2023/2024

EYFS

We weave our computing knowledge and skills through many parts of our curriculum in the early years. We start to think about communication in our role play and have access to telephones, writing letters and using a computer. We also create pictures using technology in our continuous provision and use the interactive whiteboard (IWB) to do this. The children in early years love to sort information using shape sorting and number games on the IWB.

In the spring term, children in EYFS enjoyed learning about how we can make things work. They also had the opportunity to control a range of toys and have started to understand what happens when you press or click a button. This has helped us to understand that humans give devices instructions to make them work.

In the summer term, children in EYFS will start to learn more in depth about the internet. We will explore the fact that websites can be used to find information and will discuss that we should only use the internet with adult supervision.

Year 1/2

In the autumn term, we focussed on digital images. We learnt how to capture a still image on iPads and modified the images by using different filters and lighting. We also used the iPads to capture videos. After that, we used the laptops and practiced saving and retrieving images. Our final skills for this topic were copy, paste and insert. We used these to create a PowerPoint which used all of our skills from the topic.

In the spring term, Year 1/2 started to learn about enhancing their digital work with sound. We first considered what we already knew from EYFS and tried recording and playing back sound on iPads and talking tins. Once we recapped the school's online safety rules, we composed our own musical phrases using the music app GarageBand. We loved the sound of electronic music! Our final piece was adding recorded sound to a document and we used our skills of saving and retrieving that we had learnt in the autumn term.

Year 3/4

In the spring term, year 3/4 created an animation. We already knew about changing photographs from our work in year 1/2. First, we revisited our skills and practiced manipulating images and also learnt how to combine them. We considered the framing of images as we took them and thought about the mood that it might create. Once we had all of the skills we needed, we created an animation which was made for a specific audience. Of course, we needed to think about the privacy of sharing these images and animations online.

2022/2023

EYFS

In the early years, we start to explore technology. We use the interactive whiteboard as a tool for learning and can explore it more during continuous provision when a task might be set up for us. We start to have conversations around online safety and using devices at home. We also are formally introduced to Beebots - they are so much fun! Once we have been introduced to our first experience of coding with the Beebots, we are able to use them in continuous provision.

Year 1/2

In autumn term, we were working on understanding how sequences of commands can make things happen. We have started to understand what an algorithm is and have tried creating and following our own codes. If we made a mistake, we learnt how to debug our code to make it correct.

In the spring term, we were learning about how to use the internet safely to find information. We thought about the school rules for online safety and discussed the fact that some information needs to be kept private.  We also learnt about how to share our school's safety rules with others. We now know about different ways to communicate online and how to do this safely. We can all share who a trusted adult and we know about how to keep a healthy balance of time online and offline.

In the summer term, we have been learning how to combine text and sound with images on PowerPoint to create a presentation for the children in reception. We have added text to explain to them what it will be like in year 1/2 and have made it engaging by adding graphics and sound. We have learnt to save our PowerPoints to the pupil secure server and know how to retrieve our documents. 

Year 3/4

In the autumn term, we used Scratch to help us to learn how to write algorithms on a programmable device. We now understand how to create loops in code to create a specific outcome, how to animate our name and also know how to debug simple code. We used all of the skills that we learnt in this topic to design and create a game - we loved it!

In spring, we considered whether all information online can be trusted. We used search engines to search for information and started to understand the difference between facts, opinions and beliefs. We also learnt about networks and websites and have started to understand how they work.

In the summer term, we considered online safety and its impact on our health and wellbeing. We discussed how online identities can be different to ones in the real-world and spoke about how this can impact on cyber communication and relationships. As part of this learning, we looked at some online posts and thought about how people were portraying themselves online and how this would reflect on the way that others see them. We also spoke about cyberbullying and the consequences of technology on our lives.

Year 5/6

In the autumn term, we created a resource in small groups to help limit the negative effects of technology. This resource consolidated all of our learning in this topic. First, we looked at our school's online safety policy and thought about how this relates to our online time at school and when working from home and using our mobile devices. We then considered the online communication that we have with others and learnt about the risk of grooming and the importance of online privacy. From this, we thought about the reputation that can be created from sharing information on social media and wrote a letter to explain about how to create a positive online presence. We also considered our own responsibility when it comes to sharing information online and how this can link to cyberbullying. 

In the spring term, we compared the differences between paint packages and computed aided design (CAD). We then designed, created and evaluated stop-motion animations. We combined digital images to create our animation and learnt how to zoom, pan and add wide shots. We know how to add credits to our work and how to add sound.

In summer, year 5/6 we revisited algorithms and how inputs can be used in coding to control outputs. We used scratch to find and debug errors in code. We also used scratch to create a game with sensors and conditional commands.