Intent

Our intent at Christ Church is for children to use the technology associated with the computing subject to broaden their learning beyond their lived experiences. We aim for children to be inquisitive individuals who can use technology to explore, educate and develop. Children will approach projects creatively, using their knowledge and skills to select resources with confidence to enable problem solving in their own unique style.

In addition, by exposing children to a broad and exciting range of technological opportunities throughout their time at Christ Church, they will leave our school with the knowledge and adaptability to use tech analytically and artistically.

Implementation

Computing at Christ Church is thought of in three strands: information technology, digital literacy and computer science.

E-safety, part of digital literacy, is taught during the first half term of every year. From this point onwards, in addition to computing lessons, children are exposed to curriculum-enhancing experiences which enrich their cross-curricular learning. Children achieve the objectives of the computing curriculum, while using the technology to maximise their immersion within their learning.

Once knowledge of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality has been shared, children will utilise this to transport themselves to exciting places. With Augmented Reality, characters, artefacts and concepts come to life within the classroom.

As children progress through the school, creativity is the dominant theme of their computing education. They will enjoy creating animation, image editing, game creation, coding, office processing, video editing and website design to name a few. The children understand how this can not only impact their computing knowledge in school but also enhance future prospects.

Children begin their exploration of technology from FS2, where they are encouraged to use iPads to explore the world around them.

KS1 will focus on building the fundamental skills in areas of computing that develop across all year groups. Threads that run throughout all year groups are: programming, simulations, creating graphs/information graphics and accessing information on the internet. KS1 also supports the skills needed for animation and game creation.

In lower KS2, the children will develop these areas further whilst also exploring data logging, online resources, word processing. Year 4 develop the use of spreadsheets, presentations, online forms and video editing.

In upper KS2, as well as building on these skills from lower down in school, the children will work on website design. The children will build up the skills and knowledge to become confidently autonomous in their computing learning.

Impact

The impact will show in children’s confidence when using technology. We want children to build resilience when tackling new problems or programmes and use this transferrable skill throughout their lifetime, not just at Christ Church.

By broadening children’s knowledge, they will leave Christ Church at an advantage in relation to their cultural capital. Our children will have a more in-depth, wider knowledge of the computing and the world around them.