Woodthorpe Church of England Primary School

You can email through your TV, surf the internet on your mobile phone, even do the weekly shop from the comfort of your own home via your PC; modern technology is changing the way we live and work.  Our children need to learn how to manage it all – to get hold of information, evaluate its suitability, store it, share it with others and tailor it to meet their own needs.  That’s where their information and communication technology (ICT) lessons come in!  By using laptops and interactive whiteboards in the classroom, the children learn how to safely navigate the internet and communicate through emails, develop digital photography skills, use sound and video recording equipment and access a wide variety of software.  We have 6 interactive whiteboards throughout the school, along with digital microscopes, sensor equipment, digital cameras, voice recorders and kindles, to name but a few available resources to ensure that ICT can be used as a learning tool throughout the curriculum.

At Woodthorpe C. of E. Primary School, we intend on delivering a modern, up-to-date and holistic computing curriculum to our pupils. With the rise of job opportunities and general use of computing technologies, we are focused on educating our pupils in a variety of aspects of computing. An overarching theme of our computing curriculum is safety and we teach the pupils to take safety online very seriously.

We will ensure that every week adequate time is made for the teaching of Computing, developing the breadth of pupils’ experience in the computing curriculum. We strive to provide a broad and balanced computing curriculum, by the use of Kapow Computing scheme, that gives the children exciting opportunities to express themselves while also honing their computing knowledge and skills. Instead of placing too much emphasis on perfection or a consistent conclusion, we want to encourage children to explore with technology and make it their own.

Statement of intent

Our subject intent is to:

• Instill a sense of enjoyment around using technology
• Develop pupils’ appreciation of technologies capabilities and the opportunities it offers to create, manage, organise and collaborate. 
• Develop pupils’ confidence when encountering new technology, which is a vital skill in the ever evolving and changing world of technology.
• To become digitally competent and have a range in transferable skills at a suitable level for the future workplace, but also to be responsible online citizens.

As stated, we take online safety very seriously and we strive to make E-Safety a thread throughout our computing curriculum. We aim to hold online safety in a high profile in our school by ensuring the following:

• A relevant up-to-date online safety curriculum, which is progressive from Year 3 to the end of Year 6.
• Through our home/school links and communication channels, parents are kept up to date with relevant online safety matters, policies and agreements.
• The pupils know who to contact at school if they have concerns.
• Data policies, which stipulate how we keep confidential information, secure.
• A curriculum that is threaded throughout other curriculums and embedded in the day-to-day lives of our pupils.
• Training for staff and governors which is relevant to their needs and ultimately positively impacts on the pupils.
• Our online safety policy clearly states how monitoring of online safety is undertaken and any incidents/infringements to it are dealt with.
• Filtering and monitoring systems for all our online access.

Woodthorpe C of E Primary School Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement 2022-23 

Online Safety

Staying safe when using technology is vitally important.  E-safety is taught throughout the year and children are aware of the procedures that are in place, in order to ensure they are safe when online.  We aspire for our children to confidently and independently use and apply information technology skills to support and extend their learning.  We hope to develop a culture where the use of ICT becomes second nature to our pupils, thus ensuring they are ready and able to embrace the technological advances in their futures.

Click here to explore some helpful websites about internet safety. These can be used to help educate your children.  

Foundation Stage pupils have the opportunity to use computers from the day they start school. They play games, listen to stories and support their early learning through a variety of programs and experiences. They quickly learn how to use equipment and programs safely and sensibly.

Over the years, pupils will develop skills in ICT that will provide them with skills for life. They will investigate ways to research and handle statistical information. They will use simple programming, design control and animation tools to develop independence skills and techniques. Overall the children have a wide experience of Information Technology and have the opportunity to learn and develop their computer knowledge, understanding and skills at their own level thus becoming increasingly independent and innovative.

Click here for CEOP guidance on E-Safety which you may find useful.