Computing and e-Safety
Computing at Firthmoor Primary School
At Firthmoor Primary School, we aim to ensure that our children have the necessary computing skills to engage with an increasingly digital world, and prepare them for future education and work.
Computing lessons focus on developing skills in the three main strands of the National Curriculum framework: Computer Science, Digital Literacy (including e-Safety) and Information Communication Technology.
Children are taught key skills which they apply to projects. Children are given the opportunity to produce work in a variety of ways, including designing programs and games, and creating presentations, webpages, videos and animations. Projects allow children to to become familiar with a range of programs such as Scratch, Pages, Keynote and GarageBand. Children learn the necessary skills to use iPads, computers and other technology, such as micro:bits and drones.
We instil in our children the importance of using technology safely and responsibly at all times and digital safety is therefore taught not only in Computing lessons, but promoted in other curriculum areas and at assemblies and events such as Safer Internet Day.
New technologies have become an integral part of the lives of children and young people both within and outside of school. Using the internet is now an everyday occurrence for most children and adults and is seen as an essential resource to support teaching and learning.. Unfortunately, the increased use of technology at school and home also exposes children to a number of risks and dangers.
In school, we discuss digital safety as part of our curriculum which includes discussions with pupils about how to keep themselves safe and the dangers they may face when using various devices including PCs, mobile phones, tablets and games consoles. The internet access within school is designed expressly for pupil use and includes Lightspeed filtering to ensure access is appropriate to the age of the pupils. Pupils are taught what internet use is acceptable and given clear objectives for its use.
eSafety involves the whole school community including pupils, staff, governors and parents to create and maintain a safe online and computing environment for our school by making the best use of technology, information, training and policies.
Please find below the Long Term Plan for Computing in years 1-6, which includes both Spring and Summer terms 2025.
ROBLOX WARNING
There are an increasing number of warnings of misuse in the popular app Roblox.
A number of other schools have posted warnings on their social media and some news outlets have also published articles.
As always it is important to have open and honest discussions with your child on their internet use and make sure privacy and restrictions are set up.
You can read more about it here.
Manchester News – Parents warned of inappropriate characters in ROBLOX
Here are some simple rules for keeping safe online:
Zip it– keep your personal information private and think about what you say and do online
Block it– block people who send you nasty messages and don’t open unknown links and attachments
Flag it– flag up with someone you trust if anything upsets you or if someone asks to meet you offline
The following links can help keep children safe online.
Childnet International – information and advice on Internet safety.
Internet Matters.org excellent site that covers all aspects of internet safety and takes you through setting up parental controls on all gadgets in an easy to follow step by step guide.
UK Safer Internet Centre – Advice for Parents and Carers -information and advice on Internet safety.
Family Lives – offers very useful tips and advice not only on internet safety but a wide range of topics such as bullying and it’s really useful for families.
AND ALSO THE FOLLOWING:
