The curriculum of computing is vital in allowing children to engage with the wider world and to build connections with others beyond the four walls of the classroom. Our aim is to give children opportunities to recognise their potential as digital creators and to understand the responsibilities of being digital consumers on their time, relationships and wellbeing. Our children realise the importance of being a good digital citizen, to know how to stay safe and keep others safe online and the importance of what they share in creating their own digital footprint.
As digital businesses continue to grow and become an integral part of our economy, we at Molehill Primary Academy believe that developing computing skills from a young age is vitally important. The confidence and competency that children develop at Molehill stay with them during secondary school and beyond. We aim for all children to learn and explore a variety of computing skills through each termly inquiry. We want children to be able to choose appropriate digital tools to showcase their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum beyond computing.
At Molehill we deliver the Computing National Curriculum through the framework of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. Carefully designed, interleaved learning in Computing ensures consistency and progress of all learners. Our digital innovator and coach are integral to developing teacher’s confidence in delivering high quality lessons that have a transdisciplinary approach. To aid this, all teachers have completed Google Educator Level One and some have also completed Level Two. This allows us to be innovative in how we deliver the computing curriculum. Computing has become a subject which creates pathways for children to develop other skills and knowledge, such as historical inquiries for example, whilst developing confidence in using a variety of tools and technology.
Each child has access to a Chromebook and/or an iPad; having constant access to chrome books allows computing skills to be developed both discreetly and explicitly on a daily basis. All classes have an online classroom where children have access to a plethora of resources as well as building a digital portfolio of their progress through the computing curriculum. Both home and classwork activities are set, recorded and marked through Google Classroom. We endeavour to expose students to a variety of software, programs, and equipment in order to offer a range of appropriate challenges and experiences. The Computing Subject Leader uses lesson observations, book looks, conversations with class teachers and children to monitor progress which is underpinned by a Foundation Subject Tracker.
The impact of our Computing curriculum can be seen in our Inquiry Books, on each class’s Google Classroom, and through discussion with our children. Children are able to confidently select appropriate Google tools to share their work within the academy and also with the wider world. The use of the internet allows children to create purposeful work for an online audience. Observations of lessons will show that children are able confidently use their Chromebook to access activities and resources independently. Both work in inquiry books and on Google Classroom will demonstrate that children experience a broad range of learning and are encouraged to be creative and collaborative in order to express their ideas. Children are able to reflect on various digital tools and discuss the impact that computing has on their learning, development and wellbeing. Computing is part of our daily practice and as children progress through Molehill, their confidence grows in using a wider range of tools and programmes to demonstrate their knowledge of the computing curriculum.