At Foundry Lane, computing is taught through Purple Mash, giving children numerous opportunities to develop their computing skills and apply them across a range of subjects through cross-curricular learning.

E-safety is a key focus, with regular lessons promoting safe online practices, and children take part in Safer Internet Day activities each year. Click here to visit our e-safety page.

Digital literacy is woven into cross-curricular projects to give learning a clear purpose. Activities such as story writing, creating posters, producing news reports, and photo editing help establish meaningful connections between subjects.

Aims and Vision

Our children are growing up in a digital world. We aim to equip them with the knowledge, vital skills, and confidence to become responsible creators and masters of technology. Our broad computing curriculum, covering Computer Science, Digital Literacy, and Information Technology, aims to inspire and engage children to become skilful computer scientists, creators, and critical thinkers.

It's incredibly important for children to become critical thinkers in this digital world, so they can develop and apply effective strategies for staying safe online. At Foundry Lane, children have access to a range of technology, giving them the opportunity to explore, tinker, question, and apply their skills and knowledge creatively and collaboratively.

How We Teach Computing

Key computing skills are taught progressively throughout the school, with each year group's learning building on the skills taught in previous years. A clear progression of skills document, from Year 1 to Year 6, supports teachers in planning the computing curriculum, helping them understand what has been learned previously and map out the skills children will progress to next.

Computing is also embedded across the wider curriculum through our use of Dojo, our online learning journal, which provides further opportunities for cross-curricular learning and helps embed vital digital literacy skills.

What Will You See in a Computing Lesson?

What you'll see in a computing lesson depends on which part of the computing curriculum is being taught. The Computer Science strand will often, though not always, need a more explicit approach: a lesson typically begins with the introduction of a new skill, or a recap of skills learned previously, before children are given time to apply it. The Information Technology strand can also be taught explicitly where appropriate, but is more often taught through tinkering sessions. When introducing a new app or tool, tinkering sessions give children the chance to experiment and familiarise themselves with it before applying it in a more focused way across the curriculum.

In computing lessons, we expect children to show a degree of independence, learning by tinkering, analysing, and collaborating, with teachers supporting and moving learning forward where needed.