Giffard Park Primary School

Computing at Giffard Park Primary School

The subject leader for computing is Mrs Cronin.

At Giffard Park Primary School we want pupils to be MASTERS of technology. Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in students' lives. Therefore, we want to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our pupils to be creators not consumers and our broad curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this.

Please view our Intent, Implementation, Impact document for an in depth look at our Computing aims.

We have a range of technology available in school inclulding 1:1 iPads in KS2, iPads in KS1 and EYFS, Chromebooks, Digital Camers, Sphero Indis, Beebots, Crumbles and Micro:Bits.

What does the Computing Curriculum look like?

The National Curriculum for Computing aims to ensure that all pupils: 

• can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
• can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems
• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

At Giffard Park Primary School, we achieve this through using the NCCE Computing scheme as a foundation.

Computing Highlights

There have been many exciting lessons taking place in computing across the school. Read below to find out what has been happening in each year group.

Foundation

Our youngest programmers have been grouping data using different features, such as colour, size and object. This term, they will be using computational thinking skills when looking at patterns, position and direction in unplugged activities. 

Year 1

Learners in Year 1 have explored the world of digital art and its exciting range of creative tools in Autumn. They created their own paintings, while getting inspiration from a range of other artists. The pupils became critical thinkers by asking them to consider their preferences when painting with, and without, the use of digital devices.

Year 2

In Autumn term, the children in Year 2 explored digital photography. Pupils recognised that different devices can be used to capture photographs and experienced capturing, editing, and improving photos. They used this knowledge to recognise that images they see may not be real.

Year 3

In Autumn term in Year 3, the children used canva and pic collage to create invitations for their desktop publishing unit. They explored colour, fonts, sizes and layers throughout their learning.

Year 4

Year 4 explored photo editing, building on their digital photography knowledge and skills from KS1. As part of this learning, they looked at fake images, why images might be changed and edited their own images for a purpose. To edit the photos, they used photopea and a range of tools: crop, resize, copy, paste and undo. 

Have a look at these examples.

Year 5

Year 5 have been learning about vector drawings in their creating media unit. The pupils recognised that images in vector drawings are created using shapes and lines, and each individual element in the drawing is called an object. Year 5 layered their objects and begin grouping and duplicating them to support the creation of more complex pieces of work.

Year 6

Year 6 have completed their web page creation. Pupils identified what makes a good web page and used this information to design and evaluate their own website using Google Slides. Throughout the process learners looked specifically at copyright and fair use of media, the aesthetics of the site, and navigation paths.