Our Computing Curriculum
Our Computing Co-ordinator is Miss Kate Warren
The purpose of computing in the National Curriculum is to equip pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. The core of computing is computer science in which the children are taught how digital systems work and put this knowledge to use through programming to create programs, systems and content. Computing ensures that pupils become digitally literate and develop their ideas through information and communication technology to prepare them for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world. The aims of computing in the National Curriculum include the children understanding and using algorithms, writing computer programs, and become responsible, competent, confident and creative users of IT.
Click here to view the full National Curriculum Programme of Study that we follow for Computing.
At Amble Links Primary School pupils in Year 1 to Year 6 take part in a weekly discrete computing lessons. Our pupils are encouraged to use IT to support their learning; this may be through access to Ipads and Chromebooks in the classrooms or at school clubs. The school provides pupils with access to a range of additional online resources including School360, Canva, Doodlemaths and Busy Things.
Our Computing Curriculum Intent
We explain to the children that in Computing lessons we learn about how computers work and how to use them to complete many different tasks.
Through the delivery of computing we aim to ensure that the children are equipped with the ability to solve problems and become confident, competent and creative users of a range information and communication technology to create content and express their ideas. We prioritise giving them the appropriate basic ICT skills required to competently use common applications used in many workplaces, search the internet effectively and become safe and respectful users of online services. We place a strong emphasis on learning key subject and topic based vocabulary. To ensure breadth, our computing curriculum focuses on the key areas of: Understanding technology, creating content, programming, word processing and data handling.
Early teaching is focused on developing appropriate basic skills through both direct instruction and experimentation before applying these across a range of devices and applications. Children are offered a range of opportunities to use and develop their computing skills in other subjects, where appropriate.
Online Safety
Our Online Safety Coordinator is Mr Paul Heeley
Throughout our computing curriculum, every opportunity is taken to discuss and teach the children how to stay safe online. Within each half termly unit, one session is dedicated to the discrete teaching of online safety. This is based on the Twinkl Online Safety scheme of work which is closely linked to the Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum which addresses critical issues facing children in a fast-changing world of media and technology. The innovative lessons teach students to think critically and develop the habits of mind to navigate digital dilemmas in their everyday lives.
Click below to download our Computing curriculum coverage maps and progression grids
