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Computing
There has been a lot of attention in the media focussing on primary age pupils being taught to program computers, you may think this is something new, but this is far from the case. Even before the first national curriculum, programming BBC Micros was a common sight in schools, and 'control' or sequencing instructions has been part of the National Curriculum right from its start. The most significant change is the shift of focus from the skills of using ICT to developing an understanding of computer science.
I will be sharing some of the work the children undertake in Computing. Hope you enjoy it.
Mrs Wignall.
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I am aware that the children regularly return from school saying "We played on the iPads" or "We played on the laptops". It is great that they feel they are playing but they are also learning a great deal in the process, for example who would imagine that Year 3 children would undertake Physics challenges quite so readily without using a great App. Monster Physics follows the basic principles such as gravity, friction, speed and velocity with the use of a simple, well written explanation and animated scenes demonstrating what is being taught. The different pieces can later be used in their own creations - fantastic - we played on the iPads!
Class 5 - Monster Physics
Class 5 - Algorithms - think of the steps the computer needs to follow to deliver the Space Mail
Class 7 - design and debug code
With an understanding of algorithms it is possible to predict what a computer will do. When the children write their own programs they will usually contain errors, fixing these isn't a hit and miss affair. Looking carefully at the program they have written and using logical reasoning to explain what the program is actually doing is a good starting point for debugging code.
Class 3 - BeeBot racing using our alien inspired BeeBot masks
Class 3 - exploring BeeBots
