Computing

Our Computing Curriculum aims to address the following topics:

Digital Literacy

The National Curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology

Relationships, Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education states that:

Online relationships: Pupils should know:

• That people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not
• That the same principles apply to online relationships as to face-to-face relationships, including the importance of respect for others online including when we are anonymous
• The rules and principles of keeping safe online, how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them
• How to critically consider their online friendships and sources of information including awareness of the risks associated with people they have never met
• How information and data is shared and used online

Being Safe: Pupils should know:

• What sorts of boundaries are appropriate in friendships with peers and others (including in a digital context)
• About the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe
• That each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
• How to respond safely and appropriately to adults they may encounter (in all contexts, including online) whom they do not know
• How to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult
• How to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they are heard
• How to report concerns or abuse, the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so
• Where to get advice eg. family, school and/or other sources

Internet safety and harms: Pupils should know:

• That for most people the internet is an integral part of life and has many benefits
• About the benefits of rationing time spent online, the risks of excessive time spent on electronic devices and the impact of positive and negative content online on their own and others’ mental and physical wellbeing
• How to consider the effect of their online actions on others and know how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online and the importance of keeping personal information private
• Why social media, some computer games and online gaming, for example, are age restricted
• That the internet can also be a negative place where online abuse, trolling, bullying and harassment can take place, which can have a negative impact on mental health
• How to be a discerning consumer of information online including understanding that information, including that from search engines, is ranged, selected and targeted
• Where and how to report concerns and get support with issues online

Computer Science

The National Curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
• Can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems

Information Technology

The National Curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Can evaluate and apply information technology, including new and unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems

Head of Computing - Mrs N Newton