At Greenholm we want all our children to be competent and confident in their independent use of ICT, so they can communicate, be safe and apply their skills to current and emerging technologies.
Implementation
Computing
All children in the school receive at least one hour of taught computing per week, which aims to teach the computing element of the curriculum. The purpose of this is to teach the children the different elements of programming, using simple instructions for KS1 and becoming increasing more complex as they move through the school. This is taught using a range of engaging technologies: Beebots, Probots, 2simple programming software and Scratch. Pupils in both year 5 and 6 also have the opportunity to take part in Code Club – an after school club for children to explore programming using a range of algorithms to create different games.
Digital Literacy
The second element of the ICT curriculum is linked to digital literacy, which focuses on applying technologies to everyday uses, i.e. word processing, photography, search engines, etc. These skills are linked to theme and taught in other subjects, allowing children to develop their knowledge independently and through a real-life context.
E-safety
Thirdly, e-safety plays a large role in the teaching of ICT at Greenholm. We, as a school, believe that this is crucial to ensure that the children are aware of the dangers and risks that the internet poses as well as having the ability to keep themselves safe. E-safety is taught through appropriate and specialised projects for each year group, in the first half term and is linked closely to PSHRE to promote well-being and healthy mental health.. The children are able to explore this curriculum through the arts, using media and creativity to present their projects. For example, year 6 will be producing an infomercial to help teach others, while year 3 will be creating a 3D model of a safe gaming character. A parent and child workshop will also be held during the second half of the Autumn term, which aims to consolidate what the children have learnt at school and apply it at home.
Impact
The computing curriculum planning aims to ensure that all pupils are confident when using a range of different technologies for different purposes. It aims to provide the tools for pupils to develop the fundamental understanding of e-safety so that children keep their selves safe, avoid danger and have a deep understanding of how their actions can affect others; taking responsibility for their own behavior online. It aims to foster computational and critical thinking with problem solving and creativity lying at the heart of the computing curriculum.