Carlton Hill Primary School

‘A high quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.’ Computing programme of study, DfE, 2013

Computing is problem solving. We don't say: 'It doesn't work!' Instead we say: 'Let's debug it!'

Computing in our own words

At Carlton Hill Primary School computing is about problem solving: we want our pupils to become the problem solvers of the future. Through our computing curriculum, we aim to develop computational thinking (the ability to think about problem solving using a computer).

Central to our approach in computing is to teach pupils to avoid 'learnt helplessness'. Finding and fixing errors is a big part of computing! We don't say: 'It doesn't work!' Instead we say: 'Let's debug it!'

We also want our pupils to grow up feeling safe and happy online. Therefore, we aim to help our pupils understand the implications of technology for individuals and society as they become digitally literate.

We deliberately make use of the latest free software, so that all pupils – including those who are disadvantaged - can further their skills, knowledge and understanding beyond the classroom by accessing the same free software in other settings.

How is our computing curriculum organised?

Through the teaching of our computing curriculum, we aspire to achieve deep, long-term learning.  As pupils progress through each carefully sequenced unit of work, they revisit previously learned skills and the work they do becomes progressively more complex.

To see an example of this revisiting of skills coupled with progressive complexity, look across the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) elements of our computing curriculum. During the first STEM unit (‘Lights, Lights, Lights’) pupils learn to wire lights to a microcontroller and write code for programmable lights. In the next stem STEM unit (‘Night Light’) children wire and code programmable lights again, but this time they also have to program their lights to switch on using a button and to automatically switch off after a period of time.

As with all subjects at Carlton Hill Primary School, key vocabulary is also deliberately taught and revisited. To see more detailed information about how the computing curriculum is organised, please see the Computing Overview (above) and Computing Progression of Knowledge and Skills (available below).

Just as the units are carefully sequenced across the school, so are the lessons within each unit. As pupils progress through each lesson they have opportunities to demonstrate their learning. This enables teachers to assess how well a unit is going, and to make adjustments when necessary. Please see the curriculum area of the school website for worked examples of computing units.

What is the impact of our computing curriculum?

We assess the impact of our computing curriculum in four simple ways.

Quizzes

Where appropriate our units have a quiz that is carried out before and after the sequence of lessons. Each quiz gives a useful snapshot of what the children already know (pre unit) and how much learning has taken place (post unit). This process also helps us identify children that may need further support from an adult or from one of our digital leaders (pupils who have taken on a responsibility to help others).

End of unit outcomes

Over the course of a unit, pupils produce an assessable outcome. These outcomes allow us to reflect on the effectiveness of the unit and our teaching practice, and make positive changes.

Pupil self-assessment

Our pupils are given opportunities to assess their knowledge and skills as each unit progresses.

Pupil voice

All of our subject leaders are given time to listen to pupils from across the school and discuss their given subjects. Our pupils experience great joy through their successes in this challenging subject – a joy that we hope will motivate them to become the problem solvers of tomorrow.

What are the inspirations for our computing curriculum?

Our curriculum draws on the work of Miles Berry of the University of Roehampton, who was part of the drafting group who drew up the computing curriculum, and also the work of Phil Bagge, a CAS Computing Master Teacher who was also part of the drafting group.

What do our pupils have to say about computing?

Coming soon…