At Hawley, children learn to use technology confidently, safely, and with discernment.
Coding (also known as programming) forms a large part of our computing curriculum, right from the early years. This is crucial because it teaches them to be confident, to have a go, and embrace when they have made a mistake … debugging it! We use programmes such as Scratch, 2DIY, Flowol and A.L.E.X gives our children the forum to do this.
The Internet is an amazing resource, which can enhance learning in many ways. We place emphasis on being ‘e-safe’ so our children know, for example, what to do when online and asked for details, if they experience cyberbullying… or even better, how to avoid these situations safely in the first place. We use materials by Kidsmart, Thinkuknow and CBBC Stay Safe to teach our children to be digitally aware, and have regular visitors who speak to children and parents and carers about this aspect of the curriculum.
Our children use multimedia programmes such as Keynote, GarageBand and Popplet to enhance and present their learning across all subjects. These allow our children to produce a variety of outcomes in other subjects – slide shows, 3D art, movies, cartoon strips and paintings. Children are taught how to use these with a clear purpose e.g. to make a talking book of the Little Red Hen in Nursery or an animation of the water cycle in Year 5.
We have a suite of 30 laptops available for the children as well as 30 iPads (generously purchased by our PTA) which ensure equity of opportunity.
We have a long established links with the Camden City Learning Centre. All classes visit once a year to participate in working with new technology, new programmes or with hardware we are unable to offer, for example building and programming smart robots using Lego Mindstorms.
