OUR LADY’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Computing Policy
Our Lady’s School is founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the life of the school community is centred on His
presence.
Rationale
A high quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to
understand and change the world. Computing has deep links with mathematics, science, and design
and technology, and provides insights into both natural and artificial systems. The core of computing
is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how
digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming.
Building on this knowledge and understanding, pupils are equipped to use information technology to
create programs, systems and a range of content. Computing also ensures that pupils become
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.
(The National Curriculum in England 2013)
Aims
At Our Lady’s School we aim to produce learners who
 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 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.
We aim to achieve this by
 enabling children to use different technologies with purpose and enjoyment.
 meeting the requirements of the National Curriculum (2014) and enabling all children to
reach the highest standards of achievement.
 enabling all children to develop the necessary skills to exploit a wide range of technological
applications such as word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics software, multimedia
presentations and tools such as digital cameras etc.
 enabling all children to become autonomous users of technology
 enabling children to evaluate the limitations and benefits of computer technology and its
impact on society.
 creating an atmosphere and levels of technological resources to encourage all members of the
school community to learn celebrating success in the use of different technologies
 using different technologies to enhance children’s learning in all areas of the curriculum.
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Principles of Teaching and Learning
To ensure that children at Our Lady’s School are taught in a coherent and progressive way, a scheme
of work, based on the Dartford Area Schools' Consortium (DASCo) is in place. In the Foundation
Stage, children engage in computing activities in the area of learning called 'Understanding the
World'.
Computer technology is used across the curriculum and a range of teaching strategies are employed
in both key stages. These include
 short directed activities to practise specific skills
 open ended activities that allow pupils to choose which tools to use or to select from a variety
of media
 using the computer to demonstrate to a group of pupils or to the whole class
 individual, paired or group work
 individual pupils demonstrating or teaching a skill to others
 discussion and debate.
At Our Lady’s School, we believe that children should be active participants in the learning process.
Children will be encouraged to adopt a questioning approach and try to solve problems for
themselves, with appropriate teacher guidance. In accordance with the principles of responsible
learners, self-assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning of computing.
Assessment and Reporting
 On-going formative assessment is an integral part of good practice. Its main purpose is to
enable the teacher to match work to the abilities and needs of the children and ensure
progression in learning.
 Computing skills capability should be monitored regularly in relation to the Computing
curriculum as outlined in the ‘The National Curriculum’ for England. Teachers should assess
module requirements with reference to children’s knowledge, understanding and skills. Other
opportunities for assessment will arise from cross-curricular work.
 Samples of work should be kept for groups of children stored in classrooms or on the school
network within relevant class folders.
 For Reception it may not always be practical to keep samples of work, but observations and
discussions could be recorded.
Differentiation and Special Educational Needs
Teachers at Our Lady’s School are committed to inclusion and therefore strongly believe in giving
all pupils equal access to technology in order to develop their personal capability. Through careful
medium and short-term planning, teachers will engage pupils in a variety of activities, which are
appropriately differentiated to cater for the wide range of abilities within a class group.
More able children will be given opportunities for further development through open-ended tasks
and extension activities which will help ensure that they reach their highest possible potential,
without making impossible demands on them.
For pupils with identified special educational needs, tasks will be adapted to enable them to work
within their own ability range. Special needs support staff will be integrated into the learning process
wherever possible, providing support and encouragement for children with learning difficulties.
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Software to support pupils with SEN will be loaded on appropriate machines to maximise
independent access.
Equal opportunities
All children are given equal access to the computing curriculum regardless of their gender or
ethnicity. The full participation of both boys and girls is encouraged during all lessons and groups
are arranged to ensure that no one gender or ethnic group dominates. Any pupils who do not have
access to a computer or the internet at home are given access within school times or at homework
club.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
Pupils are given opportunities to work collaboratively with a partner or a group as well as
participating in whole class discussions and debates. This enables them to develop their social skills
and appreciate and respect the contributions made by their peers. Pupils also learn to use equipment
responsibility and to pack it away neatly for the next user. They also learn to share the equipment so
that each person has equal access to different technologies.
Health and Safety
In line with the school’s health and safety policy, children are instructed in the safe use of all
equipment. All electrical equipment is fitted with plugs containing circuit breakers. Care is taken to
ensure that children do not spend too long, without a break, looking at a computer monitor.
When using the Internet during computing lessons all staff adhere to the school’s e-safety policy.
