Computing

Computing @ Dore Primary

At Dore Primary School, Computing is seen as an essential part of the curriculum. Skills and concepts are introudced through discrete lessons and then honed through later computing sessions or through other subject areas.

Our school’s values intertwine with our Computing Curriculum: resilience – for example when debugging that Scratch algorithm, resourcefulness – using each other and online tools to get support before seeking help from class teachers, kindness – valuing ideas when working collaboratively and creativity – knowing that many occupations today in society have technology as an essential element.

We structure our learning around the Sheffield Computing Scheme of Work. This has six broad strands across Years 1 – 6 which explore communication with text, images and audio, data handling, computational thinking and programming. Online Safety is a thread running through all the strands and so children are used to discussing online safety in an organic way. In EYFS, children have access to technology throughout the year – both real and for role play and develop a good bank of technology experiences and skills and are involved in discussions about how to keep themselves safe online.

In addition to the scheme of work we are fortunate to have Lego Robotics sets in school that allow children throughout school to see a practical side to computing work and how the STEM subjects can link together.

We also like to draw attention to Computing through the Hour of Code – a worldwide event every December that brings attention to the subject and where it can take you in life – with a fun hour coding with children’s favourite characters or doing unplugged activities.

COMPUTING – INTENT, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT STATEMENT:

Computing News:

  • Y6 – Computing – Scratch Platform Games
    In Computing, Year 6 have been creating platform games using the block-based programming language Scratch. These games challenged children to use operators, variables, broadcasts and control blocks and are an excellent example creativity. Some examples are included below for your enjoyment. Megan’s Mushroom Madness The Chicken Game (by Daniel) If you have enjoyed this small… Read more: Y6 – Computing – Scratch Platform Games
  • Year 3 Plant Life Cycle Animations
    Using all the knowledge from their ‘How does your garden grow?’ Learning Journey, Year 3 worked in teams to make animations showing the life cycles of flowering plants.
  • Y6 – Computing – micro:bit
    In Computing this half term, Year 6 have been learning to use the micro:bit. This small but powerful circuit board is packed full of interesting hardware and computational power. So far, children have explored the basic inputs (e.g. buttons, movement) and outputs (e.g. LED lights) and have experimented with adding external components such as a… Read more: Y6 – Computing – micro:bit
  • Y6 – Computing – Scratch Platform Games
    Year 6 have been developing their coding skills by creating old school platformer games using Scratch. A huge amount of programming skill went in to creating these games including using ‘IF’ conditions, operators, broadcasts and variables. A couple of example projects are embedded below for your enjoyment. The full collection of games can be found… Read more: Y6 – Computing – Scratch Platform Games
  • Y3 Hour of code – computing
    Year 3 celebrated the hour of code by using computers to create and analyse databases. This meant working collaboratively to first choose the fields to fill in, then adding this information. We learnt the databases hold losts of information but can be used to quickly answer questions.
  • Life Cycle Animations
    Putting into practice Year 3 learning from ‘How does your garden grow?’, Year 3 children made stop-motion animations of plant life cycles. They could include: Parts of a plant Requirements for growth Pollination and fertilisation Here are some of the results.
  • Y1 – RE / Computing
    Today, we listened to the Christian story of ’The Good Samaritan’. We thought about Jesus’ message to love thy neighbour and who our neighbours are. The children then used the Activ inspire app on the laptops to label different characters from the story with key adjectives. Through this activity, the children were able to practise… Read more: Y1 – RE / Computing
  • Year 3 Music – Myth Soundtracks
    To finish our Ancient Egypt learning journey, Year 3 have been composing soundtracks for the myths they have written. First, we listened to the soundtrack to the Mummy film and discussed the mood, tempo, pitch and other dynamics. We then made artistic responses to the different sections of the piece. We filmed this to make… Read more: Year 3 Music – Myth Soundtracks
  • Y3H Scratch Games
    Y3H Have been using Scratch to make games. We disussed what is safe to share online. We decided our games would be good to make availale for anyone to try. So here are some to play: They aren’t perfect! How could we de-bug and improve them?
  • Computing: Micro:bit Radio Transmitters and Receivers
    In Computing this half term, Year 6 have been exploring the different uses of the micro:bit. This powerful, portable, programmable computer has a range of functions; Year 6 have a been using them to send and receive Morse code messages to each other, in the same way a WW2 warship would have communicated with naval… Read more: Computing: Micro:bit Radio Transmitters and Receivers
  • Y3 How does your garden grow?
    Our final learning journey in Year 3, has inspired some wonderful creativity: science, art, computing and English. In Science, we learnt the correct names and funtions of different parts of a plant. Children showed their understanding by choosing different materials to represent each part. We are so lucky at Dore Primary to have access to… Read more: Y3 How does your garden grow?