Computing at Broadheath Primary School

“A computer is like a violin. You can imagine it making beautiful music, but you have to learn how to play it.” Bill Gates

Our intent in Computing

As the digital world is rapidly evolving, it is imperative that children leave school with a secure grounding of computational thinking and problem solving. We are becoming ever more reliant on technology in every aspect of our lives, so we thrive for our children to experience a high quality computing education. The early use of digital technology promotes resilience and creativity, and at Broadheath Primary School, our broad curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this. We want to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely.

We aim for our pupils to become skillful computer scientists. By having resilience and believing in themselves, the children are motivated to use and practise the skills they have learnt with the knowledge they have developed through their computing journey. With our philosophy of ‘believe-practice-succeed’ we aim for our children to succeed in being responsible, creative computer scientists ready for the ever changing society we live in.

How we Implement our Computing curriculum

At Broadheath Primary School, our vision is for the children to be exposed to a wide range of Computing experiences through high quality teaching and learning. This is implemented through their weekly Computing lessons and across our Creative Curriculum too. We are currently implementing the ‘Teach Computing’ scheme where the children have the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding through exciting and engaging units. We love to see our children’s faces light up with a spark and have those wow moments with the awe of today’s technology.

We value high quality experiences through creative and engaging learning and see the importance of children adapting to different types of technology. We promote this through providing access to a range of engaging software on Chromebooks, ipads and windows laptops whilst developing further skills through our growing bank of hardware resources. We adapt our practice to ensure our Computing learning; whether through the scheme itself or across the curriculum, is accessible to all pupils through the range of software and devices we use. We thrive to give every child the chance to be able to express themselves creatively in a way that works for them.

The Impact of our Computing curriculum

Throughout their journey at Broadheath Primary School as Computer Scientists, our children will build on their knowledge and understanding of a range of computer systems and networks, create digital media, have the opportunity to program a variety of devices and learn how to input and analyse data and information. Our children will build on each area with clear steps of progression throughout their journey starting from EYFS to Y6. We recognise the importance of Online Safety and embed this into our learning. We encourage all staff to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. The education of Online safety is therefore essential, to ensure pupils are equipped with the skills to recognise risks online, to be critically aware of the materials and content they access online, along with guidance on how to accurately validate information accessed via the internet. We aim for our children to be ready to embrace the world of technology and become confident digital users.

Cultural Capital

It is important for the children to have a variety of experiences in order to prepare them for the real world along with their ever growing understanding of the importance of Online Safety. We have a team of enthusiastic ‘Online Safety Ambassadors’ who carry out tasks across the school throughout the year. Some of these tasks include: leading assemblies, visiting classes to carry out online safety games, taking a lead during Safer Internet Day and supporting in Parent Online Safety meetings. The Online Safety Ambassadors have a big role in raising awareness from EYFS to Y6. They develop their knowledge by linking with other ambassadors four times a year from other schools.

By incorporating the children’s skills across our Creative Curriculum, the children are provided with the opportunity to use technology in a range of contexts.