Computing at Park

At Park, we have designed our computing curriculum to:

• Meet the requirements of the National Curriculum and Early Years Framework

• Be rich in knowledge that is meaningfully connected to what children already know

• Build a strong understanding of big ideas such as structures over their time at Park

• Develop empathetic citizens of now and the future, equipped and empowered to make a difference in an ever-changing world

• Be confident in using technology as part of their daily life

• Develop an awareness of the risks of the internet and know how to use technology safely

To achieve these aims, our subject leader has planned what will be taught in each year group and set this out in a long-term plan as you can see below.

Our computing subject leader has carefully selected the key designing and making concepts that we develop through your child’s computing curriculum. These concepts are:

Units of work have been selected to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum and to progressively return to these ideas, broadening and deepening children’s understanding each time.  This is mapped out in documents like those below.

To ensure children are using technology for a wide range of purposes and not just once weekly in a Computing lesson, we have invested in technology for the children to use as part of all lessons at Park. All children in KS1 have access to an individual ipad as this is more intuitive to use. For our older children in Y3-Y6, they use technology that is more sophisticated and each pupil has an individual allocated Chromebook to use. At Park, each child is set up with an individual Google Drive account so that they can store all of their work in one place and easily return to projects to add more to them.

At Park, we follow projects from the Kapow scheme of work. Kapow offers a structured, progressive curriculum for primary schools, covering digital literacy, computer science and information technology with clear lesson plans, engaging videos and built-in support to ensure quality first teaching for your child. Your child’s class teacher uses Kapow to plan lessons considering how to foster critical thinking, develop online safety and how the lesson will be adapted for individual pupil needs so that all children are able to access the same content.

Park Primary School is also proud to run a Digital Leaders program. They are a group of pupils who help promote the positive use of technology across our school. They support both teachers and pupils in using digital tools safely, responsibly and creatively to enhance learning. Our Digital Leaders meet once a week to help set up equipment, assist with new apps or devices and share their knowledge with others. They play an important role in encouraging online safety and digital citizenship through the school. Nearly a hundred students applied for these positions with two students being picked for both KS1 and KS2. By taking on this role, pupils develop confidence, teamwork and leadership skills while helping our school make the most of technology in learning.

To be sure that our curriculum is working for your child, we regularly check whether they have gained the knowledge set out in our computing curriculum.  Within lessons, we set up short activities to check what they have understood and remembered.  Where children show they have not understood or remembered some key learning, we will make adaptations for them within the lesson and change our planning for future lessons to address this and help them remember more.

At the end of the unit, we check whether children have remembered all of the key learning for the unit.  We make a summary judgement as to whether they have met Park’s expectations and learned what we expect them to.  We will inform you of your child’s computing attainment in their end of year report as well as regular chances to see what they have learned in school throughout the year.  We will also let their next teacher know, so that they can plan to meet your child’s needs in the next class.

Our computing subject leader and senior leadership team regularly review the assessments made in computing, look at your child’s g:drive and visit their lessons and end of theme celebrations to check whether our curriculum is working to help your child master key computing understanding.  We use this to reflect on what has been taught, how it has been taught and make further improvements to our curriculum.