Technology is changing the lives of everyone. Through teaching computing at St Gregory's,  we equip our children to participate in a rapidly changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology.

It is our intention to enable children to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information. We also focus on developing the skills necessary for children to be able to use information in an effective way.

Our Vision Statement - Computing

Computing skills are a major factor in enabling children to be confident, creative and independent learners. We want our children to have every opportunity available to achieve this, by equipping them with the skills to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information in the world around them. We also provide opportunities for children to develop the skills necessary to be able to use information in an effective way, to support their learning, development and skills in all other areas of the curriculum. 

Computing is an integral part of the national curriculum and being digitally literate is a key skill for everyday life. Computers, tablets, programmable robots, digital and video cameras are a few of the tools that can be used to acquire, organise, store, manipulate, interpret, communicate and present information.

At St Gregory's we recognise that pupils are entitled to quality hardware and software and a structured and progressive approach to the learning of the skills needed to enable them to use it effectively. Our Computing curriculum is well resourced, with banks of new i-pads & laptops.

Aims of Computing

At St Gregory's, we aim to enable all children to 

• be responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
• develop skills which allow them to analyse problems and gain experiences and skills in computing, which that they will use in a rapidly changing technological world
• engage with learning through enriched multi-media learning experiences.

• become creative, innovative, logical, critical thinkers, who reason systematically and work collaboratively. 
• develop confidence in using code, understanding and applying the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including logic, algorithms and data representation
• learn to communicate effectively, using and evaluating information technology analytically to solve problems

• appreciate the relevance of digital literacy in our society as an essential tool for learning, communication, finding information and understanding the world around them
• develop responsible attitudes to online safety, security, confidentiality and accuracy, which enable them to make informed and discerning choices about their use of information technology. 

Teaching and Learning

We develop pupil’s skills, knowledge, understanding and capability through taught IT lessons, and by providing opportunities for pupils to apply and consolidate their IT capability across all curriculum contexts.

All children in Key Stage 1 & 2 have weekly computing lessons, following the planning outlined below.

We recognise that all classes have children with widely differing abilities. This is especially true when some children have access to digital technologies at home, while others do not. We provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability and experience of the child. We achieve this in a variety of ways, by; 

• Setting common tasks which are open-ended and require a variety of responses, including problem solving and creative and analytical thinking
• Setting tasks of increasing difficulty, evidenced in planning through differentiation and expected outcomes
• Providing appropriate adult support to scaffold learning and to aid the work of the individual or group