Tag: Primary Computing Curriculum

iCompute launch iPad app on the App Store

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iCompute for iPad

Click to view on the App Store

iCompute, the digital computing scheme of work for primary schools, is proud to announce the launch of its iPad app on the App Store this week.

iCompute for iPad is a digital primary computing scheme of work matched to the algorithms and programming objectives of the 2014 National Curriculum for Computing at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  Designed and authored by a computer scientist and primary computer science master teacher, it provides step-by-step lesson plans and all the materials schools needs to teach primary computing creatively and with confidence from Year 1 to Year 6 using iPads.  iCompute has been specifically designed to teach the teacher, as well as the pupils, with innovative and engaging activities that use the very latest tools and technologies.

Liane O’Kane, founder and author of iCompute comments: “We are so pleased that our iPad app is now available on the App Store. As a leader in providing innovative digital educational curricula and materials, it’s fantastic that teaching primary computing using iPads just got easier for schools.  We were the first UK company to provide a primary computing scheme of work and lead the way in providing innovative, engaging and challenging teaching materials and resources that improve teaching and learning in computing.  Our iPad app is the first of many to come. Watch this space for our forthcoming, fab, programming app for Key Stage 1!”

For more information, please visit www.icompute-uk.com or

Download on the App Store

Teach primary computing with iPads

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iCompute for iPad

Teach primary computing with iPads

Our best-selling iPad pack is now available in the Cloud!

Instant access to comprehensive lesson plans and all the resources schools need to teach primary computing using the very latest apps with iPads.

We have big plans for our iPad pack and will soon be adding a new pack – iInvestigate – step-by-step lesson plans and resources for enhancing Primary Science using iPads.

 

Primary Computing – Classroom Tips and Advice

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computing lcassThe new primary computing curriculum becomes statutory in September with the introduction of the National Curriculum for Computing at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.  Primary schools are now beginning to think seriously about, not only how to teach this new subject, but what it means for them in practical terms.  I’m being asked lots of questions in the run-up to its introduction, the most common, aside from improving subject knowledge, being: Should it be taught in a cross-curricular way or discretely?  How long for?  What about new hardware/software?  How will they cope with pupil support?

I’ve been teaching computing to primary children for a long time and here are some of my tips for what you will (and won’t) need; along with advice on how to manage your class and some possible teaching techniques you could use when you start teaching computing in September.

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The Primary Computing Curriculum – You Go Girls!

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girls computing

Computing is not just for boys

One of the reasons the new primary computing curriculum is being introduced is to address the issue that far fewer girls than boys study computer science in further and higher education and are therefore under-represented in industry.  There’s a perception that computer science is a bit of a boys subject and various laudable, although I feel somewhat patronising, efforts to ‘get girls coding’ usually take the form of designing activities that play to stereotypes: dressing up etc.  I’ve been teaching primary computing for a long time now and I’ve yet to have a single girl not be engaged in my lessons; although I do accept that this could largely be influenced by the fact that it is me teaching them.  And I’m about as girlie as you can get.  It’s difficult to judge which question I get stopped and asked most about in school – ‘Are we doing computing today?’ or ‘Where did you get your shoes?’

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Primary Computing – ‘Holding Back the Years’ Fears

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Worried Computing Teacher

Worried your pupils will be ahead of you in computing?

The new National Curriculum for Computing at KS1 and KS2 is, arguably, one of the few subjects that primary teachers fear their pupils will know more about than themselves.

A question I frequently get asked is ‘How do you cope when the children know more than you do’?  As a Computer Scientist, it takes a lot to out-geek me but I know many teachers feel they have no hope of keeping ahead of the children they will be teaching.

There’s no need to.  Children seemingly racing ahead with what look like quite sophisticated software and systems is no guarantee of them making progress in computing; because you’re teaching them much more than just programming.  Here are a few tips on how to facilitate learning in computing whilst not holding your pupils back.

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Primary Computing Curriculum – planning guidance

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Computing Skills Progression

Computing Skills Progression

This post has been superceded by How to Plan a Primary Computing Scheme of Work

 

 

 

 

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Guide to the Primary Computing Curriculum – Why I hate the term ‘code’

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Primary Computing

Computing in Primary Schools

The primary computing curriculum became statutory in September 2014 and across the country teachers and schools are having a meltdown.  Here’s a new subject teachers have never been trained to teach and they have to teach children from the age of 5 how to ‘code’.

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