Our Intent

At St. John’s, we believe that digital literacy is as relevant to children in 21^st Century Britain as Reading, Writing and Maths. When used correctly, technology opens up opportunities, allowing children to be creative and expressive. The digital world is exciting and one that all children can be successful in regardless of their background and starting points. Computing allows our children to be programmers, filmmakers, animators, authors and much more. We strive to ensure that our high quality, relevant and ambitious Computing curriculum opens up a world of opportunities, leading to a wide variety of career options and creative outlets, as well as teaching our children to be safe and respectful when accessing the online world. 

Implementation 

Our school uses the Barefoot scheme in EYFS to introduce our youngest children to ‘computational thinking’ before they are taught the National Curriculum in Key Stage 1. The Teach Computing scheme is then taught from Years 1 – 6 to ensure the aims of the National Curriculum are covered and that the children are provided with many opportunities to see the power of technology. Teach Computing was developed by The National Centre for Computing Education, a government-funded initiative, and is delivered by a consortium of STEM Learning, Raspberry Pi Foundation and British Computer Society. In order to provide our children with the best possible resources and teaching, we have links with the Carmel Computing Hub from which we lease resources. 

Underpinning our approach is a commitment to the teaching of how to use technology safely and respectfully. Learning and teaching within the computing curriculum empowers children to become digitally confident in their daily lives, which helps to prepare them to become independent users of technology beyond the classroom.