COMPUTING

We believe in providing a high-quality computing education which teaches our pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing has deep links with mathematics, science, and design and technology.

The core of our computing curriculum is computer science, in which our pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Building on this knowledge and understanding, our pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that our pupils become digitally literate (able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology) at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.

Each class is equipped with an interactive white board. We have a  bank of brand new (2023) laptops and a set of iPads which are used across the school We have access to hardware and software which will ensure that our pupils develop their programming skills. 

Aims

We aim for our pupils to:

• 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
• evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
• be responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

At Barrowford St Thomas, we have begun to use the resources and progression documents developed by Teach Computing to ensure that there is a progression in knowledge. There are six strands for each year:

• Computing systems and networks
• Creating media x 2
• Programming x 2
• Data and information 

As we have mixed aged classes we select three units a year and teach the units from each year group. 

We use a variety of other resources such as the computer programs Scratch and Kodu to teach the fundamentals of programming. We also use programmable toys in the infants such as BeeBots and are exploring using Crumble devices and MicroBit coding devices. 

ONLINE SAFETY

Click here to access our online safety page

We adhere to a detailed online safety policy. We ensure that our pupils are taught to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly. They are taught about acceptable and unacceptable behaviour when using ICT and are taught to identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact details.

Computing Policy

Long Term Plan

What the children should know and remember in computing

Medium Term Plans

These are currently being updated.  More to follow...

Class 2:  Cycle B

Class 3:  Cycle A

Class 3:  Cycle B

Class 4:  Cycle A

Class 4:  Cycle B