Computing
At Stalmine Primary School and Nursery, we recognise that technology is an integral part of life and will continue to be so as our pupils grow up. We appreciate that our pupils experiences and access to technology varies widely across the school. We aim to equip every child to confidently use all forms of technology as well as developing a solid understanding of how computers work. At Stalmine, our vision for the computing curriculum is to equip children with the knowledge and skills necessary to fully participate in a rapidly changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology. Furthermore, we aim to develop children's perception of technology as a tool for learning, innovation and discovery. Computers are changing the lives of everyone and we aim to offer our children a broad and balanced curriculum that prepares them to use ‘computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world’. Our intention is to provide opportunities for Stalmine children to go on to be creators and not just consumers of technology. Our curriculum aims to embed technology throughout all subjects and allow every pupil hands-on experience of a variety of hardware and software. Children have the opportunity to use technology to enhance their learning in all subjects as well as learn Computer Science discreetly.
Ultimately, children should leave Stalmine as confident, able and responsible Digital Citizens.
The Stalmine Computing Curriculum
The new Computing Curriculum is divided into three broad areas; Computer Science, Digital Literacy and Information Technology.
Here at Stalmine, we have adapted the Teach Computing curriculum, which has been amended to suit a rolling 2 year programme for our mixed age classes, building on skills through the year.
Online Safety is a key safeguarding issue and making sure that our children are Digitally Literate and understand how to use technology responsibly and safely is of paramount importance to us. Project Evolve, the DfEs Education for a Connected World, underpins our Computing curriculum and is an integral part of whole school e-safety approach. Additional aspects such as Digital well-being, digital footprints and learning how to navigate a digital world in an age of social media are also taught through PSHE.
Computing in the wider curriculum
We believe children will learn to use technology more effectively if they are doing something creative. They will use a variety of hardware, software packages, apps and technologies to enhance and facilitate their learning across the whole school curriculum. This approach to our Information Technology provision means that our children learn to use technology purposefully. For example how to create a graph for a Maths or a Science project, or perhaps how to create a video to present a weather forecast in Geography. We see technology as pivotal in our school and to this end opportunities to use computers and technology are not confined to any one lesson in computing, rather they are inter-woven throughout the whole curriculum to support learning across all subjects. We actively seek collaboration and engage with outside agencies to offer a selection of planned enrichment opportunities so that every child whether at EYFS, KS1 or KS2 will participate in a selection of exciting lessons and activities relevant to their particular area of study.