Intent:

St John’s School believes that every child should have the right to a curriculum that champions excellence; supporting pupils in achieving to the very best of their abilities. We understand the immense value technology plays not only in supporting the Computing and whole school curriculum but overall in the day-to-day life of our school and beyond in the wider world.

We believe that technology can provide: enhanced collaborative learning opportunities; better engagement of pupils; easier access to rich content; support conceptual understanding of new concepts and can support the needs of all our pupils. We believe all pupils have the potential to become Software Engineers, Games designers, Computing Technicians, 3D Animators, Web developer and Security Analysts. Children are also taught about how to stay safe online in school and out in the wider world.

Implementation:

At St John’s we use Purple Mash to help teach our Computing Curriculum. This ensures all children have a balanced coverage of computer science, information technology and digital literacy. The curriculum ensures subject knowledge taught to the pupils becomes increasingly specific and in depth, with more complex skills being taught, thus ensuring that learning is built upon. For example, children in Key Stage 1 learn what algorithms are, which leads them to the design stage of programming in Key Stage 2, where they design, write and debug programs, explaining the thinking behind their algorithms.