Completion of my syllabus

After a long absence from posting, due to the busy schedule I have had at work and the work that I have been doing on my syllabus, I have new updates to make.

I have completed my work on my syllabus... My aim for the end of this academic year was to have a complete scheme of work, which largely meets the aims and requirements if the 2014 curriculum. I wanted to write a single a4 page for each of the units of work that stated a rough teaching sequence and my expectations about what that pupils will get from the lessons.

I have done this and am very pleased with what I have created. It is stored online at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c3l5yb2vh758se6/AABK8Wj-eohEQNeUDt3nczMxa.

The next step is to prepare for a new job and new requirements from my teaching. I have to now extend my planning to include years 7&8 which I have not taught for a while and for whom the changes to the curriculum are considerable.

Curriculum Leaflets

I have finished my curriculum overview for ICT within KS1 and KS2. This has become two separate leaflets that, I hope, show a progression of skills accross the two areas. I still need to add the area for suggested software and links but this is an ever changing list.

I have uploaded the KS2 leaflet in the past but will include them both here for neatness.

KS1 Leaflet -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlRHdDeE1kMXhScUk/edit?usp=sharing

KS2 Leaflet -
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlbmJMQXJOdHAyZUk/edit?usp=sharing

It is my aim that all of my curriculum documents will have the same colour coding system to show the key strands of work within ICT. Mobile ICT, Researching and Communicating, Combining Text and Images, Multimedia and Programming / Computing.

Creating A Scheme Of Work That All Can Take Part In

Recently I was asked to present to our governors on ICT within my school. This was an excellent opportunity to show off a little and present to them what we actually do in lessons.

As part of the process of creating this process, however, I was needed to create recommendations about where we should take ICT next. At this point I realised a lot about how my current scheme of work stands separate from much of the ICT going on around the school. This may not be a huge issue, but there are some cross-overs of knowledge and there are certainly tasks that other staff members would, I hope, love to use in order to enhance their topic work.

As such, combined with the curriculum leaflets I have been creating as an overview of ICT and what it means, I have begun to make an A4 page for each unit of work. This will hopefully make a small folder that other staff members can look at and gain ideas from, or at the very least, easily digest the extent of the skills possessed by our children.

I will upload some examples, the aim is to have a very brief page that highlights why I am teaching each skills and also possible applications for it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHldFU0Z2oxcFdLcjg/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlQnZhSWQzTmNVbTQ/edit?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlc1Y0MHlkT0ZYQTQ/edit?usp=sharing

These will hopefully be working documents that could include a second page to show where they begin to be taught throughout the school.

Below is the blank form, to save anybody that likes the idea, the work.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlQmstTVUxWUd0TUE/edit?usp=sharing

Computing Curriculum

I have been looking to begin my preparation for the new computing curriculum requirements and have come across a most interesting question.

Should the development of a Computing scheme be 'top down' or 'bottom up'?

I have been looking at the Computing for Schools Curriculum  - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHlTnZtZ0FmRVczeEk/edit?usp=sharing
For those that have not accessed it.

Whilst we know what we wish to reach at the end of KS4, it is surely a self defeating process to continually work backwards from here?

Over the past 4 years, I have found that I have been shuffling certain elements of programming down through the year groups. Year 4 are perfectly able to understand and use Scratch independently, with this comes an understanding of the processes required to provide a computer with instructions. This begins to sound much like the requirements for the end of KS2/KS3.

When I set out to plan my computing element for the new year (this is not to say that we do not already teach much of the concepts) I am going to look at what my youngest CAN do, what they NEED to do and what they COULD do. My annual review of computing is going to have to stem from this, taking work that we can from higher age groups and then creating new projects higher up the school. Otherwise I fear that a hole will be created where harder concepts are achieved by the top, without necessarily ensuring that the work at the lower level progresses to meet these levels.

With much to do, I want to continue to look for free software that the pupils can download at home to extend knowledge, but my head is continually turned by physical objects such as Lego mindstorms that could bring a whole new level to our programming.

Lifting The Lid on ICT

Having spent 18 months or so building the ICT syllabus at my school, I understandably know all that is in it and why it is there.

It occurred to me that, whilst this is a clear necessity, it would also be useful for other staff to better understand what we do in ICT. There are terms and phrases that I use that leave fellow colleagues looking confused , or at worst, has them switch off entirely.

As such I have devised a curriculum leaflet for ICT. We create these as a matter of course within each year group to describe the content of the term's work. This is given to parents so that they can reinforce at home, keep up with the learning or try and add to it. With my ICT leaflet, I have tried to summarise the areas of ICT that my scheme of work falls into. This, I hope, allows staff, parents or even the pupils themselves to better understand 'what programming is' or 'what we mean by multimedia'.

My colour-coding system is also included to ensure that my self assessment booklet, teacher assessment grid and other literature match up to one another.

The leaflet is available via GoogleDocs at the following link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4s7hMWhfvHleEVxb2IxUFlxckU/edit?usp=sharing

February Update

As it has been a while since I have logged my progress, I feel that this is the time to do so.

We have worked to develop our tablet useage within the school. A problem was found that meant the children all logged on to different style menus. This, it turns out was something to do with how the menu list was populated from the server rather than the device. With this issue solved, we are now in a position to really accelerate our use of the Windows 8 tablets.

Interest has been good, from other staff. All classes have now used the tablets in the 3 weeks since they have been fully operational. With a consistent menu appearance and better, more efficient Wi-Fi signals around the school, staff are more confident in directing pupils to use the devices.

Uses of the tablets have included

• Year 1 practicing dragging and dropping skills. Working solving maths problems.
• Year 2 practicing their dragging, dropping and control skills. Creating documents for their class work.
• Year 3 have been using the tablets to research the Egyptians. Using web applications that would not be available on the iPad.
• Year 4 have been researching specific topics about the Egyptians, practicing using the tablets and creating a collaborative piece of written work. (It would be interesting to see if we could use the microphone to convert speech to text for this)
• Year 5 have been using the tablets regularly in science, topic work and are beginning to see them used in maths lessons. 
• Year 6 have conducted research using the tablets, will see an increase in their use in maths lessons and have been able to video interview one another. 

Now that we have tried, tested and gained some interest from staff in the use of the tablets, I remain hopeful that we can push their use even further. I certainly have some ideas around ICT lessons, using Microsoft Kodu Game Lab to make touch based games would be one exciting start point.