Computing
Coding is today's language of creativity. All our children deserve a chance to become creators instead of consumers of computer science.
- Maria Klawe
Intent
This ambitious curriculum is designed to sufficiently prepare children for the modern technological world, hoping they feel confident to explore, learn and utilise technology effectively while keeping themselves and others safe. This curriculum covers three fundamental areas of computing that are outlined in the National Curriculum: computer science, information technology, and digital literacy.
Implementation
The school follows a curriculum created by Kapow Primary which breaks the three core areas of computing into 5 distinct modules. Across each year group the following areas are covered: programming; computing systems and networks; creating media and data handling. Year groups 1-6 include an additional online safety module at the beginning of each year. Although Early Years do not have a specific module on Online Safety, they are exposed to discussions relating to online safety in other areas around school.
In Early Years, children begin with using a computer: learning what a keyboard is, how to log in and out, and practising mouse control including clicking and dragging. They move on to using instructions for programming, exploring hardware through photography and finish off the year with an introduction to data.
By Year One, the children improve their mouse skills, delve into algorithms, digital imagery and end with making a virtual Bee-Bot.
In Year Two children begin to ask: what is a computer? Breaking it into parts to understand them better. They are then introduced to debugging alongside further understandings of algorithms. A chance to explore the International Space Station is up next, finished with programming using Scratch Jr.
By Year Three the children are delving into networks, journeying inside a computer and learning to use devices other than iPads. They finish with more programming opportunities on Scratch.
In Year Four, children are given an opportunity for collaborative learning – using spreadsheets and sharing forms. Further coding is done using Scratch before they investigate weather satellites and forecasts and end with a computational thinking module.
Year Five is a chance to delve into search engines, learn about the Mars Rover and computer architecture before creating a stop motion animation. To end, the children use new software, Sonic Pi, to create sonic soundtracks and musical storytelling.
Year Six’s module on Bletchley Park and the history of computers ties nicely in with their WW2 topic before they prepare for secondary school with a move to Big data, AI, and an introduction to Python.
Impact
Throughout the curriculum, children are given various ‘skills showcase units’ – a chance to combine and apply skills and knowledge gained, from a range of the five key areas listed above, to produce a specific outcome. There is a keen focus on learning through talk and learning to talk within this curriculum. Kapow Primary allows pupils opportunities to develop their oracy skills by:
- Communicating and solving problems collaboratively in groups or pairs.
- Building on the ideas of others and using discussions to plan programming projects.
- Articulating their thoughts, processes and reasoning (e.g. when debugging).
- Explaining and justifying their decisions during problem-solving tasks.
- Presenting their final outcomes to an audience, enhancing their public speaking skills.
- Evaluating the final outcomes of peers’ work
More broadly, the key end points are outlined below:
Computer Science
- Understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation.
- Analyse problems in computational terms and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs to solve such problems.
Information Technology
- Evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
Digital Literacy
- Responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
Assessment
Children are constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Children are assessed against the learning objective and each unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher to be used as both a prior knowledge check and an end-of-unit assessment.