BENTLEY ST PAUL S C OF E PRIMARY SCHOOL POLICY FOR I.C.T Growing together in faith, love and trust, we will succeed. Date of Policy: 2013 Date of Review: 2015 Date Ratified by FGB:
Purpose: Through teaching ICT we equip children to participate in a world of rapidly changing technology. We enable them to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information. We also help them develop the necessary skills for using information in a discriminating and effective way. This is a major part of enabling children to be confident creative and independent learners. Aims: The objectives of teaching ICT are to enable children: To develop ICT capability in finding, selecting and using information; To use ICT for effective and appropriate communication; To monitor and control events both real and imaginary; To apply their ICT skills and knowledge to their learning across the curriculum; To explore their attitudes towards ICT and its value to them and society in general. For example, to learn about the issues of security and personal safety, confidentiality and accuracy. Curriculum Organization. - The school uses the Switched On ICT (SOICT) scheme from Havering via rising Stars for both KS1 andks2 This follows the National Curriculum objectives and programmes of study. - Where possible the scheme has been integrated into the school s topic based, cross curricular themes. Sometimes it is necessary to teach a unit in isolation where a particular skill is needed or it doesn t fit into the cross curricular themes easily. - We carry our curriculum planning in ICT in three phases, long, medium and short term. - Please see the whole school long term over view attached which roughly maps out which areas of ICT will be taught in which Key stage. - The Medium term planning is part of the Cross curricular plan and shows how the ICT units fit into the cross curricular topics (where possible) - The planning provided with the SOICT scheme provided the basis for the short term class planning. (See attached sample) - Teachers use this as a basis for the lessons and annotate to show any changes in content, extension, diversification etc. that they have made to the basic lessons to suit their class/topic. - The topics studied in ICT are planned to build on prior learning. We also plan progression into the scheme so that the children are increasingly challenged as they move up the school. -
Curriculum Monitoring: - The ICT. Subject leader monitors the planning and implementation of the subject through work scrutiny, lesson observations and overviews of topics and planning. - The subject leader also ensures coverage of NC requirements via the SOICT scheme of work and through any extra ICT that is taught through cross curricular lessons. - The Subject coordinator ensures progression through the subject across the school and assists staff with adapting the scheme of work to the needs of their class. - The Subject coordinator monitors the standards of the children s work and the quality of the teaching in ICT. - Resources used in school are monitored by the Coordinator and the effectiveness of those resources is constantly being reviewed. - Class teachers keep assessments of their classes which are monitored by the ICT coordinator - The subject leader provides an annual summary report in which they evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in the subject, and indicate areas for further improvement - The ICT subject leader is also responsible for supporting their colleagues in their teaching of ICT. Approaches to Teaching and Learning in ICT: - Our philosophy on teaching and learning is outlined in our Teaching and Learning Policy. - The curriculum is planned and delivered by class teachers using the SOCIT scheme of work as a starting point which can then be adapted (where practical) to fit in with the school s cross curricular curriculum - Different methods of teaching used include; Individual work, paired work, work in small groups,whole class mind mapping or evaluation sessions, mixed ability groups tasks, projects and challenges. - Children learn in different ways and so a number of different activity approaches will be used ranging from internet research, use of cameras to make films linked to literacy, puzzles, designing games, solving problems or answering a challenge. Embedding ICT across the curriculum: - The school uses a cross curricular approach and ICT can be linked easily with many of the topic areas. On occasions a link cannot be comfortably made in which case the unit is taught discreetly. - A few examples of Cross curricular links include: Animation in year 2 of lives of famous people from history, Year 1 s talking storybook project, Year 6 s junior enterprise fund raising project and year 3 s play script and film making unit.
- The school has extensive grounds and the children regularly go outside for lessons, ipads and digital cameras are used to record some of the activities they do and footage/photos can be incorporated into written work, maths, science projects etc. - There are opportunities for children to extend their skills by joining ICT clubs, and the school s online storage enables them to continue or upload work from home. Recording, assessment and reporting: - ICT assessment is ongoing as projects often take several weeks to complete, Teachers give verbal feedback whenever ICT is being taught and a basic informal assessment is made about a child s progress at the end of an IT unit(roughly every half term) - Children self-assess their own progress using the unit evaluation sheets provided by SOCIT They give feedback on each other s work and look for ways to improve (see attached example of a child s self-assessment form) - The core subjects in the curriculum have termly assessments done by the class teacher. The data from this is collected and analyzed by assessment leader, subject leader and class teacher. - At the end of each school year, a report is sent home with the child s progress written up Inclusion - SEN, G&T, Ethnicity, Gender: - When children are working in groups, the teacher will endeavour to select groupings to ensure that all children are equally involved in the task with equal access to the computer keyboard/camera/ipads etc. - The activities are planned in order to allow different levels of achievement and incorporate possibilities for extension work. Teachers expect to intervene where appropriate to reinforce an idea or teach a new point. - At our school we teach ICT to all children, whatever their ability and individual needs. ICT forms part of the school curriculum policy to provide a broad and balanced education to all children. Through our ICT teaching we provide learning opportunities that enable all pupils to make good progress. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with learning disabilities, those with special gifts and talents and those learning English as an additional language. We take all reasonable steps to achieve this. Resources: - The subject Budget is attached see appendix 1 - A comprehensive list of resources available to all classes is kept in the ICT subject coordinator s file in the staffroom. A copy of this list is in Appendix 2 attached to this document.
Homework and involvement of parents - Children are encouraged to use ICT for presentation of their homework where appropriate. - Maths homework is set through the My Maths website and is solely an online system. - Children who have no or limited computer access at home may use the school s main ICT suite on a designated lunchtime to do their homework as a supervised club. - Parents are encouraged to use the school s website to obtain documents, newsletters and other information about the school - Parents evenings and end of year reports provide parents with expectations and a review of their child s progress Health and safety - All activities take into account health and safety requirements as set out in the schools health and safety policy - Particular attention is paid to E safety which is taught throughout the key stages. Children are asked particularly to think about the information they share online, how to avoid harmful risks and who to tell if things make them uncomfortable (e.g. cyber bullying) It is the responsibility of the class teacher to ensure a safe working environment. Children should be made aware of any risks and dangers and understand the importance of working safely at all times. Equipment is regularly checked by the school s technician, and faulty items disposed of or repaired. Frequent reminders need to be given to reinforce safe behaviour and conduct online. Please refer to the school Health and Safety Policy for further information.