Welcome to our computing page
Information and communication technology is an integral part of the national curriculum and is a key skill for everyday life, therefore it is important for all children to learn the necessary skills whilst at our school, and through computing pupils are more able to actively participate in a rapidly changing technological world. Whilst pupils are at St. Matthew’s we want all pupils to develop their skills in using technology, as well as learning how to stay safe whilst online and where they can get help and support from.
Computing Policies
As a school we follow the Bolton Schools ICT Computing Toolkit. It was developed using resources from the national curriculum, Education for a Connected World, NACCE and CAS.
It splits the computing curriculum into 4 main strands; digital citizenship, digital literacy, computer science and information technology.
Computing Long term Overview
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.
Whilst pupils are at St. Matthew's we want all pupils to develop their skills in using technology, as well as learning how to stay safe whilst online, and where they can get help and support from. Critical thinking and analytical skills are also developed through the computing curriculum. Computing also ensures that pupils become digitally literate. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand matters, skills and processes specified in the programme of study. By the end of year six, pupils will emerge accomplished in many aspects of computing.
What is digital citizenship?
Children need to examine the consequences of their online activity–both good and bad. When teaching Digital Citizenship it is vital that we thoroughly embed the principles of staying safe online, and then move onto web content and how they interact with it. It is important to use real world examples with our children to ensure that their learning is relevant to their life experiences.
The computing curriculum says:
KS1:
Use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; identify where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.
KS2:
Understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
Use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; recognise acceptable/unacceptable behaviour; identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.
Digital Citizenship at St. Matthew's
Year One
DC in Year 1
What is Digital Literacy?
Digital literacy means having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies. There are six core skills collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, citizenship, character and communication.
- Collaboration - Ability to work collaboratively
- Creativity - Ask the right questions to generate new ideas
- Critical thinking - Evaluate information
- Citizenship - Ability to consider issues and solve complex problems
- Character - tenacity, perseverance, and resilience
- Communication - communicate effectively through a variety of methods and tools.
The computing curriculum says:
KS1:
Use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
KS2:
Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
Digital Literacy at St. Matthew's
Year 3
What is Computer Science?
Computer science has potential to teach children Computational Thinking or how to think. Computational Thinking can teach students how to be successful with design, logical reasoning, problem solving and resilience - all valuable well beyond the computer science classroom. The ability to create and adapt new technologies distinguishes computer science from computer literacy.
The computing curriculum says:
KS1:
Understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions
Create and debug simple programs
Use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
KS2:
Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and output
Use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs
Select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish
Computer Science at St. Matthew's
Year One
Year Two
What is Information Technology?
This is how we interface with technology using existing hardware. We need to teach children how to navigate around a variety of devices, type, save work, find and move files. In addition, they need to understand the internet and the web, use search engines, understand networks and generally be efficient and independent users of a range of technologies.
The computing curriculum says:
KS1:
Recognise common uses of information technology beyond school
KS2:
Understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
Use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content
Information Technology at St. Matthew's
Our digital leaders team is made up of eight pupils from Year 5 and Year 6.
Here are our digital leaders for 2022/23.
Our digital leaders attended E-safety Champion training where we discussed cyberbullying, phishing, and other key areas.
For help and advice about computing, and staying safe whilst using the internet please look at the following links.
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