Computing at Shakespeare Infant School

Intent

Children at Shakespeare Infant School are living in a world surrounded by devices, and technology is changing the lives of everyone. Through teaching computing we equip our children to participate in a rapidly changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology.

At Shakespeare Infant School we want our pupils to be able to thrive as digital citizens, who are confident and competent using a range of technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our pupils to understand that there is always a choice with using technology and we utilise technology (including social media) to model positive use. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology and social media is through education.

At Shakespeare Infant School, we encourage pupils to use technology to share their learning in creative ways. Our knowledge rich curriculum is balanced with computing skills to allow our children to become confident, creative and inquisitive learners who are able to be critical and challenge themselves. We understand and promote, the accessibility opportunities technology can provide for all our pupils.  

We encourage staff to try and embed computing across the whole curriculum to make learning creative and accessible and our learning values of thinking, independence, creativity and collaboration drive this.

We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding and hope by the end of Key Stage 1, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by teachers.               

Implementation

Our computing curriculum recognises that ICT is able to be taught both as a discrete subject as well as being woven through other areas of the curriculum.  Many of the skills are transferrable which provides a wealth of learning opportunities across the curriculum subjects including Art, D&T, Maths, Geography, Science, and English. Computing is taught once a week discretely and as regularly as possible in support of other areas of learning across the school.

Our teaching implements the computing National Curriculum which is comprised of 3 main parts; Digital Literacy, Information Technology and Computer Science. Knowledge and skills are taught progressively, allowing the children to embed their learning over time.

Information Technology involves using ICT purposefully as a tool for learning. Our children learn to search for information, use the keyboard to type text, make modifications to their work including changing the font size and colour, and to save and retrieve their work. The children use Ipads to take their own photos and videos and learn to manipulate these images. It is also the understanding of how ICT is used both in, and beyond school. Our children may experience ICT in the wider world from walking around the locality on one of our school visits and at home

Digital Literacy We teach e-safety as an explicit part of our curriculum through Computing, Wellbeing and PSHE. We discuss issues such as; keeping personal information private, trusting people and sources online, treating others online as we would in real life, posting images online, and what to do if anything makes children feel uncomfortable online. We also use the Jessie's World cartoons to introduce children to e-safety issues, as well as stories such as Smartie the Penguin and Digiduck.

Computer Science teaches the principles of information and computation.

It involves creating and debugging simple programs using algorithms. At Shakespeare Infant School we introduce the language of Computer Science in different contexts. We begin with using precise verbal instructions (algorithms) to carry out classroom routines or explain how to plant a seed. We then move on to using the Beebots and then creating their own game on Purple Mash using coding. The children will need to ‘fix’ their games and Beebot programs as they  go wrong, ‘debugging’ their own algorithms.

In Year R, ICT is taught through different strands of the Early Years Curriculum.  Through Personal, Social and Emotional Development our Reception children are encouraged to practise resilience and perseverance in the face of a challenge. An ongoing focus on Physical Development helps the children develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently. Through the Expressive Arts and Design strand we support the children to explore, use and refine a variety of digital artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings. In addition, children are encouraged to talk about the use of ICT in everyday life and one of the aspects of our wellbeing programme encourages children to talk about the importance of sensible amounts of ‘screen time’. The children will recognise that technology is used in school when they go on an ICT spotting walk. Our children have access to PCs at all times, take photographs on the iPads and experiment with remote control devices to begin experimenting with Computer Science.

Our children have access to a bank of laptops and iPads to support their learning. We use Purple Mash, Times Table Rockstars, Phonics Play and other software packages to aid teaching and learning. We have interactive screens in every classroom and these are used daily to further enable and enhance learning.

To ensure that we make Computing an engaging and challenging learning experience we:

• Keep up to date with the technological changes that go on in the world.

• Recognise that all classes have pupils with widely differing ICT abilities. This is especially true when some pupils have access to ICT equipment at home, while others do not.

• We provide suitable learning opportunities for all pupils by matching the challenge of the task to the ability and experience of the pupil.

This is achieved in a variety of ways, by:

• Setting common tasks which are open-ended and can have a variety of responses.
• Setting tasks of increasing difficulty (not all pupils complete all tasks).
• Giving pupils the opportunity to use a variety of hardware and programmes/apps.
• Having a clear overview of the curriculum within each year, showing the sequence of learning.

Impact

We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. We will constantly ask the WHY behind their learning and not just the HOW. We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning, development and well-being. Finding the right balance with technology is key to an effective education and a healthy life-style.

We implement our computing curriculum to help children realise the need for the right balance and one they can continue to build on in their next stage of education and beyond. We encourage regular discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand this.                                    

The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence through reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills digitally through tools like Purple Mash and observing learning regularly. Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes.

Please click on the following link for the National Curriculum Programmes of Study for Computing.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239033/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Computing.pdf