Computing Curriculum

At Wallands Community Primary and Nursery School, we believe that computing and online safety are vital life skills, which run throughout our curriculum as well as in discrete Computing lessons. Across our entire school and curriculum, our children use a range of applications, operating systems and devices to help become proficient, safe, responsible and creative users of technology, software and online systems.

Outlined in our overview the children are exposed to a variety of mediums in computing. They use a multitude of different programs to enable them to access and learn a vast variety of computing skills as outlined in the National Curriculum.

Learning is broken down into 4 areas: Computing systems and networks, Creating media, Programming, Data and information. These areas are taught based on a spiral curriculum through KS1 and KS2. This means that each of the themes is revisited regularly (at least once in each year group), and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds on prior learning within that theme. This style of curriculum design reduces the amount of knowledge lost through forgetting, as topics are revisited yearly.

Using resources from the Teach Computing Curriculum, our learning is built around an innovative progression framework where computing content has been organised into interconnected networks. All learning outcomes for children across the key stages can be described through a high-level taxonomy of ten strands, ordered alphabetically as follows:

· Algorithms — Be able to comprehend, design, create, and evaluate algorithms

· Computer networks — Understand how networks can be used to retrieve and share information, and how they come with associated risks

· Computer systems — Understand what a computer is, and how its constituent parts function together as a whole

· Creating media — Select and create a range of media including text, images, sounds, and video

· Data and information — Understand how data is stored, organised, and used to represent real-world artefacts and scenarios

· Design and development — Understand the activities involved in planning, creating, and evaluating computing artefacts

· Effective use of tools — Use software tools to support computing work

· Impact of technology — Understand how individuals, systems, and society as a whole interact with computer systems

· Programming — Create software to allow computers to solve problems

· Safety and security — Understand risks when using technology, and how to protect individuals and systems.