The characteristics of a proficient user of technology at East Farleigh:

• Competence in coding for a variety of practical and inventive purposes, including the application of ideas within other subjects.

• The ability to connect with others safely and respectfully, understanding the need to act within the law and with moral and ethical integrity.

• An understanding of the connected nature of devices.

• The ability to communicate ideas well by using applications and devices throughout the curriculum.

• The ability to collect, organise and manipulate data effectively.

A knowledge of computing is vital to success in an ever more technology-based world. Children interact and use computing devices in every aspect of their lives and will continue to do so into their further study and adult lives. It’s vital that we empower children and give them the tools to further develop their computational thinking and skills to give them the ability to take their learning further in their education and lives. 

When addressing these concepts, we aim to engage children to immerse themselves in the computational world, to solve puzzles and problems, to discover new and exciting mediums to which to express themselves, and to be safe and critical internet users. We want to encourage the children to realise that computing is inherently a creative subject, a subject to which many of the modern creative art forms, such as video gaming, animation and art now encompass and rely upon to find new, exciting ways to express human creativity.

We also want the children to understand how computing, and computational thinking, is a pathway to solving many problems, and has been a key way of thinking that has played a pivotal role in human history. From Alan Turing and his work at Bletchley Park developing Ultra intelligence and the cracking of the Enigma code, to Margaret Hamilton, who without her code, The Apollo 11 program would not have been the success we know today.  

Each lesson is sequenced so that it builds on the learning from the previous lesson, and where appropriate, activities are scaffolded so that all pupils can succeed and thrive. Scaffolded activities provide pupils with extra resources, such as visual prompts, to reach the same learning goals as the rest of the class. Exploratory tasks foster a deeper understanding of a concept, encouraging pupils to apply their learning in different contexts and make connections with other learning experiences. 

Computing at East Farleigh through ‘Teach Computing’ aims to address twelve key pedagogical principals:

For each unit, teachers follow the NCCE learning graphs which demonstrate progression through concepts and skills. Below is an example from Year 3: Programming: Events and Actions in Programs

End of year teacher assessments, which take into account engagement in lessons, quality of outcomes and results from any POP/ summative tasks, help to form a judgement about a child's attainment within the subject. These judgements are made in relation to a child's progress towards mastering biannual milestones against four essential threshold concepts (see above). 

Disclaimer: This has been developed with reflection upon the National Curriculum (2014) and NCCE Teach Computing Curriculum. We are currently introducing each unit of the curriculum and units may therefore not be taught in the stated order.