Fairlop Primary School

Computing at Fairlop
At Fairlop, we use the Teach Computing curriculum to support our planning. This is structured in units that have been selected to ensure breadth of coverage for the National Curriculum program of study for computing. The units for KS1 and KS2 are based on a spiral curriculum. This means that key themes are revisited regularly and pupils revisit each theme through a new unit that consolidates and builds upon prior learning within that theme. Each lesson is sequenced so that it builds on the learning of 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.

There is a wide range of computing equipment available to enhance computing lessons. Each year group has an allotted slot to use the fully-equipped ICT suite. There are also accessible laptop trolleys and a bank of iPads that are available to be used in classroom settings. For younger year groups, the use of Beebots can help pupils understand the basic principles of programming. Microbits are used as part of computing club and lessons for KS2 pupils.

The unit overviews for each unit show the links between the content of the lessons and the national curriculum and Education for a Connected World framework. These references have been provided to show where aspects relating to online safety, or digital citizenship, are covered within the Teach Computing Curriculum.

Throughout their studies, children develop a wide vocabulary of computing terms and are given the opportunity to use a wide range of hardware and software. They will develop their skills in using different forms of technology and become more independent in the skills they use. Teachers make a teacher assessment of progress towards the end of key stage national curriculum expectations at the end of each academic year. Throughout the year, the subject lead will monitor the computing provision (e.g., through work scrutiny and pupil voice) and standards at the end of each key stage are monitored annually.

Curriculum links
There are many opportunities to link computing projects to an existing topic being covered in a different area of the curriculum and these are regularly planned in to the computing units being taught. There are also aspects of the computing curriculum that are cross-curricular including maths, art, science and music.

Outcomes
As a digital subject, the majority of work produced is stored on the computer in folders specific to each class. Pupils are taught and encouraged to save their work within the class folders with their own name. Pupils also have cardboard folders to store relevant work. The majority of computing units are project-based and the final outcome will be a finished project e.g., a Scratch animation or a digital music composition. Where a unit is teaching specific skills, an end of unit assessment can be used to assess pupils’ understanding of a topic.