Computing

Vision

At the Nar Valley Federation we want our children to be masters of technology. We are living in a world where technology is everywhere and plays a pivotal part in our children’s lives. Therefore, we want to enable our children to be ambassadors of computing, creators not consumers, which will be encouraged and supported by our high quality computing curriculum. We aim to reduce the technology gap for children of different backgrounds to ensure that all have the opportunity to develop a love for computing and transferrable skills in this area to set them up for the modern world. We want to develop a safe and healthy ethos of using technology and that it is instilled in our children that there is always a choice when using devices.

Intent

The Nar Valley computing curriculum is planned to equip children to use computational thinking and creativity allowing them to become skilful computer scientists. We aim to impart these fundamental skills through five strands which include: computing systems and networks, creating media, data and information, programming and e-safety. Through these five strands, we aim ensure our pupils are fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding, and by Upper Key Stage 2 we hope that children are independent and confident to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by staff. Through links with other curriculum subjects, including mathematics, science, design and technology and PSHE, we encourage children to develop strong cross-curricular links to support their understanding across these subjects, thereby deepening their understanding and application of technology to become digitally literate.

Implementation

At the Nar Valley Federation, children from Y1 to Y6 will be taught computing within a spiral curriculum covering each of the five strands per year following the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) curriculum. This is taught once a week for 45 minutes to 1 hour to give children enough time to develop these computational skills. This allows children to develop upon previous learning, to deepen their understanding and to gain more skills, which are taught through both physical technology and unplugged lessons.

In YR, the children have access to technology within their continuous provision environment, such as iPads, Bee-Bots and static computers. In these classroom settings, during free-flow time children have the opportunity explore, be curious and tinker with technology.

In Y1, children are taught the specific units within the NCCE curriculum to give them strong foundations which can be built upon during their school life. In Y2/3 classes, children are taught on a Year A/Year B cycle to ensure all required units are covered within two years. In Y4/5/6, children are taught on a Year A/Year B/Year C cycle to ensure all required units are covered. We have deliberately chosen the sequence of units within our cycles to guarantee that children are able to build upon previously learnt skills and develop their technological understanding. For more detail on the specific units please see the ‘Curriculum Map’ document.

Spirituality in our Curriculum

Through our computing curriculum, children are given a variety of opportunities to be creative and expressive with coding, programming and computer-aided design. Throughout the school, children are encouraged to be safe and kind while using the internet and to take on the role of encouraging others to be so too. Through units such as 'Connecting Networks', children are encouraged to consider and wonder about the infinite possibilities for use of the internet; how far and wide the internet reaches (such as through diagrams showing Wi-Fi connections across the world); how it reaches other humans in the world and how the internet can support multinational working. The KS2 computing units also enable children to consider courageous advocacy through looking at charity campaigns and how we can support others.