What is Computer Science and how does this relate to our girls?

- Mrs Susan McKay on technology in learning

I have pondered over this question for several days, trying to succinctly describe the many ways in which digital learning has been incorporated into everyday learning.

In short, Computer Science by its own definition is the study of technology in use, which involves numerous aspects of computing and computers, not least computational thinking. At the Junior School we have divided the teaching of computing into several areas: digital literacy, e-safety, the use of technology, and Computer Science. The teachers at the Junior School involve the girls with technology to enhance their learning; using the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modifies and Redefinition) this benefits their work greatly and fits beautifully in terms of teaching, learning and extending the girls’ knowledge.

No matter which year group you visit, from Reception to Year 6, the girls are swift to pick up new skills, to teach their peers and have very open minds about embracing technology.

The aspect of Computer Science that goes hand in hand with everyday skills is that of computational thinking. This area encourages the girls to unpick why something goes wrong, to try again, and again in some cases, and then solve the problem. We work so hard to encourage resilience at the Junior School and I strongly feel that being adept at computational thinking gives the girls that sense of never giving up – instead they know to always look for solutions and not stop at the first hurdle.

In Reception the girls have been using a Mathematics program on the laptops, Rabbit Take Away, to help them practise their computing and subtraction skills – some using cubes and others jumping back on number lines.

Oriana B. in Year 1 has used technology to design a beautiful abstract pattern. The difficulty was making sure that all the lines were unbroken so that the shapes could be successfully filled in. She would like to repeat the pattern, apply it to material, and make a coat. Naomi H. was very impressed and said she would love to wear the finished coat.

Year 2 girls have been using the graphics programme, Tux Paint, to paint and draw illustrations of their bean seeds. They enjoyed using the Tux Paint tools, such as graphics, stamps and drawing options to make an illustration, and learnt how to edit and save their work. They also made seed posters to present the information they have learned. The girls used Word to draw text boxes for their captions, and included images which they found on Google (with direct supervision).

Year 3 pupils have been using Word to create a spider diagram relating to the class book, James and The Giant Peach. Each girl has learned to add text boxes, change the font, style and colour, insert pictures from the internet, enlarge images, and to wrap text and change the position of text. The results are impressive! The girls have also been learning about coding and have mastered Scratch.

Year 4 pupils have been using their computing skills to create PowerPoint presentations. The photo below shows a PowerPoint about a Tudor explorer, John Hawkins, which will be presented to the class on Monday.

Year 5 pupils have been researching Judaism and the links between Judaism and Christianity using the iPads this week.

Year 6 pupils have worked on their computing skills throughout the academic year; whether within Computer Science lessons or using digital technology to enhance their learning in other subjects. The girls have used a variety of applications, such as Tellagami and iMovie, as well as improving their skills in coding. The computational thinking that goes behind creating programmes certainly helps the girls to solve problems in other areas of the curriculum too.