Computing Curriculum

Autumn 1 – Programming

With a core focus on computer science, the first half term of each year teaches the children how to code. They design animations, develop software and plan and create complex games. Starting with the Scratch coding software before moving to the Python coding language by Year 6.

Autumn 2 – Computational Thinking

Elements of computer science continue with a new emphasis on logical thinking and problem solving. The children debug code, develop solutions to problems, crack codes and ciphers, and solve mathematical problems using technology.

Spring 1 – Creativity

Content creation joins computer science, with an emphasis on using technology to create digital work. Children create video presentations, musical compositions, digital artwork and digital adverts.

Spring 2 – Networks

Children begin to study how technology is used to connect the world. They learn how search engines work, how to use HTML to create webpages, how to develop websites and how networks operate.

Summer 1 – Communication

Digital technology allows people to communicate and share their ideas, and this is the focus of the communication strand. It ensures that pupils become digitally literate – able to use, and express themselves and develop their ideas through, information and communication technology – at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world. The children email other schools, sharing ideas and collaborating on projects. They author online blogs and create printed books for different audiences.

Summer 2 – Presenting Data

Children learn how to collect, interpret and present data. Creating online surveys, collecting meteorological data, presenting a weather forecast, designing a 3D art gallery to display their artwork and become travel writers and charting their real-life adventures.

Year 3

Autumn - First half term

Week 1

Rules, expectations and presentation

Week 2

Programming – Programmers

To recognise different types of computer animations

Revision – Year 2

To recall ordering of instructions

Week 3

Programming – Programmers

To produce a storyboard for an animation

Revision – Year 2

To recognise algorithms

Week 4

Programming – Programmers

To manipulate animations using code blocks

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to order instructions

Week 5

Programming – Programmers

To produce an animation

Revision – Year 2

To identify block categories

Week 6

Programming – Programmers

To produce sprites for my animation

Revision – Year 2

To describe common tools and options in painting software

Week 7

Programming – Programmers

To manipulate sprites with animation

Revision – Year 2

To match blocks to purpose

Week 8

Programming – Programmers

To appraise my animation

Revision – Year 2

To recall evaluation vocabulary

Autumn - Second half term

Week 1

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To recognise how and why bugs exist in software

Revision – Year 2

To identify technology around the classroom

Week 2

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify one-off bugs

Revision – Year 2

To define ‘algorithm’ using everyday activities

Week 3

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify and correct performance bugs

Revision – Year 2

To order events using a programmable toy

Week 4

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify and correct multi-thread bugs

Revision – Year 2

To order events using a programmable toy

Week 5

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify and correct conceptual bugs

Revision – Year 2

To recognise angles

Week 6

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify and correct multiplication bug

Revision – Year 2

To recall division and multiplication facts

Week 7

Computational Thinking – Bug Fixers

To identify and correct resource bugs

Revision – Year 2

To recall simple instructions

Spring - First half term

Week 1

Creativity – Presenters

To analyse how TV broadcasts are produced

Revision – Year 2

To identify roles in society

Week 2

Creativity – Presenters

To practice how to use video cameras effectively

Revision – Year 2

To recall how digital cameras are used

Week 3

Creativity – Presenters

To produce a ‘shooting schedule’

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to order instructional events

Week 4

Creativity – Presenters

To use video equipment to create a presentation

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to take and frame photographs

Week 5

Creativity – Presenters

To assemble footage into a presentation

Revision – Year 2

To recognise qualities of a good team

Week 6

Creativity – Presenters

To identify online safety risks and rules
(Safer Internet Week)

Revision – Year 2

To recall SMART rules

Spring - Second half term

Week 1

Networks – Vloggers

To describe how search engines work

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to touch type

Week 2

Networks – Vloggers

To breakdown a topic into research points

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to touch type

Week 3

Networks – Vloggers

To assembly presentation content using search engines

Revision – Year 2

To identify how to be safe when using the internet

Week 4

Networks – Vloggers

To practice using the key features of presentation software

Revision – Year 2

To identify common buttons and tools across different software

Week 5

Networks – Vloggers

To create a presentation

Revision – Year 2

To recall key features of painting software

Week 6

Networks – Vloggers

To prepare a presentation

Revision – Year 2

To describe what makes a good presentation

Summer - First half term

Week 1

Communication – Communicators

To explain online safety rules when using the internet

Revision – Year 2

To recall SMART rules

Week 2

Communication – Communicators

To recognise rules when using email

Revision – Year 2

To recall how people communicate

Week 3

Communication – Communicators

To produce an email for our paired class

Revision – Year 2

To identify tools and buttons in email software

Week 4

Communication – Communicators

To prepare an attachment to an email

Revision – Year 2

To recall online safety rules about attachments

Week 5

Communication – Communicators

To combine my buddy’s work with my own in a presentation

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to work with a partner

Week 6

Communication – Communicators

To evaluate our work through video conferencing

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to touch type

Summer - Second half term

Week 1

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To identify different types of questioning used in surveys

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to touch type

Week 2

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To produce questions for a survey

