Computing | St Mary's Catholic Primary Academy

Computing is an important part of our ever-changing world. Technology changes and develops rapidly and so it is important to us that our pupils have the knowledge and skills needed to navigate these changes safely.

In our modern-day world, technology is predominantly used to accomplish other tasks; it is vital that our pupils have a secure understanding of the range of technology available and the benefits and drawbacks of the different technology available. We also try to encourage a natural curiosity in children and we aspire to nurture this throughout their time at St Mary’s.

Our Computing Curriculum

To do this, we follow the Teach Computing scheme of work, as we believe it gives our children a wide range of opportunities to investigate the subject of Computing. The curriculum is split into three key strands:

Information Technology develops the children’s knowledge of how computers work and how devices can connect with each other to share data;
Creative Media allows pupils to explore how to use the technology in creative ways;
Programming teaches children the languages that computers use to process information and decide an output.

Through teaching these three strands, pupils have the opportunity to see the varied ways in which we can use technology to support us in:

animations
digital art
data handling
webpage or 3D CAD design
film-making
digital music creation
publishing and research

E-Safety within our Computing Curriculum

E-safety is integrated throughout each computing area, as it is essential that our pupils be protected from others online. We also give our pupils opportunities to evaluate their own online behaviour to ensure that they understand their actions in the online world can affect others.

As the wellbeing of our pupils is a priority, we help them establish a healthy balance between the time spent in the ‘online world’ and their ‘real life world’. We also teach our pupils how to determine the best course of action if they are worried or upset about their experiences whilst using their technology or devices, such as being a victim of cyber-bullying or seeing inappropriate content. For more information on this, please visit our E-Safety page here.

Next Steps for our Pupils

We work hard at St Mary’s to ensure that our Computing curriculum gives our pupils an extensive range of experiences and skills, which we hope will inspire a passion for technology and interest in the STEM subjects in their future education. It will also help them to connect with others and be a part of an online community in a safe and secure way, allowing them to use the amazing technology we have to enhance their life and gain knowledge of the world around them.