Creating a safe and fun digital world for all. 

Computing is such an important life skill. Technology is part of everyday life and for most of us, is essential to our lives at home and at work. Our aim at Cedars Manor School is to allow students to become passionate about this subject. We endeavour to teach them to become explorers and be curious about the world around them, to stay safe, to gain confidence using technology, to discover they can and will learn new skills and to develop their coding skills. 

Intent

At Cedars Primary School we follow a progressive programme of study where children meet and develop a range of skills that are built upon year after year. Starting in EYFS, pupils meet basic programming of algorithms and continue to develop their computing skills as stated in the progression document. We want our students to be creators, not consumers, and our broad curriculum – encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy – reflects this. 

Implementation

Computing is primarily taught in discrete one-hour lessons, as well as being linked to cross curricular subjects by individual class teachers. Having discreet lessons means that the children are able to develop depth in their knowledge and skills over the duration of each of their computing topics. Where appropriate, meaningful links will be made between the computing curriculum and the wider curriculum. At Cedars Primary School we use a skills progression document as well as Purple Mash for planning, this has helped to create a comprehensive series of lessons for each topic and ensures progression is evident from EYFS to Year 6. We are a SMART school and believe that Online Safety is essential in ensuring children are safe in the digital world. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education. Online Safety is both embedded within lessons where appropriate and taught discreetly for topical subjects and when necessary. The children all have access to Google Classroom and have their own login details, which has been shared with parents. Children learn to use a range of electronical and practical resources, such as; iPad, Chrome books, laptops, BeeBots and cameras.  

Impact

This is an ever-evolving subject; however, children are genuinely excited to meet, use and try new technology. We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. They will have a good understanding of their digital footprint and the impact of this on their future prospects, as well as being able to apply their computing knowledge to other areas of learning. Pupils understand how to be safe online and in the digital world and know the SMART rules. Children talk about their learning in Computing using appropriate and technical vocabulary and the way they showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence through reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills digitally through tools like Google Drive, saved work on the school network and observing learning throughout the school. Much of the subject-specific knowledge developed in our computing lessons equip pupils with experiences, which will benefit them in secondary school, further education and future workplaces. Outcomes at the end of Key Stage 2 is in line with other subjects and progress in computing is evident.