Computing at St. Michael's
Intent
At St Michael’s, we understand the ever-increasing importance of technology plays in the modern world. We aim to equip our pupils with the skills they will need to become digitally literate and resilient. By the end of their time in primary school, children will have gained key knowledge and skills in the three main areas of Computing: computer science (programming and understanding how digital systems work), information technology (use of computer systems to store, retrieve and send information) and digital literacy (evaluating digital content and using technology safely and respectfully). Children will also be given the opportunity to use computer systems across the curriculum, enabling them to transfer the skills learned in Computing lessons.
Implementation
• We have a class set of laptops and tablets.
• We deliver Computing lessons through the use of the Purple Mash curriculum. This ensures that all areas are taught and revisited throughout primary school, and there is a clear progression of skills.
• The use of computers and tablets across the curriculum is encouraged to give children more practise using a variety of computer systems, and practising internet safety, as well as different ways of presenting their learning.
• We strive to keep children safe online and provide them with the tools to do so. As well as online safety units in Purple Mash, digital wellbeing is covered in our PSHE curriculum. We also support parents and carers in this area.
Impact
• Teachers are consistently evaluating their pupils’ knowledge and skills in computing lessons, allowing them to spend longer on certain areas of the curriculum if necessary, or build this in through cross-curricular teaching in other subjects.
• Work completed on Purple Mash is saved for teachers and leaders to check.
• The effectiveness of our Computing curriculum will also be monitored using pupil and teacher voice surveys.
• Class progress against the learning objectives is monitored using the Purple Mash assessment tool.
Google Learning Festival 2023
Recently, a few children from year 6 had the opportunity to attend the 'Google Learning Festival' at St George's, Ascot. They had the opportunity to look at how Chromebooks can be used across the curriculum including coding robots, creating a virtual reality and creating a presentation on one area of history.
BUPA coding day
Years 3 and 4 took part in ‘Bupa Coding Day, and we were joined by Richard and Sarah from BUPA who helped us for the morning. We carried out some activities to create algorithms to help a robot pack a healthy lunch. Some great computational thinking and problem solving skills were required!
