Intent

At St Johns we follow a topic based curriculum and, whilst we follow a separate scheme for Computing set by the Birmingham Grid for Learning, we adapt this to exploit curriculum links as much as is possible, and capitalise on the natural deep links of the subject with mathematics, science, and design and technology. Our online safety curriculum in particular, which has been built around the ‘Education for a Connected World’ Framework, links clearly with our school values and ethos. We believe that our high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world, and also ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world, with a sense of respect and consideration at the very heart of all of their interactions online.

For a more in-depth overview detailing how we ensure coverage of the Information Technology, Computer Science and Digital Literacy strands of the curriculum, alongside all strands of the ‘Education for a Connected World’ framework, and links with PSHER and other subjects, please see the summary at the top of each year group’s Computing and Online Safety Overview planning document below.

If you would like to see links and information we provide regarding Online Safety for parents & carers and children at home, including resources specifically for children with SEND, please visit the 'online safety -links and useful information'  section of the website here: St Johns Online Safety Useful Links and Information 

Implementation

The teaching of Computing across St John’s follows the National Curriculum through:

• breadth of learning from EYFS to KS2, where knowledge and skills are developed progressively and abstract ideas/vocabulary (e.g. ‘digital footprint’, ‘sprite’) are revisited and built upon with each year group.
• cross curricular links where children are encouraged to apply other learning e.g linking spreadsheets with data objectives in maths, using code to make games which link to History and Geography topics to really help immerse the children in their learning. Our topics are cross curricular to ensure excellent links for children.
• referencing school values within each digital literacy topic. This links learning in Computing to the wider school focus on British values, communicated namely through collective worships.
• collaborative learning, where children work together towards goals, exploring different roles within a team.
• explicit teaching of vocabulary for each topic.
• a focus on retrieval and revisiting knowledge to allow it to be embedded in the long term memory.

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice) and asking key assessment questions to a range of children.
• measuring assessment standards using targeted questions, observations, and looking at children’s work (saved on Teams/BGfL etc).
• Using the ‘Evolve’ assessment tool to ensure our online safety curriculum is being well received and understood.
• monitoring teacher planning.
• celebrating images and videos of the children’s practical learning.