Intent

At The Dassett we want to provide children with a broad and rich experience of Computing that engages and challenges them. We want to empower children to develop the skills to make safe choices when using technology and to apply their skills to other areas of the curriculum. We want them to use computational thinking skills to help them to solve problems and work together to do this. 

We recognise the importance the skills we teach in computing will be for our students' life now and their futures and we keep up to date with technological developments so we can prepare them appropriately. For example, lessons on Artificial Intelligence and e-safety sessions teaching them the knowledge and behaviours they need to be safe online no matter what new app is around the corner. 

Implementation

To support appropriate progression, we follow the suggested mixed-age scheme provided by Purple Mash. This comprehensively covers the computing strands of computer science, information technology and digital literacy and is aligned to the National Curricula for Computing. It allows pupils to use a range of tools and supports staff with their subject knowledge. 

The Cornerstones schemes we follow for other subjects allows pupils to use digital literacy and information technology with purpose. The Jigsaw PSHE programme comprehensively supports the e-safety taught in computing lessons.

In addition to this, we discuss e-safety and technology use whenever it comes up. For example, how as teachers' we've used AI to generate a retrieval activity or discussing our views on screen time in an assembly about new year's resolutions. We aim not to scare but to try to educate children to see the pros and cons of technology, how to use it responsibly, what to do if there is a problem and that there isn't anything they can't come to us for help with. 

Teachers assess children's knowledge, understanding and skills in Computing by making observations, through conversations with the children during lessons and digital content they submit through the Purple Mash platform. Computing assessment data is submitted and monitored termly. 

Our hardware includes Chromebooks, laptops and iPads. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards. 

Impact

Ultimately, we want our students to be comfortable and confident at using their computing skills across the curriculum and in daily life but with a critical eye for when something isn't the best solution or if they feel unsafe. They should be able to use a range of tools and computational thinking to come up with solutions to problems. They will recongise the importance of computing skills for their lives now but also for their futures.