Computing

We want the children at Icknield Primary School to experience high quality teaching that equips them with computational thinking and problem solving skills that helps them understand and approach a variety of contexts with confidence. We aim for the children to be understand how digital systems work, how to use a variety of hardware and software and use these with purpose, including creating media, data handling and programming. We aim for the children to become digitally literate, expressive, confident and creative users of technology.  

The teaching of Computing at Icknield focuses on a combination of collaborative and explorative learning. In KS1, work will be stored on G-Suite Education and Pupil Shared Drive (P: Drive) and in KS2, work will be created and stored predominantly on G-Suite for Education. These services offer great opportunities for collaborative work and sharing feedback, from both pupils and staff.  

Computing at Icknield is sequenced to ensure that children have a range of skills and knowledge every year; including creating media, computer systems and networks, programming and data handling. We have adopted using the NCCE’s planning; a scheme of work that has been created by the NCCE, which is funded by the Department of Education and has been reviewed with lots of positive praise for its skills and progression. Our aim is to teach and equip the pupils with skills using a variety of different tools, so that they have the confidence to choose their own tools to complete a given task by the end of KS2. The progression document breaks down this progression from year 1 to year 6 clearly, given clarity to the expectations at Icknield.  

Teachers will break down programming steps alongside the children, but will also allow pupils to decompose and debug algorithms themselves, which in turn, will develop their resilience and systematic thinking. Sharing documents, ideas and learning through group projects encourages discussion and creative thinking, reinforcing key concepts and vocabulary, whilst also allowing children to develop their communication and teamwork skills. Children are encouraged to reflect on each project and look for both successes and improvements, developing their critical thinking and evaluation skills.  

Children will be exposed to different pieces of hardware, including iPads, desktop PCs, bee-bots and crumble controllers. They will also be shown a variety of different software, including scratch jr, J2E, G-Suite for Education, SeeSaw, and iMovie. Skills will be built on each year and will be secured by using them in different contexts and scenarios. 6 unit types are taught each year to ensure skill progression and to ensure that there is a wide range of computing knowledge being taught.