ICT Policy

Philosophy Statement

Aims

Time Allocation

Lesson Structure

Planning

Equal Opportunities

Resources

Assessment

Record Keeping

Monitoring and Evaluation

Philosophy Statement

At Warren we recognise the need to equip children with the necessary skills to become independent life-long learners capable of utilising a variety of tools to aid learning. In a technological age an essential part of this is the ability to effectively use ICT as a mechanism for communicating, handling information and controlling events.

We believe that good ICT teaching is characterised by a combination of teaching individual ICT skills and allowing children to explore and discover the capabilities of technology for themselves. We believe that ICT should form an integral part of all lessons throughout the curriculum and that relevant links to real life are explored. We understand the need for all members of staff to feel comfortable in the use of ICT, both as a discrete subject and within other curriculum areas, if effective teaching is to occur and place a high priority on staff training which keeps pace with technological development. We also understand that technology, both hardware capacity and efficiency, and software changes rapidly and that PCs and laptops, should be changed every 3 - 5 years on a rolling program in order to maintain the highest possible standards in ICT. Back to top

Aims

We aim to:
- Povide children with the necessary skills for a technological age, including access to up to date software and hardware.
- Dvelop children?s confidence in ICT through the teaching of relevant skills
- Use ICT to enhance children?s learning across the curriculum by allowing them access to a richer source of materials
- Provide children with opportunities to make links with other subject areas and to understand the relevance of ICT within their daily lives
- Develop the ICT skills of all staff through appropriate training
- Present ICT in a non-threatening manner Back to top

Time Allocation

At the Foundation Stage ICT will be integrated into the week's activities, with at least one ICT activity being planned for each week, with a general focus on mouse and keyboard skills.

Key Stage One and Two children will spend at least 30 minutes per week on discrete ICT skills, with ICT being further integrated into all subject areas, when appropriate, but with a minimum of 3 English, 3 maths and 3 other subject lessons (including science) per week. Back to top

Lesson Structure

At the Foundation Stage ICT tasks will form part of daily-integrated activities. Some time should be devoted each week to teaching the class, or individual groups of children, new skills that they will then practise individually or in small groups.

Key Stage One and Two children should receive a period of direct instruction each week, which will outline the new skills to be practised. Skills will then be practised in a cross curricular context. Children to either take turns with the use of the computers, or work in pairs. Back to top

Planning

Long-term planning is outlined in the curriculum overview. The Foundation Stage will take their planning from the school's Foundation Stage curriculum. Key Stage One and Two planning is outlined in termly Topic plans, monitored by the ICT subject leader to ensure quality and balance of provisions. Planning of basic ICT generic skills will be taken from the ICT scheme of work. Short-term plans are drawn from these units and must be outlined on weekly planning sheets. Use of ICT within other curriculum areas should be clearly indicated on English/maths weekly plans. Back to top

Equal Opportunities

Teachers will ensure that every learner has equal access to the ICT curriculum. Back to top

Resources

Each class has a SMART Interactive Whiteboard, 2 computers, 1 laptop, the ability to play both video and DVDs, and is linked to a networked printer. The whole school is set up with Internet access both LAN and wireless. Learning platforms can be accessed throughout the school.

A further bank of portable devices are available for both staff and children's use. These must be signed for by an adult as and when needed. Staff have access to laptops overnight, provided they are signed out, but since all laptops are predominately for children's use they must be returned fully charged by the following morning.

Children must be taught the correct way to handle and load CD-ROMs before being allowed to use them independently of adult supervision.

Cross-curricular ICT resources available at present include: overhead projectors, tape and CD players, two televisions and video recorders, 2 x DVD players and DVD players within selected PCs, 3 Roamer Floor Turtles and 2 Pixie Floor Turtles, 2 scanners, 2 Intel Microscopes, 3 Art pads, 8 digital cameras and several digital video cameras. Back to top

Assessment

Information about each child's level of knowledge, skills and understanding is required to enable appropriate provision of the curriculum. Teachers will use a range of strategies to assess children's work, including: observation, discussion, recording, listening and questioning. Back to top

Record Keeping

Each child in the school has a folder on the school network in which to save examples of their work. At the end of each unit of work, teachers will complete a record sheet and use these to provide an overall ICT level at the end of the year. Where record keeping is available within a program this should also be used to print evidence of children's abilities e.g. Smart learning or Education City. Back to top

Monitoring and Evaluation

See Monitoring and Evaluation Policy Back to top