Intent

At Witherley C.E. Primary School, we intend to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that progressively meet the requirements of the National Curriculum Computing Programme of Study. This allows for a broad, deep understanding of computing and how it links to children’s lives, allowing children to apply the fundamental principles of computer science. We believe computing encourages pupils to use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programmes as well as allowing children to develop a richer digital literacy experience, as they document what they know and learn for others through blog posts, audio recordings etc. Computing nurtures children’s collaboration skills, as they work together and support one another in their learning. Alongside this, computing develops pupils' skills using technology to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content. Critical thinking and analytical problem-solving skills are also developed through computing, which enables our children to become responsible, confident, competent and creative users of technology. 

 

Implementation

At Witherley, computing is taught through a combination of building skills and subject knowledge using Twinkl Computing with a 2-year rolling programme. Computing is taught through a sequence of lessons intended to inspire pupils to develop a love of the digital world as well as giving teachers the confidence to deliver lessons containing revision, analysis and problem-solving. The attached overview clearly maps out Long-Term Plans showing the objectives of the National Curriculum that are taught.

What do we learn about in Computing?

• Basic Computer Skills
• E-Safety
• Word Processing
• Presentation Skills
• Data Handling
• Multimedia (sound, motion, text and images)
• Coding
• Programming
• Animation
• Computer Aided Design (CAD)
• Algorithms 
• Technology in our Lives

Foundation Stage

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, Computing is taught as an ongoing part of the Early Years Curriculum within different key areas. The areas of learning that incorporate computing within the Foundation Stage are:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Physical Development

• Understanding of the World

• Expressive Arts and Design

The Early Learning Goals that are specific to Computing in the Foundation Stage are:

• Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge.

• Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly. 

• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

Impact

We want our children to leave Witherley C.E. Primary School loving computing and growing increasingly confident in applying their computing skills and subject knowledge. Our computing curriculum facilitates sequential learning and long-term progression of knowledge and skills. Teaching and learning methods provide opportunities to recap acquired knowledge and skills. We want children to see the digital world as part of their world, extending beyond school. We will see children growing in resilience and showing good perseverance skills in computing as they progress their knowledge and skills into KS3 and are able to do more as computer scientists, becoming respectful digital citizens going on to lead healthy digital lives.  

 

What do we have to say about computing at Witherley?

"I like using Scratch and making sprites. You get to change how they move and which direction they go."

Bella (Year 6)

"I like coding. We do it in our computing club at lunchtime too. It's really important that we know how to use the computers safely and which websites to access."

Henry (Year 5) 

"My favourite thing about computing is adding hyperlinks to PowerPoint. We got to use these to create branching stories. Then we could click and continue our story on a different slide."

Noah (Year 4)

"We made stop motion animation using an application on the iPads. It was so cool to watch all the photos go together to make an animation. That was the best." 

Taylor (Year 3)

"I love using PowerPoint and changing the font, colour and size of my writing. You can make it look really fancy and insert pictures too."

Joe (Year 2)

"Using the BeeBots can be a bit tricky, but I'm really good at telling them which way to go now. It's so much fun."

Lori (Year 1)

"Drawing on the board is my favourite. You can make different patterns and colours when you click them. Playing the games on the board is fun too."

Evie (Reception)