Computing

Curriculum Intent

1. Curriculum Design

The ‘formal’ curriculum for Computing at Chailey School is designed to teach students how to become competent digital citizens. The curriculum applies to the National Centre for Computing Education’s computing taxonomy. This has been developed through a review of the KS1-4 computing programme of study, and the GCSE and A Level computer science specifications, across all awarding bodies. All learning outcomes can be described through a top-level taxonomy of ten topics, ordered alphabetically as follows:

-       Algorithms

-       Computer Networks

-       Computer Systems

-       Creating Media – Web design,

-       Data & Information

-       Design & Development

-       Effective use of tools

-       Impact of technology

-       Programming

-       Safety & Security

They are not always taught explicitly as each strand is= present throughout both key stages. 

 2. Coherence and continuity

-     The intent of the curriculum in Computing is to teach Chailey students the digital skills that they will need for the future. We aim to give them hands on experience and for them to be able to apply their digital skills to all of their subjects.

-     By the end of Key Stage 3, students are expected to know how to stay safe online and report concerns, spot fake news, research, analyse and present their work across a number of different digital platforms. Students have hands on experience of block programming languages and high-level text based languages.

-     By the end of Key Stage 4, students who take the subject at GCSE level are expected to how to understand computer systems, computer networks, security and threats and use a high-level programming language such as, HTML, python and JavaScript.

-      To achieve this, the curriculum in Computing is planned in coherent sequences of lessons – knowledge, skills and understanding will be built on and applied in a cumulative manner. We want Chailey to be able to support all children. Our units will be pitched so that pupils with different starting points can access them. Lessons will be sequenced so that each builds on prior learning. Activities will be scaffolded so all children can succeed. We use real world activities to unpack difficult concepts in computing. We also use a range of approaches when teaching programming, ranging from exploring and remixing code, debugging code to solving specific problems.

-     Assessment, testing of knowledge, skills and understanding, and effective feedback will support this – further details of this can be found in the school’s and subject’s Feedback Policy.

 3. The ‘Informal’ curriculum

-     Computing contributes [much] to the school’s ‘informal’ curriculum – the experience and opportunity for students in Computing is not just about set of exam results. Key opportunities for this include coding competitions. For example a number of students have entered the “Edulito” coding competition this year. TheAWS GetIT run by Amazon is another competition which encourages girls to take up a career in computer science.

-      After school and lunch time coding clubs are run weekly and can be accessed by all year groups at different times of the year.

-     We believe that computing is inherently interesting, and seek to motivate pupils through the subject matter. Where possible, we draw on real world experiences to provide an engaging viewpoint on computing concepts.

4. Building character and values in the curriculum

-     All subjects at Chailey School contribute towards building the character and values of its young people.

-     Every pupil should have the opportunity to implement their skills and knowledge and ultimately feel a sense of achievement. We provide opportunities for pupils to be creative and solve problems by building their own webpages, games, and mobile applications. We need pupils to be thinking during their lessons - both to engage with the subject and to strengthen memory of what is being learnt. Some of our lessons require practical application of concepts and skills on a computer using appropriate software. We supplement our lessons with guidance on how to use such software to reinforce the learning from the lesson.

-     Students are given the opportunity to build on Chailey’s core values of working independently, being creative, developing resilience and to build confidence in their own abilities. In addition to developing practical problem-solving skills.