Computing at Amberley Primary School

Curriculum Intent

At Amberley Primary School, we recognise that pupils are living in a rapidly changing world, in which ICT is playing an ever-increasing role. We aim, therefore, to equip children with the skills to adapt to new technology and to give them confidence to use ICT and computing skills to further their learning and assist them in everyday life.

Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate. This means they are able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology, at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.  Our curriculum has been designed to incorporate uses of technology such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, the Google Suite, Scratch and Scratch Jr., Kodu, Logo, SketchUp, as well as a variety of iPad applications.

As detailed in our overall curriculum intent, the teaching of Computing at Amberley embraces all three of our core values: nurturing, innovation and aspiration. By focussing on these three key priorities at the heart our curriculum we believe our children will be ready to successfully meet the challenges of the next stages of their education.

Aims

The school’s aims are to:

• Provide a broad, balanced, challenging and enjoyable curriculum for all pupils.
• 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 stimulate interest in new technologies.
• 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 by cross curricular use of ICT
• To develop the understanding of how to use computers and digital tools safely and stay safe online.

Our core values are the Golden Threads of our computing scheme:

Nurturing – We aim to develop the childrens respect and courage to use technology responsibly, positively and safely. We support children to have positive friendships and be considerate of others.

Innovation – We aim for the children to be creative and to use their prior and current learning to further their computing knowledge and skills. We encourage them to create unique pieces of work and solve problems using logical thinking and self evaluation.

Aspiration – We aim to develop skills that are fully transferable to allow children to become digitally literate now and in their futures.

Curriculum Implementation

At Amberley Primary School we teach discrete Computing lessons to develop knowledge, skills and understanding, whilst also providing a range of opportunities throughout school to employ Computing skills across the curriculum.

In EYFS, technology is embedded across all of the seven areas of the curriculum. It aims to ensure that children develop listening skills, problem solving skills and thoughtful questioning, as well as improving subject skills across the curriculum. Technology is integrated into the lives of young children, so we aim to ensure that children are fluent in computer literacy and e-safety. Computing in EYFS is centred around play based, unplugged activities. For example, taking a photograph on an iPad, exploring old computers and technology, playing games on the interactive screen and using mechanical and remote controlled toys.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, all class teachers follow the planning provided by North Tyneside computing staff, which has been distributed in an Amberley Computing long term plan. This planning ensures good progression and coverage across the primary age range, with prior learning being revisited and then built on across the key stage. Some schemes of work spread across a half term and some across a full term, depending on the content. Each scheme of work progresses to a final piece of work for the unit. Each week class teachers put pictorial or video evidence into the Computing evidence Google Drive using an app on their ipads. This saves into a school wide bank of evidence and includes details of the unit, task, lesson and links to the national curriculum. Three pieces of evidence will be collected each lesson from a variety of abilities and pupil groups including pupil premium children. The final piece of work is saved in class folders on the shared drive. These folders are write protected and unable to be changed by children.

To support the use of technology and the delivery of the curriculum, members of teaching and support staff have also undertaken the Apple accredited teacher’s course and work with members of staff from North Tyneside to aid delivery. Equipment to supplement learning can also be borrowed to be used in school to allow further engagement by pupils.

Each year extracurricular clubs are run in Key Stage 1 and 2 by staff allowing some children to practise their skills out of normal class time. Children meet after school for a sequence of weeks across a half term developing their coding skills to complete challenges created around developing and debugging.

As part of our extracurricular offer, Two children from each class (Years 2 to 6) are elected by their peers to be ‘Amberley Digital Leaders’ in which they have undertaken training as part of the Apple accredited teachers course and working with a range of staff both internal and external, provide support and technical assistance to fellow students and staff.

E-Safety and Digital safety is now integral in the lives of children and young people in their everyday lives.  Technology is a  powerful tool , which can open up new opportunities for everyone. This technology can stimulate discussion, promote creativity and stimulate awareness of context to promote effective learning, however using this is a proper and appropriate way can be difficult for children and young people to understand . At Amberley, we think it is paramount for children to feel confident and safe whilst using technology, our E-Safety curriculum has been designed working with staff from local schools and the local authority to highlight important rules and themes of which all children need to be aware of in order to be safe and confident digital citizens.

Curriculum Impact

After the implementation of this computing curriculum, children at Amberley Primary School will be digitally literate and able to join the rest of the world on its digital platform.  They will be equipped, not only with the skills and knowledge to use technology effectively and for their own benefit, but more importantly, safely.  The biggest impact we want on our children is that they understand the consequences of using the internet and that they are also aware of how to keep themselves safe online.

As children become more confident in their abilities in Computing, they will become more independent and key life skills such as problem-solving, logical thinking and self-evaluation become second nature.

Teachers use their observations, as well as scrutiny of completed work on Google Drive and the Amberley server, to assess who has met or not met the intended outcomes of a lesson. These children then receive in class support from the class teacher or further support from their peers. This information can also be used to inform groupings of the children the following lesson, enabling teachers to have a clear focus on supporting the needs of individual children. The curriculum is designed to be sequential, building on areas worked on in previous years, allowing children to build on their previous skills and allowing peer to peer support across many areas of the curriculum.  

Teachers assess children's progress within the computing curriculum against an agreed set of school expectations for each year group using the target tracker assessment system, which has been specifically adapted to the requirements of the curriculum by North Tyneside Schools. The expectations of children are high and we strive to best equip children for use of the technology throughout their lives both academically and socially. Assessment is then analysed by the Computing leads and data is discussed with staff.

E-Safety

For further information about E-safety in school, please see our dedicated E-Safety page at the link below:

https://www.amberleyprimary.co.uk/esafety/

ICT Related Policies

At Amberley Primary, we pride ourselves of preparing our children to keep themselves safe online. We have comprehensive ICT Policies that address eSafety and we address any eSafety issues as and when they arise.                      

Extra Curricular Clubs

KS1 had a great time at Computing club, where we coded using the Sphero Indi cars. Here are some photos of our work.