Intent

At Elworth Hall, we want pupils to be MASTERS of technology and not slaves to it. Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in students' lives. Therefore, we want to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our pupils to be creators not consumers and our broad curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this. We want our pupils to understand that there is always a choice with using technology and as a school we utilise technology to model positive use. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education. Building our knowledge in this subject will allow pupils to effectively demonstrate their learning through creative use of technology We recognise that technology can allow pupils to share their learning in creative ways. We also understand the accessibility opportunities technology can provide for our pupils. Our knowledge rich curriculum has to be balanced with the opportunity for pupils to apply their knowledge creatively which will in turn help our pupils become skilful computer scientists. We encourage staff to try and embed computing across the whole curriculum to make learning creative and accessible. We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding and hope by Upper Key Stage 2, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by teachers.

Implementation

Teachers use the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) curriculum to teach high-quality Computing lessons across all year groups. Teachers create a positive attitude to computing learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Computing.

• Digital Literacy skills are embedded in the wider curriculum and used as part of everyday teaching and learning.

• Key vocabulary in introduced to the children in small manageable amounts to enhance learning not overwhelm memory.

• We build learning upon skills taught in the previous year.

As children develop their knowledge and understanding they become more confident at selecting appropriate hardware and software to solve problems and complete challenges independently.

• Children are offered regular ‘Tinkering Time’ especially when new equipment or programs are introduced. This allows children to discover new knowledge and skills themselves and become more resilient learners.

• Children are offered real life learning examples and situations in which technology can be used to help solve a problem.

• Safety is a key element to the computing curriculum and Online Safety is taught in addition to Computing lessons, although links will always be made where appropriate.

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 lifestyle. We feel the way we implement computing helps 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 Seesaw 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.