Computing

"Technology does not drive change - it enables change."                  Unknown source

Computers are now part of everyday life. For most of us, technology is essential to our lives, at home and at work. ‘Computational thinking’ is a skill pupils must be taught if they are to be ready for the workplace and able to participate effectively in this digital world. A high-quality Computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing 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.

At Wykeham Primary School, we believe that all pupils should be equipped to participate fully in our rapidly-changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology. We aim to deliver a broad, ambitious and stimulating Computing Curriculum, comprising of Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy, underpinned by a safe and secure online environment for all pupils. To this end, we use the NCCE's Teach Computing Curriculum, which focuses on developing the skills necessary for pupils to be able to use information in a discriminating and effective way and be ready to take on the challenges in their next stage of learning. 

The aims of Computing are to enable all pupils so that they:

• can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
• can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology

As a part of the Computing Curriculum, we use the Education for a Connected World/Project Evolve resources to deliver a clear, progressive online safety education programme. It covers a range of skills and behaviours appropriate to our learners’ age and experience. Our learners are taught from an early age that there are many risks involved regarding online safety. Our key consideration is ensuring that we support learners in effectively managing the main areas of risk; these being content, contact and conduct.

Our vision is to be an e-confident school where technology is at the core of learning and is integrated effectively in the planning, teaching, learning and assessment of all areas of the Curriculum. We aim to further develop the potential technology has upon teaching and learning through our extensive range of resources, a recording studio in addition to the use of Office 365 to support home and school learning, thus making a significant impact on both our pupils and staff.

Please click here for this year's overview.