ICT and Computing

Intent

At Penwortham Priory Academy we believe that Computing and the use of ICT is central to the education of all pupils. We aim to give each pupil the opportunity to apply and develop their technological understanding and skills across a wide range of situations and tasks. Pupils are encouraged to develop a confident and safe approach to Computing and the use of ICT, with the understanding of the capabilities and flexibility of their resources. With the knowledge that Computing and ICT will undoubtedly continue to form a major part in their life at home, in further education and places of work, we ensure the Computing and ICT experiences and abilities that the pupils are equipped with at Priory, are effective and transferrable life skills.

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.

Through a high-quality computing education, we equip pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Students build on prior learning from Key Stage 2 to broaden their understanding and application of the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming.

They are challenged to learn through the use of ‘BIG Questions’ and are required to think hard in lessons using ‘higher order’ skills such as analysis and evaluation. The curriculum encourages them to develop their leadership and organisational skills in the practical tasks. Pupils are equipped to use information technology to create programs, systems and a range of content and demonstrate their growing knowledge through their written and verbal communication.

Students are expected to show resilience through becoming increasingly competent in being digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.

Knowledge underpins our curriculum therefore pupils are given an overview of their learning journey at the start of their unit of work so that they know what they’ll be learning, the skills they’ll develop, why they need to know this and how they’ll learn it; this helps them develop their schemata and helps them understand how this subject links to others.

The curriculum is sequenced to build on existing knowledge and incrementally develop new knowledge. Our aim is to make Computing an engaging and challenging learning experience.

We recognise that all classes have pupils with widely differing ICT abilities. This is especially true when some pupils have access to ICT equipment at home, while others do not. We provide suitable learning opportunities for all pupils by matching the challenge of the task to the ability and experience of the pupil. Pupils understand the sequence and what they’re required to learn as a result of using personal learning checklists. Spaced retrieval, low stakes testing, and repeated practice are used to ensure that concepts are understood and knowledge remembered. 

We place emphasis on the acquisition of tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary, modelling and explaining this in our teaching and facilitating exposure to it using ‘real-life’ reading texts, journals, websites and relevant articles to keep up to date with the technological changes that go on in the world.

In addition to the diverse and rich opportunities offered through the teaching, we value opportunities to take pupils out on trips and visits and also enhance the curriculum by inviting relevant specialists in.

Teachers of ICT & Computing

Mrs S Qadri - Head of ICT & Computing

Miss G Gregson - ICT & Computing Teacher

Lessons

Year 7 - 1 hour a week

Year 8 - 1 hour a week

Year 9 - 1 hour a week

Year 10 - 3 hours per week depending on options taken (GCSE Computer Science / BTEC Digital IT / NCFE Business & Enterprise)

Year 11 - 3 hours per week depending on options taken (GCSE Computer Science / BTEC Digital IT / NCFE Business & Enterprise)