Computing

At Beech Grove, we follow the comprehensive and carefully constructed 'Teach Computing' curriculum, on a two year rolling programme. Please follow the links below to see an overview of our Computing curriculum and progression in this subject: 

EYFS Overview Year A Overview Year B Overview Computing map & progressionVocabulary Progression Year A  Vocabulary Progression Year B

INTENT

At Beech Grove Primary School we are passionate about equipping children with the skills to use technology safely and independently in a rapidly changing world. Our high-quality computing curriculum is designed to enable them to use computational thinking and creativity to further understand the world we live in. 

Our curriculum maximises the deep links that exist between computing and other subjects such as mathematics, science and design and technology. The core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. 

Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. A key focus of our curriculum is to ensure our 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. Digital literacy also involves ensuring children can recognise and manage the risks technology may present. 

Our pupils have the opportunity to practise solving problems in subjects across  the curriculum using the skills of algorithmic thinking (clear, step-by-step instructions), abstraction (focusing only on important information and ignoring everything else), decomposition (breaking problems down into logical steps), recognising patterns, generalisation (finding the key facts) and evaluation (seeing what has worked and what hasn’t worked).

Our curriculum has been carefully sequenced to ensure each unit builds on the children's prior learning. Children have regular and frequent opportunities to use technology as part of their cross-curricular learning. 

IMPLEMENTATION

Pupils have the opportunity to learn how to program using a range of software and devices, starting with programmable toys and iPad applications, moving onto Scratch, BBC Microbits and HTML by the end of year 6 to create animations, games, interactive toys and websites. 

At the heart of our digital literacy provision is a comprehensive Online Safety curriculum which includes a termly assembly, half-termly lessons and regular cross-curricular learning.

Our children learn about key technologies such as how the Internet works and practise key skills such as effective use of search engines and typing. They make regular use of the school’s iPads, laptops and other technological devices routinely in their other studies. They learn how to take photographs and videos, to use iPads to animate using programming and stop-motion, as well as how to use photo editing tools.

We place a particular emphasis on embedding strong basic skills in four key areas which are fundamental parts of being IT-literate in today's world: making presentations (using Microsoft PowerPoint); word processing (using Microsoft Word); managing data on spreadsheets (using Microsoft Excel); and editing images (using Pixlr).

E-Safety plays a pivotal role in our children’s computing curriculum and is modelled throughout by our teachers. GDPR also plays an important role in allowing children to recognise what information is personal to them and who and when it is safe to share it. To do this effectively, children are taught a clear understanding of the meaning of personal information and recognise their own responsibility in safeguarding this. 

Our eCadet programme raises online safety awareness for the whole school community and coaches children to be online safety experts. We believe a strong understanding of these areas will enable children to access modern technologies and communicate effectively whilst developing an ever-increasing understanding of how to keep themselves safe from evolving dangers in the digital world. 

Throughout a unit of work, teachers assess the children's knowledge and skills as well as assessing any work they produce at the end. This information is used to record pupils' achievement against the objectives for that unit of work. Each child is recorded as either working 'below', 'at' or 'above' age related expectations at the end of each unit.  

IMPACT

Our pupils enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. We encourage our pupils to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning, development and well-being. 

Our pupils share, celebrate and publish high quality work, clearly demonstrating the knowledge and skills they have gained. 

Pupils leave our school digitally literate and confident at independently selecting appropriate tools and sources to support their learning and express themselves through technology.