfer and applying existing skills and knowledge to new situations and technologies

Intent

The curriculum is progressive and builds upon prior knowledge and skills taught throughout the year groups. Our aim is that by the time all children leave Cronton they are responsible, competent and creative users of information and communication technology, who can confidently analyse and solve problems involving technology.

Aims

The school’s aims are to:

• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum that is challenging and enjoyable.
• Develop pupil’s computational thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
• Meet the requirements of the national curriculum programmes of study for computing at Key Stage 1 and 2.
• To respond to new developments in technology.
• To equip pupils with the confidence and skills to use digital tools and technologies throughout their lives.
• To enhance and enrich learning in other areas of the curriculum using IT and computing.
• To develop the understanding of how to use computers and digital tools safely and responsibly.

The 3 main strands to the computing curriculum:

• Computer Science - in which children are given the opportunity to explore how applications and software are made through programming (coding) and how things actually work “under the bonnet” of our digital devices. They will develop their creativity, computational thinking and logic, to design digital solutions for the world around them. 

• Information Technology - in which children will use applications and develop their word processing skills to present their ideas. They will work creatively, linking with many of the other subjects in the wider curriculum, using a wide range of apps to create, save and retrieve data, music, art, photography, animations and their written work (plus more!).  

• Digital Literacy - in which children will become confident, creative, respectful, responsible online users. Children will develop online skills to safely explore, safely manage their own online image and their online relationships. They will also develop their understanding of the World Wide Web and the Internet it is built on. The children will also connect to many of the other curriculum subjects via their own research.

Implementation

Resources and access:

The school acknowledges the need to continually maintain, update and develop its resources and to make progress towards consistent, compatible computer systems by investing in resources that will effectively deliver the objectives of the National Curriculum and support the use of IT, computer science and digital literacy across the school. Teachers are required to inform the computing subject leader of any faults as soon as they are noticed. A service level agreement with Knowsley LA is currently in place to help support the subject leader to fulfil this role both in hardware & software. Computing network infrastructure and equipment has been sited so that:

1. Every classroom from Reception to Y6 has a computer connected to the school network and an interactive whiteboard with sound and video facilities.
2. There are three iPad Sync & Charge cabinets in school, one containing 30 USB ports and the other two containing 15 USP ports.
3. There are 8 Microsoft Surface Pro computers available for use in Y5 and Y6 
4. Internet access is available in all classrooms.
5. The iPads are available for use throughout the school day as part of computing lessons and for cross-curricular use.
6. Pupils may use IT and computing independently, in pairs, alongside a TA or in a group with a teacher.
7. The school has a service level agreement with Knowsley CLC whereby a computing technician visits schools on Thursday mornings every second week. 
8. A governor will be invited to take a particular interest in computing in the school.

Planning:

The school will be using the NCCE Scheme of Work works to fully meet the objectives of the National Curriculum for Computing and allows for clear progression in computing. Pupil progress towards these objectives will be recorded by teachers as part of the school's assessment recording system. 

Teachers must allow access for all pupils and plan, where necessary, to support individuals or groups of pupils to enable them to participate effectively in the curriculum and assessment activities. During any teaching activities, teachers should bear in mind that special arrangements could be made available to support individual pupils. This is in accordance with the school inclusion policy.  These children should be identified and discussed at pupil progress meetings to ensure that appropriate provisions and/or interventions are effected.   

Teachers regularly assess progress through observations and evidence. Key objectives to be assessed are taken from the National Curriculum to assess computing each term. Assessing computing is an integral part of teaching & learning and key to good practice. 

Assessment should be process orientated - reviewing the way that techniques and skills are applied purposefully by pupils to demonstrate their understanding of computing concepts. As assessment is part of the learning process, it is essential that pupils are closely involved.  Assessment can be broken down into;

• Formative assessments are carried out during and following short focused tasks and activities. They provide pupils and teaching staff the opportunity to reflect on their learning in the context of the agreed success criteria. This feeds into planning for the next lesson or activity.
• Summative assessment should review pupils' ability and provide a best fit ‘level’. Independent tasks provide a number of opportunities and scope for pupils to demonstrate their capability throughout the term. There should be an opportunity for pupil review and identification of next steps. Summative assessment should be recorded for all pupils – showing whether the pupils have met, exceeded or not achieved the learning objectives.                                                                                     
• We assess the children’s work in computing by making informal judgments as we observe the children during lessons.   Once the children complete a unit of work, we make a summary judgment of the work for each pupil as to whether they have yet to obtain, obtained or exceeded the expectations of the unit.

We record the results in our assessment files and we use these to plan future work, provide the basis for progress and to communicate with the pupil’s future class teacher(s).  The children’s work is saved on Seesaw. 

Lesson structure

This lesson structure has been designed to ensure the children learn more and remember, combining recapping with learning new knowledge and allowing children to make links. 

Impact

Impact will be measured through assessment throughout the Computing lessons and marking of work completed in Computing books (KS2) and Computing scrapbooks (KS1 & EYFS).

The impact of the Computing lesson will ensure that all children make good progress from their starting point and have the opportunity at working within the expected level and at greater depth. This will be shown at the end of each topic, by assessment tasks where progress and attainment can be shown.

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