Computing
CO-ORDINATOR: Ms E Lally
OUR INTENT for the Computing curriculum at St Joseph's is:
for every child to become digitally literate by being able to use, express themselves and develop their ideas safely through, information and communication technology and progress as an active participant in an ever evolving digital world.
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At St Joseph's we agree that computing education is important for pupils to make sense of and contribute positively to our technologically diverse world. Therefore, the use of computing technology is an integral part of the National Curriculum and is a key skill for everyday life and children’s future success. At St Joseph’s, we provide children with the opportunity to explore a variety of different computer programmes through a structured and progressive approach. These opportunities offer children the ability to learn and build upon declarative (knowing that) and procedural knowledge (knowing how) through the school's own Scheme of Work, that has been constructed based on the National Curriculum and is reviewed regularly. It is ambitious, coherent and sequential, incorporating the three pillars of progression; computer science, information technology and digital literacy.
Computers, tablets, programmable robots, digital and video cameras are a few of the tools that can be used to acquire, organise, store, manipulate, interpret, communicate and present information. Although no longer explicitly mentioned in the new EYFS curriculum, our youngest children develop their computing knowledge and skills in our dedicated Early Years Computer Suite using various programs suitable for young children. In addition, programmable Beebots, remote control toys and a range of technological props are available to play with. Pupils learn how to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly and not to have their responsibility for this taken on by others. To embed learning in the pupils’ long-term memory we offer children a variety of memorable learning experiences through extra-curricular clubs (Spring Term) and visitors into school to enable the children to gain first-hand experiences to support their learning and influence further learning.
See HERE for the Curriculum Overview
KS1
In Key Stage 1, children are taught to safely and respectfully, keep all personal information private, through their own personal folders. This is also repeated in their PSHE lessons, taking guidance from the DfE's ‘Teaching online saftey in schools. Children are encouraged to explore and discover various programmes, allowing them to produce information with words, pictures and sounds. Children are encouraged to think about everyday devices they see and use and taught to recognise that they respond to signals, commands and programmes. They are introduced to the idea that these programmes are executed following a precise and unambiguous set of instructions, pupils explore this idea using SCRATCH, a coding programme, where they can predict the behaviour of simple programmes. Children are introduced to this through modelling of programs which enables them to create computer generated representations of ideas. Children are given the opportunity to use a variety of multimedia to develop their own idea and experiment with the implementation of those ideas, pupils are encouraged and taught to review, modify and evaluate their work as it progresses, recognising how they could improve and exploring ways to fix mistakes as well as being able to identify what they have used to produce their work. In Key Stage 1, children study computing for a minimum of 1 hour per a week.
Basketball Game (Click on the balls to win/ lose points)
Basketball = 1 pt
Football = 2 pt
Yellow ball = -1 pt
Do your best 
Year 6 Maze game
Use the arrow keys to get the ball through the maze.
KS2
In Key Stage 2, children continuously repeat and overlearn key aspects of Key Stage 1 with the addition of monitoring, appreciating the use of sensors to monitor physical changes in the environment and the input process-output stages of a simple monitoring system. Pupils are given the opportunity to learn and explore programs into which data and formulae maybe entered and in which calculations may be performed, reinforcing and deepening knowledge they have learnt in Mathematics. Pupils are able enrich their understand of programming by beginning to debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including but not limited to controlling or simulating physical systems, as well as detecting and correcting errors in algorithms. Pupils are able to master how computer networks operate including how the internet works and e-safety. Children are taught the underpinning knowledge and behaviours that helps them to navigate the online world safely and confidently regardless of the device, platform or app, in computing and PSHE lessons. In Key Stage 2, Children study computing for a minimum of 1 hour and 30 minutes per a week.
Year 5 - Shape drawing
Year 4 Stop motion animations
Internet Security:
The school has an Internet Security Policy to help children stay safe online. This is supported by a training programme for children, information sessions for parents and regular updates via our communications. The school system is “fire wall” protected so that inappropriate material can not be accessed by pupils or staff. All staff are annually trained on internet safety. This is in line with the DfE document Teaching online safety in schools’ (2019). Staff have also had training on the school's filtering and monitoring systems and are aware of procedures when observing irregular activity by a pupil. (KCSIE 2023).
Please see HERE for the Filtering and Monitoring information.
Click here to see Online Safety learning resources you can look at with your child at home.