Computing
Welcome to our Computing page
"Computers themselves, and software yet to be developed, will revolutionise the way we learn."
-Steve Jobs
Our Aim
At Birkdale Primary School, we understand that children are surrounded by technology in their daily lives and are growing up in an increasingly digital world. They are both motivated and inspired by technology-centred experiences and need to have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be prepared for a future which we may not yet be able to imagine.
Our aim is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum whilst ensuring that pupils become digitally literate and digitally resilient. Our Computing curriculum is focused on a progression of skills in digital literacy, computer science and information technology. These strands are revisited through a range of themes during children’s time in school to ensure the learning is embedded and skills are successfully developed.
Our intention is that Computing also supports children’s creativity and cross curricular learning, giving them transferable skills that they can use to choose the best tools for future tasks and challenges.
We want to our pupils to learn to use technology safely, responsibly and positively, making informed choices and knowing how and when to seek help if they need it.
Computing and Our Curriculum
Computing is the subject title that covers the teaching and learning of specific computer skills, with an increased focus on computer programming. All children from Year 1 to Year 6 have either a weekly Computing session or one full afternoon of Computing per fortnight, with access to Chromebooks and iPads to carry out their work.
Computing is also embedded across the curriculum, giving our children opportunities to apply their skills in other lessons in a variety of ways.
We are proud to offer all children access to the fantastic Purple Mash software both in Computing lessons and for cross-curricular ICT. This provides a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum with clear progression and consistency across the school. The scheme has been adapted to suit the needs of our pupils and ensure that the key skills are mastered. All pupils have their own Purple Mash login and can also access their account from home. Teachers may set additional activities for optional homework, which children will receive in the 'alerts' on the website. They can also 'hand in' work and check what feedback they have been given, providing a fully interactive approach to learning!
Purple Mash provides software to cover all areas of the Computing Curriculum, from coding to spreadsheets to blogging to online safety... and everything in between! Aspects of computing are repeated and built upon each year to provide our children with a challenging and progressive curriculum. Take a look at our Learning Journey and Progression Map below to see how that looks from EYFS right up to Year Six. You can also find all of the vocabulary taught as part of our curriculum, as well as our Computing Policy.
Meet our Computing Ambassador!
Congratulations to Jack D, our Computing Ambassador for 2023-24!
Coding Buddies Club
Coding Buddies is our fantastic group of Year 1 and Year 4 children who meet after school during Spring Term to work on coding challenges together. Children work in mixed-age pairs on their Computer Science skills, with a focus on creating their own algorithms and debugging their programs. It is wonderful to see our KS2 pupils supporting and teaching their friends in KS1!
Our Micro:bits have arrived!
We were recently delighted to receive our set of 30 BBC Micro:bits. These tiny, pocket-sized computers introduce children to how software and hardware work together. Each one has an LED light display, buttons, sensors and many input/output features that you can program and physically interact with. We have plans in motion to have these up and running in Year Five during the Summer term, with the help of our local Digital Schoolhouse Lead and CAS Ambassador, Jo Hodge. Stay tuned for more on this!
Staying Safe Online
Online safety is a key part of our Computing and PSHE Curriculum. Every teacher prioritises this at the start of the academic year and begins with an online safety unit to ensure it is at the forefront of children's minds. This is then re-visited and reinforced throughout the course of the year within Computing and PSHE lessons.
Our children also enjoy taking part in Safer Internet Day every year and complete a variety of related activities across the school.
Here our some photos of our work on online safety:
See below for useful links and documents to support parents and pupils with online safety.
CAS e-Safety animation competition entry
Here is a short video the children made in Year 6 for an Online Safety competition that we attended at Edge Hill University.