Primary Computing Curriculum: The Importance of Auditing and Benchmarking
Computing in primary schools has evolved significantly in recent years and it can be quite daunting taking on the role of Computing Curriculum lead. 'Where do I start with this role?' we hear you ask. The answer is simple - Computing curriculum audits.
What are the benefits of carrying out Primary Computing Curriculum audits?
Audits provide you with measurable benchmarks and data. You’ll want to be able to prove that you’re having an impact on your school's Primary Computing Curriculum and auditing is the most effective way of measuring your starting point, and later your progress. We’ve used Google Forms to produce three audits suitable for Key Stage 1 Computing and Key Stage 2 Computing providers.
Primary Computing Curriculum Coverage and Skills
Are teaching staff at your school provided with the training required to deliver a broad and balanced primary computing curriculum effectively?
The first reason to conduct an audit is to identify the breadth of your school's Computing Curriculum coverage. It won’t come as much of a surprise to many teachers reading this, that with the constant pressure placed on achieving results in Literacy and Numeracy, subjects like Computing are left lingering behind and are sometimes squeezed in the timetable. It’s important to have an open and honest line of communication with staff about how often Computing is ‘actually' taught, and what aspects of the curriculum are being delivered before you can start improving outcomes.
You’ll also need to find out what skills your teaching staff have that are applicable to delivering the Computing Curriculum in KS1 & KS2. It’s not uncommon to find better curriculum coverage in areas like digital art and digital publishing as the applicable skills are incorporated into teachers' daily routines, whereas programming is not, for example.
One of the most common barriers to driving improvements in the primary computing curriculum is staff confidence.
Use Hyett Education's Computing Curriculum Skills & Coverage Audit to identify your school’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of Computing Curriculum coverage. Use it to create a more precise and effective action plan for driving subject progress. It will also double-up as a benchmark for monitoring your own effectiveness as subject leader when measured again two or three terms down the line.
The Skills and Coverage audit will also enable you to very quickly identify staff areas of development that need to be targeted for CPD and training. Again, this enables you to act speedily and offer impact exactly where it is most needed.
Primary Computing Curriculum Staff Confidence Survey
It’s crucial that staff have the skills and confidence to use the hardware and software available to them in school.
Our Computing Curriculum Confidence Survey will compliment your benchmarking data too by homing in on specific Computing National Curriculum objectives that staff feel confident with, and those where they feel they need further support. This particular survey will also enable you to judge the effectiveness of any CPD you provide for staff. Well-targeted training and support will increase staff confidence, which can be measured and compared, and will lead to better coverage and outcomes across the school.
iPad Skills Audit
Finally, if your school has access to iPads and they’re not being used for much more than photography and online research you might find our iPad Skills Audit useful. Apple have produced some excellent teacher tools that can improve the pace of your sessions, improve students' focus, and create opportunities for collaboration and sharing.
How To Access Hyett Education’s Primary Computing Curriculum Audits and Surveys
Click on the button links provided on this page. Each link will take you to a page in another tab that will allow you to make a copy of our original document produced in Google Forms. It's important that you make your own copies so that the data collected goes to you and isn't directed back to us.
You'll need a gmail account to edit and make copies but staff completing the survey do not need gmail accounts to access them. Once you’ve made a copy of the audits provided, click send and choose your preferred distribution method. When staff complete the Google Forms you’ll be able to see their responses as a data collection, with charts and graphs.
If you have any questions or require any support in administering these audits with your staff, please get in touch by email via antony@hyetteducation.com.
Primary Computing Curriculum Coverage & Staff Skills Audit