At St Mary’s we have created a comprehensive progression document for staff to follow to best embed and cover every element of the computing curriculum. The knowledge/skills statements build year on year to deepen and challenge our children. Computing at St Mary’s is delivered by our teaching staff and a highly skilled computing teacher from an external agency.

By the time the children leave St Mary's, the children will have gained key knowledge and skills in the three main areas of the computing curriculum: computer science (programming and understanding how digital systems work), information technology (using computer systems to store, retrieve and send information) and digital literacy (evaluating digital content and using technology safely and respectfully). The objectives within each strand support learning development across the key stages, ensuring a solid grounding for future learning and beyond.

Within the academic year, children study computing in blocks. The implementation of the curriculum ensures a balanced coverage of computer science (programming), information technology (data & information), and digital literacy (creating media).

The children will have experiences of all three strands in each year group, but the subject knowledge imparted becomes increasingly specific and in-depth, with more complex skills being taught, thus ensuring that learning is built upon.

Internet safety is taught from reception to year 6 in addition to each computing block.

We encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. We will constantly ask the ‘why’ behind their learning not just the ‘how’. The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence by reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills using pupil voice, and observing learning regularly and digitally through tools like Google Drive. Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in achieving these outcomes.