Computing

Intent: What We Want Our Children to Learn

At the Phoenix Federation, we believe that a high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Computing is an integral part of everyday life, and our curriculum aims to develop digitally literate, computationally minded, and responsible global citizens.

Our core ambition is for every child to see themselves as a digital creator, not just a passive consumer of technology. Our curriculum is ambitious, inclusive, and carefully sequenced from EYFS through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, ensuring that skills and technical knowledge build progressively year-on-year.

Our Pedagogical Core:

• The Three Pillars of Computing: Our curriculum explicitly delivers the National Curriculum by balancing three core strands:
  • Computer Science (CS): The core principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming.
  • Information Technology (IT): The purposeful application of computer systems to store, retrieve, manipulate, create, and share digital content.
  • Digital Literacy & Online Safety (DL): The ability to use, express, and develop ideas through information and communication technology safely, respectfully, responsibly, and critically.

• Sequenced Schema Progression: Meticulously mapped loops, variables, and concepts ensure that learning is unpicked sequentially. Pupils secure foundational skills before progressing to complex coding logic, reducing cognitive load.
• Equitable Access & Diversity: We introduce children to a wide array of diverse programmers, cryptographers, and tech pioneers (such as Ada Lovelace and Alan Turing, alongside modern, diverse tech innovators). This helps break down stereotypes and builds our pupils’ tech capital within our Lewisham community.

Implementation: How We Teach Computing

Our computing curriculum is structured so that children know more, remember more, and can do more as they navigate an increasingly digital world.

High-Quality Classroom Instruction

Lessons are designed to be practical, rigorous, and explicitly modelled. Computing sessions maintain a careful balance of:

• Explicit instruction of core computing concepts and computer systems.
• Live teacher modelling of code, debugging strategies, and digital design tools.
• Unplugged Activities: We utilize “unplugged” physical or kinaesthetic activities (especially in EYFS and KS1) to teach abstract conceptual frameworks—like algorithms—before transitioning children to a screen.
• Independent and collaborative problem-solving where children are encouraged to test, fail, and debug code resiliently.
• Systemic retrieval practice at the beginning of lessons to reinforce prior technical vocabulary and concepts.

The Progression of Programming & Logic (Computer Science)

As pupils progress through the Federation, expectations shift dynamically from basic logical reasoning to text-based or complex block-based programming:

• EYFS: Explore tinker-based technologies, understand cause and effect (pressing buttons to make things happen), follow simple step-by-step instructions, and look for patterns.
• Key Stage 1: Understand what algorithms are, create and debug simple programs using floor robots (e.g., Bee-Bots) or early block editors, and use logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs.
• Lower Key Stage 2: Design, write, and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, utilizing sequence, selection (if-then statements), and repetition (loops) within software like Scratch.
• Upper Key Stage 2: Use variables and more complex inputs/outputs in their programs. Transition towards advanced block-based logic or early text-based exploration, while systematically debugging more intricate logical errors.

Vocabulary, Communication, & Technical Precision

• Computing vocabulary is planned progressively across all year groups.
• Teachers explicitly model precise Tier 3 terminology (e.g., decomposition, abstraction, algorithm, variable, network). Children are expected to use these terms accurately when explaining how a program works or why an error occurred.

Embedded Online Safety & Digital Citizenship

Online safety is not taught as a one-off annual lesson. It is woven into every single interaction with technology across the Federation. We teach children to navigate the digital world safely, critically assessing the content they consume, recognizing how to report concerns, and maintaining a healthy balance between screen time and real-world interactions.

Assessment for Learning

• Teachers routinely assess learning through project outcomes, verbal explanations, live debugging tasks, and retrieval quizzes.
• Misconceptions in logic or vocabulary are addressed rapidly in real-time, preventing children from building faulty programming habits.

Adaptive Practice & Inclusion

• Computing is planned and adapted so that pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils, and those with limited access to technology outside of school can fully succeed.
• We provide customized scaffolds—such as visual code blocks, peer-programming structures, and physical tactile computing aids—to ensure equity of access.

Impact: The Signposts of Success

We measure the impact of our computing curriculum by the creative independence, computational resilience, and digital maturity of our pupils.

Key Milestones: End of Key Stage 1

By the end of KS1, a Phoenix Federation digital citizen will be able to:

• Understand what an algorithm is and construct a simple, sequential set of instructions.
• Create and debug a basic program to move a device or sprite purposefully.
• Use technology purposefully to create, organize, store, and retrieve digital content (such as text or images).
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of basic online safety rules, including keeping personal data private and knowing who to tell if something feels unsafe.

Key Milestones: End of Key Stage 2

By the end of KS2, a Phoenix Federation digital citizen will be able to:

• Design, write, and debug complex programs that use sequence, selection, repetition, and variables.
• Use logical reasoning to explain how complex algorithms work and systematically detect and correct errors in code.
• Understand computer networks, including the internet, and how they provide multiple services, such as the World Wide Web.
• Select, use, and combine a variety of software (including search engines) on a range of digital devices to accomplish given goals, including collecting, analyzing, evaluating, and presenting data.
• Navigate the internet autonomously, critically evaluating the reliability of digital sources, identifying cyberbullying, and understanding the absolute necessity of digital respect and data privacy.
• Enter secondary school as an analytical, confident, and highly capable computational thinker.