Computing
Battle & Langton Primary School Computing Curriculum
Overarching themes and endpoints within the computing curriculum
There are 5 areas of study that run through the curriculum:
Computer Science: From early in KS1 children begin to consider the language of giving instructions. They develop this across areas of the curriculum, including using floor robots as a precursor to coding. Between Years 2 and 4 the children learn to utilise block coding to develop programs that perform tasks, run games and solve problems. They encounter many key concepts within the computing curriculum such as event handling and conditional formatting. In Years 5 and 6 children develop the knowledge of coding towards physical computing. They combine projects in Design and Technology to create products that are controlled by micro:bits
Information Technology: This aspect of study revolves around ‘knowledge of’ computers and their role in our everyday lives. Children begin by learning key vocabulary of everyday devices such as a computer. They learn to identify devices in other parts of their lives (such as a digital till scanner in a supermarket) and think about why the technology was developed. They learn about how the internet is maintained, and how machines connect to one another, as well as how search engines work.
Digital Literacy: As a crucial aspect of our digital lives, this aspect is embedded throughout the curriculum. However, we focus on its main aspects in three whole school Online Safety weeks spread throughout the year. They begin by learning about permission and who to ask for help when they are not sure; learn to develop secure passwords; learn about safe sharing and when to not share something; learn to identify online bullying and what to do when it happens; learn that technology isn’t always beneficial and that too much technology can be harmful; begin to be able to discern reliable sources of information from unreliable ones, and to identify when sources might be designed to manipulate the reader.
Creating Digital Artefacts: Children learn to use technology to create projects. They begin with learning the basics of word processing, which is then applied right through the school in other areas. Through the school they learn how to create digital music, learn the basics of desktop publishing and learn to plan, shoot and edit video. These skills are transferable into other curriculum areas where they will produce work in similar formats.
Data and Information: Children look at how digital technology can support us in working with large amounts of data. They learn how to collect data using digital data loggers, and manipulate said data in a spreadsheet.
Connected Learning Concepts:
Cause & Consequence: From an early point in the curriculum, children learn to equate action with reaction. They learn that all technology is reliant on human instruction, and discover the importance of giving clear and unambiguous instructions in order to ensure the desired outcome. They learn to trace back instructions that they have given a friend, programmed into a floor bot or into a block coding program to the point where it went wrong. This encourages children to accept that errors happen, even when unintentional, and misunderstandings occur even at a non-human level. This links with the children’s development of empathy within the PSHE curriculum, where they learn that other people can easily mis-interpret well-intentioned words.
Evaluation & Improvement: Once the error tracing aspect of cause & consequence is embedded, children can learn to dispassionately evaluate their work and find an improvement. ‘Debugging’ is an essential element of computer coding, and this type of error tracing and fixing is key to this disciplinary knowledge.
For further information about the curriculum please speak to your child's teacher or make an appointment to see Mr Alexander