Computing

At Lime Tree Primary School, we believe that all learners should become responsible and capable digital citizens, equipped with the knowledge and skills to use key technologies safely and effectively in their learning and their life. Our curriculum is designed so that students build up on previous knowledge and skills as they go up the school, creating an increasing awareness of the digital world and a deeper understanding of the different ways in which we interact with the various technologies around us.

Computing, as a subject, is divided into three main strands: Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy. Even though each strand is treated as a discrete topic, the reality is that they are very interconnected.

While also taught as a stand-alone lesson, the advances of technology have made Computing a superb facilitator for learning in almost every subject of the curriculum, for example by researching and collecting information, creating presentations on particular topics or even practising times tables! Inevitably there will be topics that test the extent to which the three areas above can be effectively separated – there will always be some blurring at the boundaries.

Follow the links below to find out more about each strand, as well as how they are linked to our curriculum.

Online Resources

Click here to see some of the many excellent resources online that you can access from home to support and enrich your child's learning.



Year 1 Milestones

Skills

·         To understand how to use a mouse or trackpad and keyboard.

·         To be able to use a mouse or trackpad in different ways.

·         To be able to type and edit text.

·         To be able to collect simple data in a table or graph.

·         To be able to group objects by attribute.

·         To be able to sequence commands to achieve a simple outcome.

·         To be able to build a sequence in steps.

·         To be able to run a program on a device.

·         To be able to use different tools for digital painting.

·         To be able to create and edit a digital painting.

·         To be able to use a word processor to type.

·         To be able to edit their typed work to achieve a specific effect.

 

Knowledge

·         To recognise technology around us.

·         To understand how technology benefits us.

·         To know how to use technology safely and responsibly.

·         To identify some attributes of objects and describe them.

·         To understand that information can be presented in different ways.

·         To understand commands and how they are used.

·         To be able to predict the outcome of simple commands they know.

·         To understand the purpose and process of digital painting.

·         To know the different tools they can use to create a digital painting.

·         To know the basic layout of a keyboard.

·         To know the different functions of keys.

Year 2 Milestones

Skills

·         To identify technology at home and beyond school.

·         To explain features and uses of technology.

·         To be able to use a tally chart and pictogram.

·         To be able to ask and answer questions around their collected data.

·         To be able to test command sequences.

·         To be able to test their predictions of outcomes.

·         To be able to capture images using a digital device.

·         To know different options for capturing images.

Knowledge

·         To understand how technology changes the way we work.

·         To know rules for using technology safely and responsibly.

·         To know when to share information and when not to.

·         To know how to use a computer to record, view and present information.

·         To understand that the order of commands changes the outcome.

·         To predict the outcome of more simple sequences of commands.

·         To recognise image composition.

·         To understand that images can be improved after being taken.

Year 3 Milestones

Skills

·         To explain how digital devices work.

·         To identify different computer network components.

·         To be able to select appropriate attributes when grouping objects.

·         To be able to use data to answer closed questions.

·         To be able to retrieve information from branching databases.

·         To be able to build and test sequences of commands.

·         To identify that different sequences can achieve the same outcome.

·         To be able to capture a series of images as stop frame photos.

·         To decompose a story into characters, stages and key events.

·         To maintain continuity in position to achieve consistency.

·         To be able to edit and improve an animation.

·         To be able to use placeholders in a document.

·         To be able to add and edit images in a document.

Knowledge

·         To understand input, processing and output.

·         To know how a computer network works.

·         To understand open and closed questions.

·         To understand that data can be used to answer closed questions.

·         To understand that programs are sequences of commands.

·         To be able to create their own sequences of commands to achieve a specific outcome.

·         To recognise animation as a sequence of images.

·         To understand composition, stages and events of a story.

·         To understand that other media can be added to an animation.

·         To identify that images and text can help convey a message.

·         To understand how the layout affects a document.

Year 4 Milestones

Skills

·         To know how to access the World Wide Web.

·         To know how to stay safe online.

·         To be able to navigate different types of content online.

·         To be able to use sensors and data loggers.

·         To be able to use data sets to find information.

·         To use computer programs to sort data by attribute.

·         To be able to export data in different formats.

·         To be able to use loops for repetition.

·         To be able to identify different types of loops.

·         To be able to modify existing loops in programs.

·         To be able to record sounds using a digital device.

·         To be able to access and edit audio files.

·         To be able to layer sounds.

·         To be able to manipulate images.

·         To know different ways that images can be manipulated for effect.

 

Knowledge

·         To know that the internet is the global interconnection of networks.

·         To understand that the internet allows us to view the World Wide Web.

·         To know that content on the internet is created and shared by people.

·         To consider the reliability of content found on the internet.

·         To know that sensors are input devices used to collect data.

·         To understand that different formats can be used to present data for different purposes.

·         To understand repetition in programs.

·         To identify loops in programs.

·         To understand concurrency of processes.

·         To know that audio files can be accessed and edited.

·         To understand different effects that can be added to audio.

·         To understand that images can be manipulated using editing tools.

·         To be able to identify manipulated images.

·         To understand the impact of manipulated images.

Year 5 Milestones

Skills

·         To be able to collaborate on a file or project through the internet.

·         To be able to design an answer to a question using a database.

·         To use a computer program to navigate databases.

·         To be able to design a structure for a database.

·         To identify that a loop can start or stop when a condition is met.

·         To modify or create a loop based on a condition.

·         To experiment with repeating a loop until a condition is met.

·         To be able to use if… then… else… statements.

·         To be able to create graphical objects on a digital device.

·         To be able to modify a drawing and objects within it.

·         To be able to use a storyboard to plan a video.

·         To know how to review and edit video files.

 

Knowledge

·         To know that computers can be connected to other devices.

·         To understand how information is shared across devices and across the internet.

·         To explain how connections allow the sharing of files and information, both public and private.

·         To understand how databases work.

·         To refine conditions for data selection from a database.

·         To understand how to present data for different audiences.

·         To understand conditional statements in programming.

·         To relate controlled loops with conditions.

·         To explain that a program flow can branch according to a condition.

·         To understand how objects work in a drawing.

·         To understand the concept of scaling in vector images.

·         To recognise video as moving pictures and audio.

·         To know how to capture video on digital devices.

Year 6 Milestones

Skills

·         To be able to use different search engines and compare their results.

·         To be able to use different tools for communicating online.

·         To decide what should or should not be shared online.

·         To describe different software tools for looking at data.

·         To apply formulas to data to achieve specific outcomes.

·         To be able to give a variable a value and a name.

·         To experiment with different values for a variable.

·         To be able to update the value of a variable based on events in the program or user input.

·         To be able to create a website, including how to create or add content.

·         To be able to add pages, as well as links between pages.

·         To consider the different digital devices used for accessing websites.

Knowledge

·         To explain how search terms should be chosen.

·         To know why search engines are important and how results are ordered and ranked.

·         To understand how ads and ranking works.

·         To understand that online communications can be public or private.

·         To understand that computers work with different data in different ways.

·         To know that data can be calculated using different operations and formulas.

·         To know why data should be organised.

·         To understand what variables are and be able to identify and define them.

·         To understand the importance of setting up variables in programs.

·         To understand the difference between the name and the value of a variable.

·         To know and identify the features of a website.

·         To understand how programming can change the layout and visual elements of a website.

·         To recognise how navigation works.

·         To consider the implications of linking to content created by others.