Computing

Computing Rationale PDF

Intent

At Hawthorns we want our pupils to be MASTERS of technology and not slaves to it. Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in students' lives. Computing at Hawthorns school intends to create opportunities for all pupils to be part of the ever changing digitial world. Through an ambitious, relavent and engaging curriculum we can equip our pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to become respectful, responsible and confident users of technology.  Where appropriate, our pupils will also be aware of the steps that can be taken to keep themselves and others safe online.

We want our pupils to be creators not consumers, this will be achieved through high quality discrete teaching of

comuputing in 4 key strands;

1.What is a Computer?

2.Communication: Multimedia

3. Communication: Data
4. Programming & Algorithms

Online safety and digital literacy are woven through these strands where appropritae. Pupils will also have multiple opportunies to apply what they have learnt across the wider curriculums in school.

At the early stages, our curriculum intends to provide children with the opportunities to explore and engage in the world around them in a multi sensory way. Beyond this, children will learn how they can take control of, and use a range of technology in their learning and leisure environments. Finaly, where appropriate, the curriculum will provide children with the knowledge and skills to use computing to develop the world around them in school, their community or eventually employment.

Implementation

At Hawthorns, we use the Sheffield SEND computing scheme of work. The scheme covers the 4 key strands of;

1.What is a Computer?

2.Communication: Multimedia

3. Communication: Data
4. Programming & Algorithms

Each strand contains a number of individual units, for example 2c. Photographs, 4a. We control technology, 3b. Sorting. The majority of the units contain 3 levels of differentiated activities for pupils working at three approximate levels: -

Reaching Out: for students who are ready to start engaging with some subject-specific learning, but need support to access activities. Equates roughly to the old P5-6 levels.

Stepping on: for students working at the pre-key stage 1 standards, with greater independence in completing activities. Equates roughly to the old P7-8 levels.

Climbing up: for students completing work at Key Stage 1 level of the National Curriculum Some units may not include activities for all levels.

Digital Literacy and Online safety are woven through each strand where appropriate.

There are also a small number of extension units, containing activities that are suitable for pupils working above

National Curriculum year 2 level (Red levels).

Each unit contains a number of activities and resources for delivering the content. This provides a number of different ways of teaching the same concepts to pupils whose rate of progress is slower than in mainstream settings. It is not envisaged that every activity is taught in one go, rather the teacher can choose a suitable task that fits with other topics being taught, or to move on from what has been taught previously.

During a half-term a combination of units from one strand may be taught to develop knowledge, for example a class might investigate Sequencing Instructions before applying what they have learnt in programming Bee-Bots. A combination of units may also be used with a very mixed-ability group to ensure all learners are included and stretched.

Cross-curricular delivery

The scheme was written so that individual units could be taught as part of a larger cross-curricular topic, or to support other subjects such as English, maths and science together with life skills. Please see the attached document for an example of MTP cross curricula planning for ‘My Body’ computing using the 3 differentiated levels.

Long-term planning

The computing curriculum should include content from all four strands. Here is a suggested structure and weighting:

Impact

We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. We will constantly ask the

WHY behind their learning and not just the HOW.

We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning,

development and well-being. Finding the right balance with technology is key to an effective education and a healthy life-style.

We feel the way we implement computing helps children realise the need for the right balance and one they can continue to build on in their next stage of education and beyond.  We encourage regular

discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand this.

The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our

curriculum.  We also collect evidence of progress through reviewing pupil’s knowledge by observing

learning regularly.  Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through high quality evidence collected using Evidence For Learning.