Computing Policy
Rationale
‘A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.’ Computing programme of Study, DfE, 2013.
Computing encompasses every part of modern life, and it is important that our children are taught how to use these tools and more importantly, how to use them safely. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – 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.
At Duke Street, we believe that Computing is an integral part of preparing children to live in a world where technology is continuously and rapidly evolving, so much so that children are being prepared to work with technology that doesn’t even exist yet. For this reason, we feel that it is important that children are able to become competent, confident users of technology; are able to problem solve and think outside the box.
Computing Programme of Study
We can analyse the Computing Curriculum through three interrelated strands: computer science, information technology and digital literacy. These strands are all equally important as they provide pupils with functional skills that are crucial for their learning both at school and outside school.
Computer science is basically the study of how computer systems work. Teaching children to think like a computer scientist helps them to understand how computers think when solving problems, which in turn promotes computational thinking. Children develop these skills through designing algorithms, debugging and writing programs. Children learn what a computer is, how computers work, how computers link / network together, what the internet is.
Information Technology focuses on how computer applications can be used in a creative way to design solutions for a wide range of problems. This strand of the curriculum equates to what was most of the areas from the old ICT scheme of work. Children should understand that technology is everywhere, be able to identify the technology they encounter and have a basic understanding of how it works. This will link to work on programming and algorithms.
Digital Literacy- Children need to be able to use technology safely. They need to keep their personal information private and treat other people with respect. If something goes wrong or they see something they do not like they should know what to do and where to go for help. As children get older, they need to know about how to use technology responsibly. As well as thinking about how their online behaviour affects others, they need to be aware of legal and ethical responsibilities, including respecting copyright and intellectual property rights, keeping passwords and personal data secure and observing terms and conditions for online services. Some of this strand is covered in ‘Educated for a Connected World’ document; and is taught through a mixture of Computing lessons and PSHE lessons.
Aims / Intent
At Duke Street, we want our children to be MASTERS of technology and not slaves to it. Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in their lives. Therefore, we want to model and educate them on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our children to be creators not consumers and our curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this.
As a school we aspire :
• To enable children to become autonomous, independent users of computing technologies, gaining confidence and enjoyment from their activities.
• To develop a whole school approach to computing, ensuring continuity and progression in all strands of the Computing National Curriculum.
• To explore their attitudes towards Computing and its value to them and society in general. For example, to learn about issues of security, confidentiality and accuracy.
• To use computing technologies as a tool to support teaching, learning and management across the curriculum.
• To enable the children to be ready for the ever-changing world of technology by becoming computational thinkers.
Implementation / Curriculum / scheme of work
By its very nature, the Computing curriculum is liable to change frequently. The plan for developing the curriculum and managing changes is outlined in the school’s Computing Action Plan which is updated at least once a term by the Computing Subject Leader. It includes proposals for future development of the curriculum, use of resources, staff training needs and long-term replacement of hardware. Not all the required changes can be made in the short term because of the cost and training time involved. The delivery of the computing curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2 will taught through the NCCE Teach Computing Curriculum. https://teachcomputing.org/curriculum
The school teaches all the children about the importance of being safe on the internet. All the children and adults sign an agreement that they will always abide by safe practice guidance.
See our online-Safety policy for more details.
The school has a set of chromebooks which enables every child to have access to technology in their computing lessons. The chromebooks are also available to be used for cross curricular purposes too. We have whiteboard technology throughout the school. We also have a trolley of iPads for use across the school. This results in our children leaving Duke Street as confident and responsible users of technology.