Pupils are introduced to internet safety at the start of each academic year and internet safety posters
are displayed by all class PCs and in the computer suite. When pupils are given homework which
may involve the use of the internet, web sites will be recommended by the teacher to prevent pupils
accessing unsuitable sites.
It is the responsibility of staff to ensure that classroom computing equipment is stored securely,
cleaned regularly and that their class or themselves return any equipment used to the computing
resource cupboards.
Staff should ensure that the children are seated at the computers comfortably and be aware of the
dangers of continuous use (e.g. eye/wrist strain etc).
Role of the subject co-ordinator
The subject co-ordinator will
 take the lead in policy development and production of schemes of work
 support colleagues in their development of short-term plans and the implementation of the
schemes of work
 monitor the delivery of the computing curriculum and ensure it meets the requirements of the
National Curriculum 2014
 keep abreast of new developments in computer technology and disseminate information to
colleagues as appropriate
 plan and implement staff training programmes according to staff needs, in liaison with the
Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
 monitor the use of computer technology
 be responsible for ensuring suitable resources for teaching the curriculum.
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Role of the Class Teacher
The class teacher will
 have an awareness of the requirements of the National Curriculum for computing
 monitor the achievements of pupils and use this assessment to inform planning to secure
weaker areas
 ensure safe use of technology in the classroom
 develop their own expertise in computer technology and be familiar with available software
 report faulty equipment or make purchase requests promptly to the ICT co-ordinator.
Resources
Each class is equipped with their own computers and the network has a range of software. Software
requirements are regularly monitored and updated by the ICT co-ordinator as necessary. All
classrooms are equipped with an interactive whiteboard, a visualiser and have a digital camera and
battery charger. It is the teachers’ responsibility to ensure that photographs are regularly
downloaded onto the school network. Staff are not permitted to use mobile phones to take
photographs of pupils or school activities. Other computer equipment is centrally stored in the
locked cupboard on the back of the stage, this equipment includes control and monitoring equipment,
a card reader and the digital and DVD cameras, an i-pod with speaker and digital microphones.
There are two trolleys containing mini-tablets and 2 wireless boxes available for use in class. There
are two televisions and DVD players in school to support the curriculum and all PCs also have DVD
playing software installed. The photocopier in the school office is also a scanner.
Computing may be taught as part of the Creative Curriculum where appropriate to allow pupils to
develop their skills with relevant activities. The DASCo Scheme is used to provide structure and
support for both teachers and pupils during computing lessons. In addition, a trained computing
technician is timetabled for use in classto assist teachers in delivering the ICT curriculum.
Cross-Curricular Links
The use of computer technology significantly enhances teaching and learning in other subjects by
enabling rapid access to knowledge, information and experiences from a wide range of sources. The
use of different technologies throughout the curriculum encourages critical thinking, imagination and
creativity, problem solving, initiative and independence, teamwork and reflection. When devising
medium and short term plans teachers identify when and where technology will be used in other
subject areas.
Monitoring, Evaluating and Reviewing
The ICT subject leader is Mrs J Foster. There is a named Governor linked to ICT – Mr E. Thomas
Community and Extra-Curricular Links
Computing is used as a means of communicating with other classes in the school, with parents and
members of the wider community. E-mail has made it possible to widen the membership of the
community to whom the children and staff correspond.
Children with computers at home are encouraged to use them for homework and other educational
activities, thus encouraging parental or family involvement. However, staff at Our Lady’s are careful
not to discriminate against those children without such facilities at home.
There is a School Website which provides information about Our Lady’s School and allows
achievements to be celebrated.
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Use of Photographs
Parents complete a parental permission form on entry to the school giving consent for pupils’ work
to be published electronically. Consent is also gained for the electronic publication of photographs
and videos subject to the school rule that images will not be accompanied by names. Any images
that are being published on-line will be shown to parents of pupils that can be identified to gain
further permission for their use. Permission forms are stored in the main office.
Policy Review
Date reviewed
Spring 2015
Next Review
Spring 2017
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APPENDIX 1
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1 pupils should be taught to
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understand what algorithms are; how they are implemented as programs on digital devices; and that
programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions
create and debug simple programs
use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
use technology safely and respectfully, keeping personal information private; know where to go for
help and support when they have concerns about material on the internet
recognise common uses of information technology beyond school.
