Computing at St. Mary’s 2022/2023
Intent Statement
Through the study of computing including internet safety, St. Mary’s children will develop an understanding of digital literacy, information technology and computer sciences. Children will become confident and competent with programming; will know how to use technology safely, including all mobile devices, and will be able to report unsafe activity or content appropriately including through CEOP.
Rationale and our learning sequence
The National Curriculum for England states the following:
“A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing has deep links with mathematics, science, and design and technology, and provides insights into both natural and artificial systems. The core of computing is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.”
At St. Mary’s we have developed our Computing Curriculum in conjunction with materials from Purple Mash to ensure that at all stages of their learning journey our children are equipped with the following skills:
- Become confident and safe users of technology including on mobile devices
- Develop an understanding of and be able to apply different concepts of computer science including programming with algorithms and data representation
- Develop practical skills and experience writing programs to solve problems.
Additionally this learning often supports the wider curriculum as the level of the pupil’s skills develop. Our computing curriculum overview tracks the sequence of learning for our children and seeks to build on prior learning at all stages of the learning journey so that children are able to refer to prior learning experiences when accessing new learning and deepening skills and understanding over time.