ICT Overview – Computing
At Greenholm we want all our children to be competent and confident in their independent use of ICT, so they can communicate, be safe and apply their skills to current and emerging technologies. Through ICT we aim for aim children to be confident when using a range of different technologies and in a variety of different skills including, word processing, computing, programming, e-safety and media.
The second element of the ICT curriculum is linked to digital literacy, which focuses on applying technologies to every day uses, i.e. word processing, photography, search engines etc. These skills are linked and taught in other subjects, allowing children to develop their knowledge independently and through a real-life context.
All children in the school receive at least one hour of taught computing per week, which aims to teach the computing element of the curriculum. The purpose of this is to teach the children the different elements of programming, using simple instructions for KS1 and becoming increasing more complex as they move through the school. This is taught using a range of engaging technologies: Beebots, Probots, 2simple programming software and Scratch.
Thirdly, e-safety plays a large role in the teaching of ICT at Greenholm. We, as a school, believe that this is crucial to ensure that the children are aware of the dangers and risks that the internet poses as well as having the ability to keep themselves safe. E-safety is taught through appropriate and specialised projects for each year group, in the first half term. The children are able to explore this curriculum through the arts, using media and creativity to present their projects. For example, year 6 will be producing an infomercial to help teach others, while year 3 will be creating a 3D model of a safe gaming character. There will also be a parent and child workshop held for KS2 during the second half of the autumn term, which aims to consolidate what the children have learnt at school and apply it at home.