Revision – Year 2

To identify 5Ws and how to use them in our questions

Week 3

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To use online survey software

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to be safe online

Week 4

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To assemble data from a survey

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to use tally charts

Week 5

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To analyse data from a survey

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to read graphs and charts

Week 6

Presenting Data – Opinion Pollsters

To appraise the effectiveness of a survey

Revision – Year 2

To recall how to touch type

Autumn 1

Programming

Software Developers

Autumn 2

Computational Thinking

Bug Fixers

Spring 1

Creativity

Presenters

Spring 2

Networks

Vloggers

Summer 1

Communication

Communicators

Summer 2

Presenting Data

Travel Writers

Year 4

Autumn - First half term

Week 1

Rules, systems, expectations

Week 2

Programming – Software Developers

To identify the techniques used in education games

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

Types of computer animations

Week 3

Programming – Software Developers

To develop a prototype game

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

Storyboarding algorithms

Week 4

Programming – Software Developers

To utilise the repeat loop in a game

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

Different categories of Scratch blocks

Week 5

Programming – Software Developers

To construct a user interface

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

Features of the Scratch painting tab

Week 6

Programming – Software Developers

To implement progression into a game

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

Recall features of the variable block category

Week 7

Programming – Software Developers

To complete a working educational game

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

How to manipulate and move sprites with code

Week 8

Programming – Software Developers

To evaluate our educational games

Revision – Programming – Year 3 Programmers

To evaluate our educational games

Autumn - Second half term

Week 1

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To describe how computers use inputs and outputs in the real world

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

What is technology

Week 2

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To develop a for an interactive toy

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

What are algorithms

Week 3

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To transfer my interactive toy plan to Scratch

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

Recall block categories and cascading processing of Scratch

Week 4

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To implement inputs and outputs in Scratch

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

Recall the blocks in the ‘sensing’ category

Week 5

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To test our interactive toys

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

Types of bugs and how to fix them

Week 6

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To refine an interactive toy in Scratch

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

Debugging strategies

Week 7

Computational Thinking – Toy Designers

To evaluate our interactive toy

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 3 Bug Fixers

Evaluation vocabulary and strategies

Spring - First half term

Week 1

Creativity – Animators

To explain how digital technology plays a role in animation creation

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

Technology around the classroom

Week 2

Creativity – Animators

To apply sequencing when creating animations

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

Ordering events

Week 3

Creativity – Animators

To manipulate objects and use keyframes

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

Common tools and buttons on software interfaces

Week 4

Creativity – Animators

To develop an animation using frames

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

Production schedules (in comparison with shooting schedules from Year 3)

Week 5

Creativity – Animators

To evaluate our animations

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

To recall evaluation vocabulary and strategies

Week 6

Creativity – Animators

To identify online safety risks and rules
(Safer Internet Week)

Revision – Creativity – Year 3 Artists

SMART rules

Spring - Second half term

Week 1

Networks – HTML Designers

To break down and explain the parts of a URL

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

How search engines work

Week 2

Networks – HTML Designers

To practice editing HTML on different websites

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

How to be safe online

Week 3

Networks – HTML Designers

To construct HTML code

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

Cascading code structure

Week 4

Networks – HTML Designers

To use HTML tags to create a webpage

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

Organising code so it is clear and uncluttered

Week 5

Networks – HTML Designers

To develop a webpage using HTML

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

Debugging strategies

Week 6

Networks – HTML Designers

To appraise our webpages

Revision – Networks – Year 3 Web Developers

Evaluation vocabulary and strategies

Summer - First half term

Week 1

Communication – Co-authors

To plan a wiki page

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

Explain online safety rules when using the internet

Week 2

Communication – Co-authors

To select information to include in our wiki

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

How to search the internet

Week 3

Communication – Co-authors

To write a wiki page about a chosen topic

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

How to be safe when using the internet

Week 4

Communication – Co-authors

To refine a wiki page

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

Debugging strategies

Week 5

Communication – Co-authors

To assess wiki pages and edit the content

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

Evaluating our work

Week 6

Communication – Co-authors

To evaluate our wiki pages

Revision – Communication – Year 3 Bloggers

Evaluation vocabulary and strategies

Summer - Second half term

Week 1

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To identify how weather is measured and recorded

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

How people collect information

Week 2

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To employ different methods to record the weather

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

Collecting and recording information

Week 3

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To use data logging software to record our observations

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

Recording information

Week 4

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To analyse our recorded data in data logging software

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

Using graphs and charts

Week 5

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To employ our records to enable us to predict the weather

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

Analysing data

Week 5

Presenting Data – Meteorologists

To produce a weather forecast

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 3 Architects

Presentation software tools

Autumn 1

Programming

Programming

Autumn 2

Computational Thinking

Toy Designers

Spring 1

Creativity

Animators

Spring 2

Networks

HTML Designers

Summer 1

Communication

Co-authors

Summer 2

Presenting Data

Meteorologists

Year 5

Autumn - First half term

Week 1

Rules, systems, expectations

Week 2

Programming – Game Developers

To plan the algorithm for my interactive game

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Algorithms

Week 3

Programming – Game Developers

To produce assets for my interactive game

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Using the painting tab in Scratch

