Intent 

At St Michael’s, we understand the ever-increasing importance technology plays in the modern world. We aim to equip our pupils with the skills they will need to become digitally literate and resilient. We have chosen the Purple Mash Computing scheme of work from Year 1 to Year 6. The scheme of work supports our teachers in delivering fun and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all pupils to achieve to their full potential and have faith in their abilities. We are confident that the scheme of work more than adequately meets the national vision for Computing.

Implementation

We deliver Computing lessons through the use of the Purple Mash curriculum. This ensures that all three areas are taught and revisited throughout primary school, and there is a clear progression of skills and the objectives of the National Curriculum are covered. Staff will have CPD regularly to ensure they have a good knowledge of the subject, keeping up to date with the constant evolution of the digital world. We have a class set of laptops and tablets which we use to deliver the lessons. The use of computers and tablets across the curriculum is also encouraged to give children more practise using a variety of computer systems, and practising internet safety, as well as different ways of presenting their learning.

We strive to keep children safe online and provide them with the tools to do so, allowing them to be respectful online. As well as online safety units in Purple Mash, digital wellbeing is covered in our PSHE curriculum. We also support parents and carers in this area.

From EYFS, children are given exposure to some electronic devices through the iPads, takings photos and using the computer and interactive screen.

Impact

By the end of their time in primary school, children will have gained key knowledge and skills in the three main areas of Computing: computer science (programming and understanding how digital systems work), information technology (use of computer systems to store, retrieve and send information) and digital literacy (evaluating digital content and using technology safely and respectfully). Children will also be given the opportunity to use computer systems across the curriculum, enabling them to transfer the skills learned in Computing lessons and satisfy their curiosity for learning.

 In order to make sure this happens, we monitor the impact of computing in the following ways:

·         Teachers are consistently evaluating their pupils’ knowledge and skills in computing lessons, allowing them to spend longer on certain areas of the curriculum if necessary, or build this in through cross-curricular teaching in other subjects.

·         Work completed on Purple Mash is saved for teachers and leaders to check. 

·         The effectiveness of our Computing curriculum will also be monitored using pupil and teacher voice surveys.

·         Progress against the learning objectives is monitored and this is recorded on OTrack at the end of the Summer Term.