At St. Nicholas Priory CE VA Primary School, our curriculum vision is to  prepare our learners for their future by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills that will enable them to be creators of content and confident users of technology in an ever changing digital world. Our Computing curriculum focuses on a progression of skills and knowledge  in Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy so that children become competent in safely creating, using and understanding technology.

Intent

At St Nicholas Priory CE VA Primary School, we aim to prepare learners for their future by giving them the opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills, that will enable them to be creators of content and confident users of technology in an ever changing digital world. Our computing curriculum focuses on a progression of skills in computer science, information technology, and digital literacy so that children become competent in safely creating, using and understanding technology. These strands are revised repeatedly through a range of themes during children’s time in school to ensure the learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed. Our intention is that computing also supports children’s creativity and cross curricular learning, through choice of topic, to engage children and enrich their experiences in school.

Implementation

Our curriculum aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability or additional needs, to flourish and to become the very best creator of content and user of technology they can possibly be. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children. To ensure a broad range of skills and understanding, computing is taught across three main strands: Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy:

• In Computer Science we teach children to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including: abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. Also, to analyse problems to computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems. 
• As part of Information Technology, children learn to use and express themselves and develop their ideas through ICT, for example writing and presenting as well as exploring art and design using multimedia.
• Within Digital Literacy, children understand how technology is used outside of school and how the internet supports the World Wide Web. They develop practical skills to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly,  recognising acceptable/unacceptable behaviour and knowing ways to report a concern about content or contact.

We also teach a progression of Computing vocabulary to support children in their understanding.

At Priory, we give children access to a wide range of technology and good quality resources. Online safety is taught with a focus on Digital Literacy but also covered throughout the other strands where appropriate.

Impact

We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. The units of work are repeatedly revised throughout the children’s time at school to ensure the learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed. The implementation of this curriculum ensures that when children leave Priory, they are competent creators of contact and confident users of technology with an understanding of how technology works and supports their everyday lives. They will have developed skills to express themselves and be creative in using digital media and be equipped to apply their skills in computing to different challenges going forward. 

Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes.