Computing

Computing at Richmond Hill Primary Academy

Lead by Laura Dugdale

"A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world."

- National Curriculum.

Intent:

At Richmond Hill Primary Academy, learners are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of computer science. The computing curriculum at Richmond Hill engages children to develop computational thinking and creativity to help them to understand and adapt to a world in which technology changes rapidly. As our pupil’s safety is of our upmost priority, we ensure that e-safety is at the fore-front of our computing curriculum, sharing links with our safeguarding curriculum.

We believe that technology can provide enhanced collaborative learning opportunities as part of a broad and balanced curriculum; better engagement of pupils; easier access to rich content and support conceptual understanding of new ideas. The use of Purple Mash across the school underpins the curriculum needs across all these areas. Learners are taught the principles of information and computation; how digital systems work and how they can put this knowledge to use through programming. Children then build on their knowledge to create programs, systems and a range of other digital content.

The skills pupils learn are transferable to other areas of the curriculum but share deep links with mathematics, science and design and technology. Through the use of cross-curricular links with the Cornerstones Curriculum, pupils are shown the wide application that technology can have on their own learning. Our computing curriculum is designed to develop knowledge and understanding through quality first teaching which is sequential, transferable and will assist the children in becoming active participants in the digital world in the future.

Our school bases the teaching of computing on the National Curriculum through the use of the Purple Mash scheme. 

Our intent for computing is to ensure that all children:

• can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms, and data representation.
• can analyse problems in computational terms and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.
• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

This scheme of work is delivered from Reception through to Year 6, through a progressive model whereby age appropriate, specific themes are delivered to the children which are developed throughout each year group.

Implementation:

Computing at Richmond Hill is taught in a number of ways.

In our Early Years Foundation Stage, the approach is through cross-curricular learning with an emphasis on hands on experiences and is assessed through the Understanding the World, Early Learning Goal. Teaching is through context-based and role play experiences using many resources such as I-Pads and programmable toys - this is supported further through the use of the Purple Mash scheme.

From Year One upwards, we use Purple Mash as a cohesive scheme of work addressing the statutory aspects of the National Curriculum. As a school, we believe in delivering fun and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all pupils to achieve to their full potential.

By Year Six, our pupils are given more freedom to use other computing tools technology and coding.

Whilst our discrete Computing lessons use Purple Mash as a foundation for teaching, we also enjoy the flexibility of using Computing to enhance our Cornerstones lessons and further engage the pupils in leading their own learning. They are able to use technology imaginatively and creatively whilst also becoming efficient learners and critical thinkers. Cross-curricular teaching helps enthuse and equip children with the capability to use technology throughout their lives. We believe that this transference of skills can aid in teaching pupils the strategies and knowledge necessary to enable them to reap the benefits of the online world, whilst being able to minimise risk to themselves or others.

All Computing lessons begin with the children acknowledging the on-line safety rules which are adhered to across the school community.

Key Stage 1

• Understand what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs execute by following a sequence of instructions.
• Write and test simple programs.
• Organise, store, manipulate and retrieve data in a range of digital formats.
• Communicate safely and respectfully online, keeping personal information private, and recognise common uses of information technology beyond school.

Key Stage 2

• Design and write programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.
• Use sequence, selection and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output; generate appropriate inputs and predicted outputs to test programs.
• Use logical reasoning to explain how a simple algorithm works and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs.
• Understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world- wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration.
• Describe how Internet search engines find and store data; use search engines effectively; be discerning in evaluating digital content; respect individuals and intellectual property; use technology responsibly, securely and safely.
• Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.
• use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact

We use and follow the Purple Mash scheme of work from Year 1-6, ensuring consistency and progression throughout the school.

We recognise that computing is a specialist subject and not all teachers are computing specialists. Computing lessons are taught by our teaching staff with additional support from our member of staff in charge of IT Support. The Purple Mash scheme of work enables clear coverage of the computing curriculum whilst also providing support and CPD for less confident teachers to deliver lessons.

Lessons are broken down into weekly units, usually with two units taught per half-term. Units are practical and engaging and allow computing lessons to be hands on. Units cover a broad range of computing components such as coding, spreadsheets, Internet and Email, Databases, Communication networks, touch typing, animation and online safety.

Impact:

Our Computing curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes.
• Children can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation.
•  Children can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.
•  Children can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.
• Children are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology (school values)
• Pupil discussions about their learning; 
• Progress is measured through regular teacher assessments. These take place at the end of each unit of work taught and data is subsequently analysed.
• Evidence of pupil’s work done through Purple Mash is saved electronically in the children’s personal document folders.

Click Here for Purple Mash Scheme of Work Overview

Click Here for Purple Mash Skill Progression Document