Week 4

Programming – Game Developers

To produce a prototype interactive game

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Sensing blocks in Scratch

Week 5

Programming – Game Developers

France residential and Harvest Festival rehearsal

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

France residential and Harvest Festival rehearsal

Week 6

Programming – Game Developers

To develop an interactive game

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Using variables in Scratch

Week 7

Programming – Game Developers

To implement more advanced features into my interactive game

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Types of bugs and debugging strategies

Week 8

Programming – Game Developers

To identify and fix bugs in my interactive game
To evaluate our interactive games

Revision – Programming – Year 4 Software Developers

Evaluation vocabulary and techniques

Autumn - Second half term

Week 1

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To use semaphore to transmit messages

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

Types of digital communication

Week 2

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To compare Morse code with binary digital communication

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

Types of technology around the classroom

Week 3

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To operate the Caesar cipher to create and crack codes

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

The Scratch interface and useful features

Week 4

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To examine password security issues

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

SMART rules

Week 5

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To identify how data is kept secure on the internet

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

URLs and how to identify secure websites with them

Week 6

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To produce a guide on how to keep data secure on the internet

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

SMART rules

Week 7

Computational Thinking – Computational Thinking – Cryptographers

To evaluate how data is kept secure on the internet

Revision – Computational Thinking – Year 4 Toy Designers

Evaluation vocabulary

Spring - First half term

Week 1

Creativity – Artists

To produce tessellations using design software

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

Common tool and options in painting and creation software

Week 2

Creativity – Artists

To refine our tessellation designs

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

Common tool and options in painting and creation software

Week 3

Creativity – Artists

To use loops to creating repeating patterns in Scratch

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

Using Scratch ‘control’ blocks

Week 4

Creativity – Artists

To compose digital artwork in the style of a famous artist

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

Common tool and options in painting and creation software

Week 5

Creativity – Artists

To generate a 3D landscape using digital software

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

Common tool and options in painting and creation software

Week 6

Creativity – Artists

To identify online safety risks and rules
(Safer Internet Week)

Creativity – Year 4 Animators

SMART rules

Spring - Second half term

Week 1

Networks – Web Developers

To plan an online safety website

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

SMART rules

Week 2

Networks – Web Developers

To examine how pages are ranked on search engines

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

HTML tags (especially <head> and <meta>)

Week 3

Networks – Web Developers

To choose relevant information to put into an online safety website

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

SMART rules (especially data protection)

Week 4

Networks – Web Developers

To construct an online safety website

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

Using HTML to create a website

Week 5

Networks – Web Developers

To include media in an online safety website

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

HTML tags (especially <img>, and ‘width’ and ‘height’ variables)

Week 6

Networks – Web Developers

To evaluate our online safety websites

Revision – Networks – Year 4 HTML Designers

SMART rules (especially R for reliable websites)

Summer - First half term

Communication – Bloggers

To compare blogging with live blogging

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

How people communicate (unit 4.3 and 3.3, SMART rules (especially ‘M’ for meeting people and ‘A’ for attachments)

Week 1

Communication – Bloggers

To recognise the features of an effective and safe blog

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

SMART rules (especially ‘T’ for tell an adult, appropriate response, and ‘R’ for reliable websites)

Week 2

Communication – Bloggers

To write a blog post

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

Selecting relevant information for a website

Week 3

Communication – Bloggers

To identify the roles of ChildLine and CEOP

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

Online safety rules, SMART rules, CEOP and ChildLine websites, school online safety page

Week 4

Communication – Bloggers

To modify our blog with media

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

HTML tags (including <img> tag) from unit 4.4

Week 5

Communication – Bloggers

To compare blogging with live blogging

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

How people communicate (unit 4.3 and 3.3, SMART rules (especially ‘M’ for meeting people and ‘A’ for attachments)

Week 6

Communication – Bloggers

To evaluate our blog posts

Revision – Communication – Year 4 Co-authors

Appraising websites and their content

Summer - Second half term

Week 1

Presenting Data – Architects

To identify the features of art galleries and museums

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

How digital technology is used to communicate ideas

Week 2

Presenting Data – Architects

To produce a 3D sculpture using Google SketchUp

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

Common tools and buttons in art, painting and design software

Week 3

Presenting Data – Architects

To produce a 3D art gallery

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

3D shapes and 2D nets

Week 4

Presenting Data – Architects

To refine our 3D art galleries

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

Debugging strategies

Week 5

Presenting Data – Architects

To include media in our 3D art galleries

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

How digital technology is used in art and music

Week 6

Presenting Data – Architects

To evaluate our 3D art galleries

Revision – Presenting Data – Year 4 Meteorologists

Collaboration with others

Autumn 1

Programming

Game Developers

Autumn 2

Computational Thinking

Cryptographers

Spring 1

Creativity

Artists

Spring 2

Networks

Web Developers

Summer 1

Communication

Bloggers

Summer 2

Presenting Data

Architects

Year 6