Our Vision for Computing

At Christ Church Primary, 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 as pupils move through school, they are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content.

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.

Pupils learn to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; they learn to recognise acceptable and unacceptable online behaviour and identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact in an ever-changing digital world.

Through engaging topics, projects and activities, we aim to nurture knowledgeable, computer-literate learners who can flourish in every aspect of our Computing curriculum and their future careers.

Our Computing Curriculum

We have designed a progressive, well-sequenced Computing curriculum throughout school, that has been carefully designed to enable children to develop secure, deep and fluent knowledge and skills. Our curriculum follows the National Curriculum programme of study for Computing and promotes the following areas:

• Computer science: Children can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. They are able to analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.
• Information Technology: We create skilled learners who can create, organise and manipulate information on a range of software for a main purpose. They can evaluate and apply information to solve problems.
• Digital Literacy: Children across school have opportunities to develop the ability to find, evaluate, share and create content using information technologies and the Internet in exciting, deep-thinking projects.
• Online Safety: Our curriculum aims to create knowledgeable children in how to keep themselves and others safe online in an ever-changing digital world.

Key Information

• We have digital leaders across school who support teachers and children in class with their expertise in computing and who contribute to our work on online safety.
• Online safety is taught in every year group for ten minutes per week, focusing on how we can keep ourselves and our information safe online from strangers.
• We have a range of afterschool clubs that focus on using a range of programs on computers.
• We take part in Internet Safety Day every year where we focus on a specific topic to keep us safe.
• All classes have a computing lesson every week during one half term. These exciting lessons focus on problem solving projects that require deep thinking and do not always involve the use of computers.
• Lessons involve a wide range of topics. From programming using a range of software to creating media such as websites. From understanding computer systems and networks to data handling on excel. Our projects are carefully selected and structured to build on prior skills.
• Computing features in other areas of our curriculum, for example Design Technology, Science and Maths lessons.

Developing Literacy through Computing 

We develop literacy through all areas of our curriculum, including computing, in the following ways: 

• using an increasingly broad vocabulary in computing lessons to extend children's language. 
• encouraging high quality oracy for example, through partner and team discussion, strategy planning and peer coaching.
• reading key information and blocks of code to gain an understanding.

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