Key Stage 2
In Key Stage 2 pupils should be taught to
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design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating
physical systems; solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts
se sequence, selection, and repetition in programs; work with variables and various forms of input and
output
use logical reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in
algorithms and programs
understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as
the world-wide web; and the opportunities they offer for communication and collaboration
use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning
in evaluating digital content
use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly; know a range of ways to report concerns and
inappropriate behaviour
select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices
to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and
information.
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APPENDIX 2
Terminology
The Programme of Study deliberately uses technical terms, such as “algorithm”, “abstraction”, or
“data representation”, rather than more colloquial forms, to add precision and depth of meaning to a
very short document.
Technical terms have precise meanings; you can look them up in Wikipedia and other literature to
draw on a rich source of ideas and inspiration. They also usually describe more general ideas than
their colloquial counterparts; for example, as students develop they will find that an “algorithm” can
be parallel or distributed, something not encompassed by “a sequence of steps”.
Computational thinking and abstraction
Computational thinking is the process of recognising aspects of computation in the world that
surrounds us, and applying tools and techniques from computing to understand and reason about
both natural and artificial systems and processes. It is an approach to solving problems that occur not
only in writing programs but also in dealing with problems in the physical world. For example,
decomposing complex problems into simpler steps and solving these steps one at a time is
sequencing, providing alternative solutions to solve different aspects of a problem is selection and
solving problems incrementally by taking repeated actions is repetition. Sequencing, selection and
repetition are part of the basic toolkit of computer programming but they are also techniques that
apply to organising a multitude of common tasks such as planning a journey or decorating a house.
Computational thinking is something that people do (rather than computers), and includes the ability
to think logically, algorithmically and (at higher levels) recursively and abstractly.
Modelling
Modelling is the process of developing a representation of a real world issue, system, or situation,
that captures the aspects of the situation that are important for a particular purpose, while omitting
everything else. Examples: London Underground map; storyboards for animations; a web ”site
map”; the position, mass, and velocity of planets orbiting one another.
Different purposes need different models. Example: a geographical map of the Underground is more
appropriate for estimating travel times than the well-known topological Underground map; a network
of nodes and edges can be represented as a diagram, or as a table of numbers.
A particular situation may need more than one model. Example: a web page has a structural model
(headings, lists, paragraphs), and a style model (how a heading is displayed, how lists are displayed).
A browser combines information from both models as it renders the web page.
Decomposing
A problem can often be solved by decomposing it into sub-problems, solving them, and composing
the solutions together to solve the original problem. For example “Make breakfast” can be broken
down into “Make toast; make tea; boil egg”. Each of these in turn can be decomposed, so the process
is naturally recursive. Programming languages allow the programmer to express this kind of
decomposition directly using procedures and functions, and real programs almost invariably consist
of layer upon layer of procedures, each using the services of the layer below, and hiding complexity
from the layer above.
The organisation of data can also be decomposed. For example, the data representing the population
of a country can be decomposed into entities such as individuals, occupations, places of residence,
etc.
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Sometimes this top-down approach is the way in which the solution is developed; but it can also be
a helpful way of understanding a solution regardless how it was developed in the first place. For
example, an architectural block diagram showing the major components of a computer system (e.g. a
client, a server, and a network), and how they communicate with each other, can be a very helpful
way of understanding that system.
Generalising and classifying
Complexity is often avoided by generalising specific examples, to make explicit what is shared
between the examples and what is different about them. For example, having written a procedure to
draw a square of size 3 and another to draw a square of size 5, one might generalise to a procedure to
draw a square of any size N, and call that procedure with parameters 3 and 5 respectively. In this
way much of the code used in different programs can be written once, debugged once, documented
once, and (most important) understood once.
Generalisation is the process of recognising these common patterns, and using them to control
complexity by sharing common features.
Algorithms
An algorithm is a precise method of solving a problem. Algorithms range from the simple (such as
instructions for changing a wheel on a car) to the ingenious (such as route-finding), and cover many
different application areas (for example, cookery, drawing three-dimensional graphics; solving
systems of constraints, such as a school timetable; understanding images; numerical simulation, and
so on).
An algorithm can be expressed as a program in many different programming languages.
There may be more than one algorithm to solve a single problem, differing in their simplicity,
efficiency, or generality. For example, to find a path through a maze, one (simple, slow) algorithm
might be to simply walk around at random until you find the exit. Another (more complicated) one
would involve remembering where you had been to avoid going down the same blind alley twice.
Another might be to keep you left hand on the wall and walk till you find the exit (faster, but does
not work on all mazes, and so less general).
NAACE and CAS Sept 2013
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