Computing

At Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, we promise to prepare children for their future by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills that will equip them for an ever- changing digital world.

Growing up as ‘Digital Natives’, knowledge and understanding of ICT is of increasing importance for a child’s future both at home and for employment. Our Computing curriculum focuses on ensuring a progression of skills in digital literacy, computer science, information technology and online safety to ensure that children become competent in understanding technology and using it safely. Our intention is that Computing also supports children’s creativity and cross curricular learning to engage them and enrich their experiences in school. We promise to equip our pupils with the skills that they will require throughout their lives to engage them in becoming digital creators rather than just passive consumers.

To ensure a broad range of skills and understanding, planning is supported by the Rising Stars ‘Switched On Computing’ scheme of work. Computing is taught across three main strands: digital literacy, computer science and information technology. These strands are revisited repeatedly through a range of themes during children’s time in school to ensure the learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed.

Within digital literacy, children develop practical skills in the safe use of ICT and have the opportunity to use a rich variety of digital tools and technologies to, communicate, collaborate, create, present and evaluate.

Online safety is embedded in the curriculum, building the resilience of children to online issues progressively and appropriately. We ensure lessons are accessible to pupils of different ages and abilities, such as pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), or those with English as an additional language. As well as being taught through the Computing curriculum, issues related to online safety are planned into all relevant school lessons such as PSHE education, as well as Sex and Relationships Education. In addition, online safety sessions are incorporated through relevant national initiatives such as Safer Internet Day and Anti-bullying week. Online safety procedures are communicated with all staff and parents.

In Computer Science, we teach children to understand and apply the fundamental principles of abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. They have a repeated practical experience of coding and writing computer programs in order to solve problems.

As part of information technology, children learn to use and express themselves and develop their ideas through ICT for example writing and presenting, as well as exploring art and design using multimedia.

At Corpus Christi, we use G-Suite for education as an online learning platform so that pupils can share and save work in school and complete remote home learning projects. We ensure all pupils are able to access this online learning platform by providing hardware in school and where possible at home. We currently have 90 Chromebooks that are used across Key Stages 1 and 2 to teach Computing lessons and to enhance teaching and learning in other curriculum subjects.

The impact of our Computing curriculum will ensure that when children leave Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, they are competent and safe users of ICT with an understanding of how technology works. They will be equipped to apply their skills in Computing to different challenges, enabling them to fully participate in modern culture.