Intent

Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think' — Steve Jobs 

At St John's we want pupils to gain knowledge and develop skills that will equip them for a rapidly changing digital world. Knowledge and understanding of IT is of paramount importance for children’s future both at home, the next stage in their education and for employment. Our computing curriculum is designed to inspire our pupils to become confident, creative and responsible users of IT. We want to give our pupils the skills to express themselves and be creative in using digital media.   When using technology, we want out pupils to use the schools values to act as a framework for how to conduct themselves on line.

Implementation

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to nurture all children, to achieve their full potential in using technology. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by the ‘Teach Computing’ scheme of work created by the National Centre for Computing Education, with units covering computer systems, digital media, data and information and programming. The computing curriculum is carefully structured to enable children to build on their previously learnt computing skills and Staff recognise that the practical computing curriculum can be particularly accessible to children with SEN. The visual and auditory representation of material on a computer or other device reaches out to all children.  All pupils have access to a full class set of laptops, along with a set of ipads. They use this equipment for their discrete computing lessons as well as utilising IT in other areas of the curriculum where appropriate. 

Inclusion

As it does for all children, using IT offers many solutions to assist those children who are on the SEND register.  In so many cases IT can help children to overcome their barriers to learning, by working collaboratively with friends or by working individually on a task.  The visual and auditory representation of material on a computer or other device reaches out to all children.  There are many packages which can support children with SEND in particular, such as Nessy (Spelling, Reading, Writing and Touch typing interventions).   The computing curriculum is carefully structured to enable children to build on their previously learnt computing skills.  Staff recognise that the practical computing curriculum can be particularly accessible to children with SEN. Children with SEN often benefit from working with others and enjoy learning a range of computing skills which continue to be applied and developed further in their future learning. 

Impact

By the time pupils leave St John’s they will be responsible and proficient users of IT and be ready to continue their computing journey into secondary school and eventually the world of work. They will be competent users of different platform and able to use them to accomplish a wide variety of goals, both at home and in school. Pupils will have a secure and comprehensive knowledge of the implications of technology and digital systems. This is important in a society where technologies and trends are rapidly evolving. They will have developed skills to express themselves and be creative in using digital media and be equipped to apply their skills in Computing to all areas of life going forward.