Computing

Computing at Cookridge Holy Trinity

At Cookridge Holy Trinity Primary school we value the importance of Computing as an important life skill and it is a part of everyday life for us at Holy Trinity. We are fortunate to have 30 children laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, Beebots, Probots and also Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets which allow us to learn vital IT skills in our Computing lessons as well as enhancing our learning in other curriculum areas.

Computing is changing the lives of everyone. Through teaching Computing we equip children to participate in a rapidly-changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology. We enable them to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information, whilst teaching the children how to keep safe online.

We also focus on developing the skills necessary for children to be able to use information in a discriminating and effective way. IT skills are a major factor in enabling children to be confident, creative and independent learners. We teach Computing using the Chris Quigley Essentials scheme of learning.

The aims of Computing at Cookridge Holy Trinity:

Competence in coding for a variety of practical and inventive purposes, including the application of ideas within other subjects.
The ability to connect with others safely and respectfully, understanding the need to act within the law and with moral and ethical integrity.
An understanding of the connected nature of devices.
The ability to communicate ideas well by using applications and devices throughout the curriculum.
The ability to connect, organise and manipulate data effectively.

Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and XBox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well

Coding

http://code.org/

http://scratch.mit.edu/

https://www.codeclubprojects.org/en-GB/

Safer Internet Day 2021

In school we promote E-Safety everyday but we have a focus on Safer Internet Day. This year activities have been set at home and for those who are in school. Here are some of the work across some of our year groups:

Year 1

Year 1 looked at the story of Smartie the Penguin.

Download (DOCX, 42KB)

Year 2

Year 2 saw the story of Detective Digiduck and solved the problems posed to him.

A lovely comment from a parent about the Digiduck book they read: ‘We enjoyed reading the Digiduck book online and watching the online safety videos – we then had a lengthy conversation regarding internet awareness and safety. Christian likes to play online and he only speaks to one person who is also a class mate therefore a safe connection.’

Year 3

Year 3 watched the ‘Lee & Kim’ video and made our own personal chain of trusted adults who we can talk to if ever we feel sad or worried about anything that’s happened on the internet.

Year 4

Year 4 explored different age limits for social media apps. They thought about how they can keep themselves safe using: ‘Zip it, Block it, Flag it’. They created their own set of rules to keep them safe.

Year 5

Year 6

Year 6 designed their own E-Safety Pixel Art on Excel. They needed to explain how to keep E-Safe with a particular focus on social media and mental health.

Download (XLSX, 20KB)

Download (XLSX, 29KB)

Computing Photos

Computing at Holy Trinity

Reception

Children are introduced to technology using the class computers, using age appropriate software. The children have access to Ipads, CD players, touch screen Promethean boards, easi-phones, remote control cars, microphones/karaoke machine and torches in their provision. During the year, the children are then exposed to bee-bots and early programming. During their final term, they are taught how to log onto a laptop, create and print a piece of work with support from the Year 6 children.

Year One

Children are taught how to log on to the laptops and start using programs eg Textease for purpose. They are taught about keeping safe online and the age rules of sites. During the Spring term, they practise their typing skills using word to save, edit and retrieve their work. During the Summer term, Year One children are exposed to simple data collecting and introduced to algorithms.

Computer algorithms

Typing up science facts we’ve learnt

Internet Safety posters

Bee-bots / coding

Year Two

In year 2 we use the laptops and iPads to develop our computing skills. We become familiar with a range of programs such as textease, word and PowerPoint. We use the internet to research and learn to copy and paste text and images. We also progress our learning to code using Beebots; we solve algorithms and debug problems.

Furthermore, we learn how to be safe on the internet through our e-safety lessons. (linked to PHSCE)

Beebots

Using QR codes to research the lake district 2J

Year 2 coding and maths on the Ipads

Internet Safety Quizzes 2J

QR Codes

Using iPads to record

Year Three

In year 3 we use the laptops to design and make book covers. We deepen our knowledge of using word, powerpoint and textease – creating weather powerpoints. During our computing lessons, we are taught how to safely use emails and are given our own school email address. Furthermore, we are introduced to Scratch and simple coding, we also use Pro-Bots to draw shapes. In the Summer term, we look at data collection and are taught how to use programmes such as Excel.

3W computing – coding

Year 3 using the VR headsets to explore Antarctica

Year Four

In Year 4 we use the laptops to create posters, advancing our word processing skills and are introduced to Publisher. We progress out data collecting skills further, constructing data bases and graphs in Science and Maths. We learn about online risks and contribute to blogs on our school website. We deepen our understanding of coding through Scratch and Kodu. We create animations using Powerpoint.

4L using Scratch to code

4H using the VR headsets

4L VR headsets Christmas around the world

4L using VR headsets to learn about states of matter

4L using QR codes for Thomas Edison biographies

4H QR Code research Thomas Edison

Year Five

In year 5 we use computing for a variety of purposes. We use computing to research out Topic of North and South America, use Google Earth and Google Street View to enhance our knowledge of particular places. We put a lot of emphasis on typing speed, as we believe it to be important as we move into a more digital age. The children will also access coding through programs such as Scratch, and they will code their own digital quizzes for our handsets through ActivInspire. As always, E-Safety plays a big part in our computing lessons, where the children will use different media platforms to demonstrate their knowledge of how to stay safe online. We also have a fun module on stop-start animation, where we use Microsoft Powerpoint to demonstrate how it works, before moving onto real-life, photographic animations.

By the end of the year, the children should be familiar with all the basic Microsoft Programs – Word (for presenting written work), Publisher (to create eye-catching posters), Excel (for data-handling) and PowerPoint (for creating slideshows and animations).

5C create their own game using coding.

Year Six

In year 6 we use computing for a variety of purposes. E-Safety is vital throughout school life when using any computing equipment which allows the children to go online. We ensure E-Safety is prominent in all of our lessons and the children understand the importance of keeping safe online; understand the age restrictions and privacy settings on social media and know what to do if anything inappropriate is flagged up. D-Side also come in to speak to us about this. We use computing for research purposes throughout our topic lessons on Britain Through the Decades, WWII and mountains- using Google to enhance the children’s learning and produce work suited to the task. We make sure that the children are taught about not copying and pasting directly from the internet, and using websites that are reliable. The children use their coding skills by using Scratch and build upon previous years by introducing variables for lists and ‘if, then, else’ conditions. We also use Sketch-Up (a 3D modelling program), which allows the children to become a graphic designer- they use this to design their own ski resorts during our topic on mountains. This year we have also been using the Virtual Reality headsets to allow the children to gain some immersive learning by travelling to places they may not otherwise get to visit.

D Side