Computing

Our Vision

The National Curriculum for Computing marks a radical shift in thinking about how children learn, both, about and using technology. It is designed to equip children with the knowledge, skills and understanding of computing that they will require throughout their lives. Throughout their primary school education at Southborough, children will develop computational thinking skills and design and create their own digital content. This provides an exciting opportunity for children to become digital creators.

One of the intentions of our computing curriculum is to enable children to become digitally literate: to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to fully participate in modern culture. This means having access to a broad range of software and technologies and experiencing them in different ways and contexts. At Southborough, we provide children with the opportunity to use a rich variety of digital tools and technologies and learn how to develop ideas, communicate, collaborate, create, present and evaluate. We believe that digital literacy should not be developed in discrete computing sessions alone and encourage Information Technology to be embedded into other curriculum areas. This gives children further access to a range of software, technologies and tools and allow them to apply their knowledge and skills in different areas. We want children have as much exposure to learning, about and with, digital technologies as possible. 

Term 1 in Computing... 

Reception – Through iStay Safe, your child will be developing their knowledge of how the internet can be used to visit places and learn from. They will also be comparing staying safe online to staying safe in the real word. From this the children will be able to confidently explain key rules for staying safe online and begin to build on their use of key vocabulary, such as, internet, online, website and safe.

Year 1 – Your child will be starting Term 1 with a focus on Internet Safety. Through iSafe, they will develop a understanding of what being online looks like, the different feelings we can experience when being online and how to identify adults who can help. They will understand that some information (e.g., name, address and hobbies) is personal and should only be shared with trusted, known adults. They will also be able to give examples and potential consequences of sharing a range of digital media and information online. Your child will learn how to identify a range of bullying behaviours online and talk about ways to deal with them. Once your child has done this, they will then begin to look at algorithms. They will use online interactive resources, alongside Beebots, to give simple instructions to make things happen and understand that this is called an algorithm. They will read a set of instructions and predict the outcome and make changes to instructions if they are incorrect.

Year 2 – In Term 1, your child will begin by building on their knowledge of being safe online. Through iSafe, they will understand that a wider range of information is personal (e.g., regular attendance at a specific place) and they will identify a variety of characteristics of trustworthy people and justify their opinions appropriately. The children will know that personal information should only be given to trusted people and embed their understanding of the importance of checking with an adult before participating in an online environment. Once your child has done this, they will then move onto animation, where they will form an understand of how stop-motion animations are created by capturing images with small movements in between each image. They will understand that showing images rapidly with small changes in between stimulates motion. Using a storyboard, they will plan and create a short animated scene and write a simple script, before creating a stop-motion animated scene using digital tools.

Year 3 – At the beginning of Term 1, your child will be building on their knowledge of how to be safe online. Through iSafe, they will know some of the ways people can be influenced online and understand that some online content may be advertising. They will identify some of the risks of communicating and collaborating online and act to minimise them. Your child will know ways technology can be used positively and further their understanding of what is appropriate to share online. They will also know the need to use secure passwords and to keep them private. Once your child has done this, they will then begin to build on their skills in programming and algorithms. They will use a programme called Scratch where they will execute a sequence of commands that results in a planned effect. They will move a sprite around a screen using turns and repetitions and program and test a simple program.

Year 4 – Your child will be starting Term 1 with a focus on Internet Safety. Through the topic of iSafe, they will use technology and online services to communicate and collaborate and identify some of the risks of doing this and how to minimise them. They will know that personal information should only be given to trusted sources and that some information on the internet may be misleading or inaccurate and will need to be checked before using it. Your child will learn how to find relevant information online and cross-check information provided on one website against that provided on another. Your child will then move on to iProgram, where they will use an online program to instruct an object to make half and quarter turns. They will use repeat commands and change commands and parameters to resize or change a shape. They will also predict the outcome of a given algorithm or program.

Year 5 – In Term 1, your child will be building on their knowledge of the differences between communicating online and face-to-face, and some of the dangers associated with communicating online. They will consider whether they trust the content of websites and make judgements about the validity and suitability of websites. Your child will identify a number of rules that apply to online chatting and understand the definition of bullying and cyber-bullying and explore the similarities and differences between these. Your child will then move on to programming. Through iProgram, they will develop their skills in writing and amending computer programs. They will program a number of algorithms that achieve a specific outcome and use repetition, variables and conditional statements in computer programs. They will also test computer programs and use their knowledge and skills to correct any errors.

Year 6 – At the beginning of Term 1, your child will be embedding their knowledge of how a range of information is personal and should be protected. They will learn what types of situations call for getting help, blocking and/or reporting or talking about things with a trusted adult. Your child will identify different forms of cyber bullying and know what to do if it were happening to them or someone they know. They will know what positive behaviour looks like online and offline and know some tools and settings that protect against hackers and other threats. Once your child has done this, they will then embed their programming knowledge and skills. Through iProgram, they will write and amend more complex computer programs to create a variety of outcomes. They will use iteration (repeats and loops), variables and conditional statements (if…then) in computer programs and use their knowledge to test programs and correct errors.