Computing
Intent
Computing skills are essential in today's society, as well as in the future. To ensure our pupils’ success, our curriculum emphasises the thought processes and application of skills inherent in computing that will enable children to thrive in this ever-changing world.
Our curriculum seeks to go beyond simple exposure to technology and promote ambitious, skill-focussed and relevant outcomes for pupils. To achieve this, the computer science aspect of the curriculum is emphasised within discrete computing sessions.
Throughout our curriculum, technology plays a significant role and its purpose can be summarised in three key words: think, create, integrate.
- We seek to teach children how to think about problems in a computational manner because this is the skill that they will be able to apply to whatever computing looks like in the society of the future. We are a thinking school.
- We aim to provide opportunities for children to think creatively to solve problems in a variety of ways. Children have the opportunity to use technology as a creative outlet.
- Technology should be integrated within our learning and used cross-curricularly.
Implementation
Pupils are taught computer science and digital literacy in a manner which demonstrates clear progression between year-groups. Outcomes include constructing websites, coding video games, producing animations and creating virtual models suitable for 3D printing. Further computing skills are taught as part of cross-curricular outcomes each term.
We have adopted G-Suite for Education and use this platform as part of our pedagogical approach as well as a tool for pupils to create and share digital content. Our coding lessons use the Scratch block-coding platform developed by MIT which promotes computational thinking and can be used as a scaffold for further coding languages.
The above is supplemented by an after-school coding club which engages with a variety of projects including the Raspberry Pi Mission Zero where pupils’ code is broadcast on the International Space Station. Teachers follow the Common Sense Education Digital Citizenship curriculum to provide pupils with a balanced and relevant approach to e-safety.
Impact
Pupils leave Rutherford House with an understanding of the algorithmic thinking necessary for coding, the skills to creatively present their ideas on a number of data presentation platforms and as safe and responsible members of the digital community aware of their rights and responsibilities when using technology.
E-safety resources for families
To view a copy of our school E-safety policy, visit our policy page.
If you'd like to know more about how your child can use technology responsibly, have a look at:
- CEOP Safety Centre – internet safety (part of the National Crime Agency)
- Childnet.com
- Vodafone – Digital Parenting (a comprehensive guide)
- NSPCC – Share Aware.