Computing

Computers have become a part of everyday life. For most of us, technology is essential to our daily lives, at home and at work. We want children to become autonomous, independent users of computing technologies, gaining confidence and enjoyment from their activities. We want the use of technology to support learning across the entire curriculum and to ensure that our curriculum is accessible to every child. Not only do we want them to be digitally literate and competent users of technology but through our computing lessons we want them to develop creativity, resilience and problem-solving skills. As well as the benefits to technology, we are also aware of the risks. This is why we want to prepare our children to stay safe online through the use of e-safety awareness sessions and safer internet days. We aim to ensure that children become digitally literate at a level suitable for their future education and their careers.
Children are designated one lesson of Computing learning every other week. We use Purple Mash as a cohesive scheme of work addressing the statutory aspects of the National Curriculum. Computing units are categorised into elements of:
*Digital Literacy
*Computer Science
*Information Technology
Children complete computing units half-termly, but digital literacy is embedded in all subjects and is used on a daily basis to enhance and support the learning of other curriculum areas. Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth. Children have access to iPads/ Chromebooks to support all areas of the curriculum and ensure keyboard/mouse skills are incorporated. Teaching staff follow a clear progression of skills which ensure all pupils are challenged in line with their year group expectations and are given the opportunity to build on their prior knowledge. To support teaching, staff can access a range of resources and planning including Purple Mash, Hour of Code, J2Code, Scratch and more. We work closely with 3Discovery who support with internet safety and skills development.
We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum that we deliver. At The Hayes, we encourage regular discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand the Computing curriculum aims. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills in the different computational components. Progress of our Computing curriculum is measured through outcomes and the record of coverage through work saved in pupils’ personal document folders and saved ‘to do’ content electronically.

The school teaches all the children about the importance of being safe on the internet. All the children sign an agreement that they will always abide by safe practice guidance. Please click here to access our E-Safety Page.