Intent
At Heathcote Primary School, we believe 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. 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.
Our vision is to cultivate a deep-rooted enjoyment for Computing among all our pupils, fostering confidence, passion, and responsibility in their use of technology. Through interesting, relevant and inclusive lessons, they will be able to leave Heathcote with a good understanding of how computers and the internet work, along with being able to complete tasks on them creatively, independently and reflectively for a range of purposes and audiences.
We want our pupils to be ready to embrace digital opportunities they are presented with both in school and in the wider world.
Implementation
We follow the Purple Mash scheme of learning. This ensures coverage and progression of skills and knowledge across all strands of the computing curriculum: computer science, information technology and digital literacy. Online safety is taught through both Computing and PSHE lessons and its elements feature in every computing lesson.
Purple Mash is a child friendly computing system that mirrors a lot of programmes seen in the ‘real’ word (e.g. font buttons are the same, email formats are the same). By using Purple Mash, we are exposing the children to real-word systems but giving them freedom to explore using a child-friendly interface. It is also safe in terms of who and what they can access.
All children will be provided with We Learn 365 Office accounts.
Impact
When children leave Heathcote Primary School, they will be competent, respectful and safe users of technology, which they will be able to use to accomplish a wide range of goals both in school and at home. Children will have a secure knowledge of how technology and digital systems work. They will have developed skills to express themselves and be creative in using digital media and be equipped to apply their skills in computing to different challenges moving forward; this is important in a society where technologies and trends are rapidly evolving. Additionally, children will develop their understanding of how to deal with online situations safely.
