"Programming is a skill best acquired through practice and example rather than from books"
Alan Turing
Through our computing curriculum, we want all our children to be digitally literate - be able to use, and express themselves and develop ideas through, information and communication technology at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world. We would like them to be able to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, analyse problems in computational terms, evaluate and apply information technology and be responsible, competent and creative users of information and communication technology. Throughout our computing curriculum we remain mindful of safety issues and support children in understanding how they can keep themselves safe and keep a positive self-image in the light of increasing social media advances.
Computing at Ladbrooke is taught using the ‘Purple Mash’ scheme. Computing is taught for one hour a week by a specialist teacher who teaches across KS2. In KS1 computing is taught by class teachers.
The Purple Mash Computing scheme of work contains a range of units covering the national curriculum. The plan covers the three areas of the curriculum – Computer Science, Digital Literacy and Information Technology. Online safety is taught throughout Purple Mash and is also built into PSHE lessons.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, devices available for children to play with in Nursery and Reception include interactive whiteboards, iPads, digital cameras, audio recorders, light boxes, torches and electronic timers. Through experimenting and playing with these, children form their own mental model of how they work.
In terms of computational thinking, the Early Years environment offers ample opportunities to solve problems – whether it is completing jigsaws; continuing a repeating pattern or working out how to transport water from the water butt to the mud kitchen. Examples of how this is encouraged through adult questioning include:
- Logical reasoning What will happen if you do this? How do you know?
- Algorithms What do you need to do to solve this? Is there a better way?
- Decomposition Can we break this problem up? Could we each do different jobs to solve the problem?
- Evaluation What went well? Which way worked best? What would you do differently next time?
Children are introduced to the concept of programming through playing with Bee-Bots. These simple programmable toys allow children to experience the direct relationship between pressing a button and the way the Bee-Bot moves. They can also literally put themselves in the place of the device to experience how the program runs.
The year-on-year progression of skills can be easily identified as there are six distinct areas of focus. These are explained as follows:
Click below to view the shared display boards for each year group.
Enriching the currriculum
This year, our year 6 children had the opportunity to take part in a STEM project delivered by Skewb Climate. In this project, the children took on the role of an RAF disaster relief team member tasked with providing aid to an area devastated by an earthquake. Working as a team the children used and refined their STEM skills to complete various tasks. Could they use their geography knowledge to navigate the terrain to find civilians in need of help? Were they be able to calculate how much aid cargo is needed using maths? Please see the slideshow below. All the children worked really well together and the team delivering the project were very impressed with the children's skills.