At Thwaites School, we aim to develop confident, creative and responsible users of technology. Our computing curriculum gives pupils the knowledge, practical skills and digital understanding they need to participate safely and successfully in an increasingly technological world.

We teach pupils how digital systems work, how to think computationally and how to create digital content with accuracy and purpose. Children learn to use technology as a tool for solving problems, communicating ideas and expressing creativity while also developing a critical understanding of its opportunities, risks and limitations.

Curriculum Organisation

Computing is taught using Kapow Primary Computing, adapted carefully to meet the needs of our mixed-age classes.

Our curriculum develops through six connected strands:

• Computational Thinking

• Digital Literacy

• Understanding Technology

• Using Technology Purposefully

• Creating Digital Content

• Online Safety

These strands begin in Nursery and develop progressively through to Year 6. Pupils revisit important concepts at increasing levels of complexity, enabling them to connect new learning with what they already know.

Through their computing lessons, pupils develop knowledge and skills in areas including programming, algorithms, data, networks, digital systems and multimedia content. Technical vocabulary is taught explicitly and revisited so that pupils can explain processes and ideas accurately.

Teaching and Learning

Computing is taught through carefully sequenced, practical lessons. Pupils use digital devices, software and other technology to explore concepts, solve problems, create content and evaluate their work.

Teachers model new knowledge and skills clearly before pupils apply them independently. Children have opportunities to investigate, design, program, test, debug and improve their work. They are encouraged to show resilience when something does not work as expected and to use logical reasoning to identify possible solutions.

Learning is adapted through scaffolds, templates, worked examples, visual support and tasks broken into manageable steps. Pupils who demonstrate secure understanding are challenged through open-ended activities requiring deeper reasoning, independence and creativity.

Online Safety

Online safety is embedded throughout the computing curriculum and reinforced through PSHE, assemblies and wider safeguarding education. Pupils learn how to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly, protect personal information, recognise potential risks and seek help from a trusted adult.

Further information about this aspect of our curriculum and safeguarding arrangements can be found on our Online Safety page.

Assessment

Teachers assess pupils’ computing knowledge and skills through observation, questioning, discussion, practical outcomes, technical vocabulary and pupils’ approaches to problem-solving and debugging.

At the end of each unit, teachers review pupils’ understanding of the knowledge and skills taught. Once each term, they also consider progress across the six long-term computing strands using the judgements Developing, Secure and Advanced.

At the end of each lesson, pupils use the school’s POG system to reflect upon their progress against the learning objective and success criteria:

• Pink – Developing: “I am starting to learn this, but I still need help.”

• Orange – Secure: “I can do this on my own most of the time.”

• Green – Advanced: “I can do this confidently and could help someone else.”

Each year, pupils complete a retrieval task based on a computing topic taught during a previous curriculum cycle. They produce a non-chronological report explaining a previously learned concept, system or process using accurate vocabulary and clear sequencing. Younger pupils may explain their ideas orally with support, while older pupils produce increasingly detailed written explanations. This helps demonstrate what pupils have remembered beyond the original point of teaching.

By the end of Year 6, we aim for pupils to understand how digital technologies work, apply computational thinking to problems and create digital content confidently. They should be safe, critical and responsible digital citizens who are well prepared for the next stage of their education and the technologies of the future.