St Michael’s believes that every child should have the right to a curriculum that champions excellence; supporting pupils in achieving to the very best of their abilities. As a school, we have chosen the Purple Mash Computing Scheme of Work from Reception to Year 6. The scheme of work supports our teachers in delivering fun and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all pupils to achieve to their full potential. We are confident that the scheme of work more than adequately meets the national vision for Computing. It provides immense flexibility, strong cross-curricular links and integrates perfectly with the 2Simple Computing Assessment Tool. Furthermore, it gives excellent supporting material for less confident teachers.
At St Michael’s, we understand the immense value that technology plays not only in supporting the Computing and whole school curriculum but overall in the day-to-day life of our school. Our aims are to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Computing whilst also providing enhanced collaborative learning opportunities, engagement in rich content and supporting pupil’s conceptual understanding of new concepts which support the needs of all our pupils.
“A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world…core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content.” National Curriculum 2014
Our Computing curriculum aims to develop the heart and mind of every child. Computing teaching at St Michael’s has deep links with Mathematics, Science and Design and Technology and our aim is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum whilst ensuring that pupils become digitally literate and digitally resilient. Technology is ever evolving and we aim to develop pupils who can use and express themselves, develop their ideas through, information and communication technology at a suitable level for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.
The aims of our Computing curriculum are to develop pupils who:
· Are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
· Know how to keep themselves safe whilst using technology and on the internet and be able to minimise risk to themselves and others.
· Become responsible, respectful and competent users of data, information and communication technology.
· Can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
· Can analyse problems in computational terms and have repeated practical experience writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.
· Can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation.
· Become digitally literate and are active participants in the digital world.
· Are equipped with the capability to use technology throughout their lives.
· Understand the importance of governance and legislation regarding how information is used, stored, created, retrieved, shared and manipulated.
· Have a ‘can do’ attitude when engaging with technology and its associated resources.
· Utilise computational thinking beyond the Computing curriculum.
· Understand and follow the SMART E-Safety rules.
· Understand the E-Safety messages can keep them safe online.
· Know who to contact if they have concerns.
· Apply their learning in a range of contexts, e.g. at school and at home.
· Know where to locate the CEOP button and how to use it.
Implementation:
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in computing, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Computing is a foundation subject in the National Curriculum and at St Michael’s implementation of the computing curriculum is in line with 2014 Primary National Curriculum requirements for KS1 and KS2 and the Foundation Stage Curriculum in England. This provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each key stage.
Computing teaching at St Michael’s will deliver the requirements of the National Curriculum through half-termly units. Teachers plan using our Computing Progression Model 2019-20 which highlights the knowledge, skills and vocabulary for each year group and is progressive from year to year. Our Computing progression model is broken down into three strands that make up the computing curriculum. These are Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy. Computer Science underlines the knowledge and skills relating to programming, coding, algorithms and computational thinking. Information Technology underlines the knowledge and skills relating to communication, multimedia and data representation and handling. Digital Literacy underlines the knowledge and skills relating to online safety and technology uses all of which are covered at St Michael’s whether combined or discreetly. Our Computing Progression Model is supplemented by the Purple Mash scheme of work which we follow from Year 1-6, ensuring consistency and progression throughout the school.
We recognise that computing is a specialist subject and not all teachers are computing specialists. The Purple Mash scheme of work enables clear coverage of the computing curriculum whilst also providing support and CPD for less confident teachers to deliver lessons. All teachers at this school are Purple Mash trained.
All teachers use the Purple Mash scheme of work alongside the Computing Progression Model. Computing lessons are broken down into weekly units, usually with two units taught per half-term. Repetition of a unit does not mean pupils are repeating an activity, it simply means pupils are building on established skills whilst also embedding previous concepts. Units are practical and engaging and allow computing lessons to be hands-on. Units cover a broad range of computing components such as coding, spreadsheets, internet and email, databases, communication networks, touch typing, animation and online safety.
When teaching computing, teachers should also follow the children’s interests to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced. Teachers should ensure that ICT and computing capability is also achieved through core and foundation subjects and, where appropriate and necessary, ICT and computing should be incorporated into work for all subjects using our wide range of interactive ICT resources.
Through our Purple Mash subscription, our teachers can deliver thematic, cross-curricular lessons that also follow children’s interests and provide flexibility. Purple Mash has an online portal of age-appropriate software, games and activities as well as topic materials and materials to support children’s learning in other subject areas for all key stages. Through pupils computing lessons they will also use the Purple Mash software to ‘make music’ using the 2Sequence program, design and make using the 2Animate software and make links with maths through spreadsheets using 2Calculate.
Computing teaching at St Michael’s is practical and engaging and a variety of teaching approaches and activities are provided based on teacher judgement and pupil ability. We have a wide range of resources to support our computing teaching including iPads, laptops, bee-bots, webcams, floor roamers, video recorders and cameras. Teachers and pupils are also aware of the importance of health and safety and pupils are always supervised when using technology and accessing the internet.
Pupils at St Michael’s are fully encouraged to engage with ICT and technology outside of school. Each teacher and pupil have their own unique Purple Mash login and password. Computing work can be stored and saved using pupil log in details and homework or ‘2do’s’ can also be set for pupils to access and complete tasks at home that link with their current class learning. Each class has a display board that also displays a range of computing/ICT related work. Parents at St Michael’s are also encouraged to support the implementation of ICT and computing where possible by encouraging the use of ICT and computing skills at home during home learning tasks.
Impact:
Monitoring standards of teaching and learning within Computing is the primary responsibility of the Computing Leader. All teachers are expected to keep an online portfolio or track children’s work using Purple Mash. This portfolio must contain work samples from the Computing curriculum taught for the year group.
Monitoring will be achieved through:
· Learning scrutiny.
· Learning walks.
· Observations.
· Pupil voice.
· Teacher voice.
· Reflective teacher feedback.
· Learning environment monitoring.