INTENT

Through our computing curriculum at Ambler, we aim to give our pupils the life-skills that will enable them to embrace and utilise new technology in a creative, as well as responsible way. We want our pupils to be able to operate in the 21st century workplace and we want them to know the career opportunities with digital organisations around Islington including Google, Three and Samsung.

We teach them how to be responsible digital citizens and have enshrined our beliefs on how to achieve this in ‘Ambler’s Digital Charter’. Through digital literacy children are able to communicate clearly using technology; through the application of technology across the curriculum, children are able to make connections and see the relevance and purpose of what they are learning; finally, through computer science lessons children are encouraged to be curious, expressing themselves through the creation of code, games and animations.

IMPLEMENTATION

Islington School’s computing service, working with lead teachers and advisors, have developed an Islington Computing Scheme of Work. At Ambler, we map out this scheme of work to fit with each year group’s curriculum.

Currently, computing units are taught by the Assistant Headteachers, with each year group being taught a unit per half-term. 

This computing SoW uses the DFE funded ‘Teach Computing’ resource, which has been customised for Islington schools to include relevant digital and learning resources. 

Children at Ambler primarily make use of our three trolleys of Google Chromebooks for Computing lessons, though other hardware such as ‘Beebots’, ‘Raspberry Pis’, iPads, green screens and data loggers are also used. 

We track progress and assess outcomes in Computing through ‘evidence of progress’ trackers in each unit, where we can check prior knowledge and assess understanding.

Enrichment is key in Computing. We regularly work with partners such as 3Discovery to arrange in-school workshops and off-site, inspirational visits. One-off trips for classes are used as an opportunity to boost children’s computing skills and give them a memorable and enjoyable experience at the same time. Previous trips have included The Lightroom at Kings Cross, Samsung, Amazon and the Islington computing celebration at the Emirates Stadium. We collaborate with other schools to take part in e-sports competitions - to promote healthy, sociable tech-use and our Digital Leaders take part in additional workshops and Computing-based trips.

IMPACT

Our approach to the curriculum results in a relevant, engaging, and high-quality computing education. The quality of children’s learning is evidenced in online folders and portfolios on Google Classroom, Scratch and Busy Things, as well as in physical Computing folders where worksheets and ‘progress trackers’ are stored.

Evidence such as this is used to feed into teachers’ future planning and they are able to revisit misconceptions and knowledge gaps in computing when teaching other curriculum areas. This supports varied paces of learning and ensures all pupils make good progress.