At E P Collier elements of the Computing Curriculum are taught to all the children from Nursery to Year 6.  We have tailored our Computing Curriculum to meet the demands of our pupils.

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
• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

The Computing Curriculum can be broken down into four areas of learning: Computer Science; Information Technology; Digital Literacy; and eSafety.

Computer Science: this is at the core of the Computing Curriculum. Pupils should be taught the principles of information and computation. This is done by learning how digital systems work and how to put this knowledge to use through programming and coding.

Information Technology: this area of the Computing Curriculum builds on the knowledge and understanding of Computer Science. Pupils learn how to create programs or ‘apps’ (applications), systems and a range of content for different contexts and purposes.

Digital Literacy: binds the Computer Science and Information Technology together, and extends their basic IT skills. Pupils will be able to use technology and computers to develop and express their ideas. Essentially they will be able to explore technology and make use of it, therefore preparing them for secondary education and the future workplace. They will become active and responsible participants in a digital world, by investigating and creating multimodal texts, including the Internet.

eSafety: this area of the Curriculum is taught in PSHE and Computing. The pupils are taught how to be responsible when using all forms of technology, and what to do if they ever feel worried, unsafe or unsure about something. It is at the heart of our Computing Curriculum and teaching oppurtunities are exploited whereever possible.

Coding

A new area of the Computing Curriculum is coding.  In coding the children learn the very basics from simple outputs and giving instructions to make computer's do things, to composing complex algorithms to create their own app that can work on an iPad or tablet device.

To help with this the children use Discovery Education Coding in school.  This provides a rich environment in which to code and allows for 'free coding' so the children can ultimately create their own bespoke app.