Computing at Emmbrook Infant school equips children to use technology in a safe and respectful manner. It encourages critical thinking, problem solving, imagination and creativity through allowing children to create programs and communicate effectively in the modern digital world.
A balanced computing curriculum at Emmbrook Infant School enables the children to develop their understanding and use of technology through practical and exploratory opportunities using deliberate practice to develop their understanding.
As they move through the school, they will develop an understanding of how technology and digital systems work. Children develop their digital literacy, showing that they know how to use technology respectfully and safely. At the forefront of teaching and computing in our school is online safety. Our aim is to teach children how to manage risks safely when using technology and know who they can talk to if they are concerned or upset when using it.
Children engage and develop an understanding of computer science, knowing how to develop and create programs for a range of purposes.
The computing curriculum aims to develop children as computational thinkers to enable them to solve problems across the whole curriculum and life in general. “Computational thinking is an important life skill, which all pupils now need to develop. It is central to both living in and understanding our digitally enriched world. It is a cognitive process involving logical reasoning by which problems are solved across the whole curriculum and through life in general. “
(Computing at school 2015).
Our overall aim is to develop responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
Implementation
Foundation Stage
In the foundation stage, our young digital citizens develop a greater understanding of the world by recognising a range of technology that is used in their homes and in school. Through experimenting (tinkering) with a range of different equipment such as iPads, PCs, cameras, Bee-bots and mechanical toys, the children will begin to speculate on why things happen or how things work and interact with age-appropriate computer software. To enter KS1 with a strong foundation of Computing knowledge and hands on experience to ensure that children develop problem-solving abilities, listening skills and thoughtful questioning which also feeds into the other areas of learning across the curriculum.
Within class discussions the children will carefully consider how to use the technological equipment and software safely following our school rules and what they should do if they come across inappropriate content. The children will also explore how technology has changed through time by looking at old and new toys and comparing them to the technology we use today.
Children in reception have the opportunities to interact with a range of computer software and understand its purpose. They understand how to explore simple programs to broaden their knowledge of technology in the home and in school. They know information can be added, used for different purposes and retrieved from computers. By the end of the foundation stage children are able to safely use and explore a variety of programs and begin to learn how to keep themselves safe online.
Key Stage 1
In line with the national curriculum our essential learning objectives for computing at Emmbrook Infant School are to enable children:
- To be able to communicate ideas, using applications and devices across the curriculum
- To be able to code for practical and inventive purposes
- To be able to connect with others safely and respectfully
- To be able to collect, organise and manipulate data effectively
Teachers create a positive attitude to the use of technology within their school and reinforce an expectation that all children are brilliant learners who are curious, creative, resilient and enjoy digital learning. Teachers plan computing lessons using their own professional judgement, formative assessment and feedback from pupils. They use their professional judgement to determine how long to spend on a particular objective depending on the children’s progress.
Staying safe online is integrated into all areas of the curriculum. It is taught specifically in computing and within PSHE.
Children are given opportunities to explore and experiment with new programs and technology before they are given specific tasks. This is essential in building their creativity and confidence in the subject.
Computing lessons focus on collaboration and creativity by providing extended periods of time to work independently and with others to solve problems and develop the knowledge and skills to be computational thinkers. Children develop fluency in using technology for a range of purposes.
Computing technology is used across the curriculum as both an additional resource to stimulate learning (e.g. online maths programs) and as a creative learning tool (e.g. taking photos and videos and exploring art techniques).
Impact
Children should be able to confidently use information and communication technologies to support their future learning across all curriculum areas and within their wider lives.
A variety of methods are used to find out what the children know and understand both prior to and following each unit of work. Activities are differentiated to the different abilities and learning styles so that each child is given the opportunity to make progress considering their starting point.
We have developed individual assessment sheets with statements taken from the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. As each unit of work is covered, we consider the impact on future planning. We recognise children who are working at or beyond the expected level for key stage one, as well as identifying the children who will need additional support.
Computing monitoring includes subject leader reviews, lesson observations and/or learning walks and pupil questionnaires to ascertain both the quality of teaching and learning and the children’s attitude and feedback. This information is then used to inform further curricular developments and future resource planning and budgeting.