Computing
Our aim, at the Cooperative Education East Trust, is for children to develop a sense of enjoyment around using technology and to develop their appreciation of its capabilities and the impact it has on everyday life.
It is also important that children understand the opportunities that technology offers to create, manage, organise and collaborate with others.
We promote a healthy respect and understanding of technology and its uses. Children are taught to recognise the positive impact it can have on everyday life whilst also understanding the online dangers, addiction and healthy balance, the complications of sharing things with others and safety rules they can follow. Working with, and developing an understanding of, a range of software and programs forms a core part of the aim of our curriculum as we want to develop the confidence children have when encountering new technology, which is a vital skill in everyday life due to the ever-changing landscape of technology. Through our curriculum, it is our aim that every child is digitally competent and has a range of transferable skills that can be used in the future workplace. Additionally, we feel it is important that children are taught how to be responsible online citizens, who can keep themselves safe in a digital world. In order to achieve our aims, we have chosen to follow the mixed age curriculum developed by Kapow. This scheme of work enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets outlined in the National Curriculum, while ensuring that the overall aims also align with those in the National Curriculum.
When used in conjunction with our PSHE curriculum (for example on-line safety), the computing scheme also satisfies the objectives of the DfE’s Education for a Connected World framework. This guidance was created to help equip children for life in the digital world, including developing their understanding of appropriate online behaviour, copyright uses, understanding how to consume online information critically and lastly, how to use technology in a healthy way.