Computing

Intent

 “A high quality computing education equips pupils to understand and change the world through computational thinking. It develops and requires logical thinking and precision. It combines creativity with rigour: pupils apply underlying principles to understand real-world systems, and to create purposeful and usable artefacts,”

At Gusford, we believe that computational thinking is vital in helping children to solve problems, design systems, and understand the power and limits of human and machine intelligence. We believe it is a skill that empowers, and one that all pupils should be aware of and develop competence in. Pupils who can think computationally are better able to conceptualise, understand and use computer-based technology, and so are better prepared for today’s world and future.

Implementation 

At Gusford, children will:

• enjoy using information technology and tackle all applications with confidence and a sense of achievement and purpose.

• develop practical skills in the use of information technology and the ability to apply these skills to the solving of relevant and worthwhile problems.

• understand the capabilities and limitations of information technology and the implications and consequences of its use.

• be open minded in their approach to information technology so that they will be able to adapt easily to the information technology systems and approaches they will encounter in their future lives.

• understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation.

• analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems.

• use information technology as a tool appropriately across the curriculum to support and enrich their learning.

A good lesson at Gusford would include providing children with opportunities to explore devices and develop their practical skills. Throughout lessons children will be exposed to subject specific vocabulary which will enhance their understanding of key concepts. Children will be given opportunities in lessons to solve problems, design systems and understand technology devices and develop their digital literacy. Also, providing children with a concrete understanding of how to keep themselves safe online in an ever changing digital world.

Impact 

Following our approach to computing at Gusford children will be able to by the time they leave be competent in the language of computing and have the skills to access a wide range of computing resources in the real-world. Having also enjoyed the wonders computing provides throughout school and being able to use computing skills to support them moving forward. This will allow students to think computationally and be better prepared for the future development of technology. Underpinning this will be an awareness of the dangers posed by the ever changing technology world and a concrete understanding of how to stay safe online and discuss the dangers openly. 

Cross Curricular links 

The teaching of computing contributes to teaching and learning in many curriculum areas. It also offers ways of impacting on learning which are not possible with conventional methods. Teachers use software to present information visually, dynamically and interactively, so that children understand concepts more quickly.

For example, graphics work links in closely with work in Art, and work using databases supports work in Maths, whilst the Internet proves very useful for research. Information Technology can provide children with opportunities to present their information and conclusions in the most appropriate way.

Children use Information Technology in Maths to collect data, make predictions, analyse results, and present information graphically. Screen robots allow pupils to give exact instructions for a particular route, or to use their knowledge of angles to draw a range of polygons. Maths games are used to consolidate key areas of the syllabus.  

In Science, data loggers are used to assist in the collection of data and in producing tables and graphs. Green screen technology is used to create meteorological simulations. In English, stop motion animation is used to create story maps.