3 - 5 years
In role-play, pupils can explore how programmable devices work, such as washing machines, mobile phones, etc. As teachers, we can model this technology, pretending to send messages across the world to people we know, giving an opportunity to talk about how devices are connected and how to stay safe on the internet. Pupils develop an understanding that computers in their school are connected together and to computers in the outside world.
Pupils might play (tinker) with programmable toys such as Bee-Bots, Roamer® and BigTrack, finding out about the programming languages which control these digital devices. They learn what the buttons do and in what order to press them. Their problem might be how to navigate a route: they think about how to solve it, press the keys and then debug (work out where the route might have gone wrong) as they go along. They are programming!
5 - 7 years
Pupils develop the computational-thinking skills associated with programming, such as decomposing processes/problems into a sequence (algorithm). They will gain experience of turning algorithms into code for programmable toys such as Bee-Bots. Programming languages such as ScratchJr can be used to create simple animations or interactive scenes. In doing so, pupils will learn the important skill of debugging, as programs rarely function as intended first time around!
7 - 11 years
As pupils develop experience in programming, they will use three key constructs within their code: sequence, selection and repetition. Pupils should also work with a variety of inputs and outputs, along with using variables in their programs.
Pupils will explore the workings of computer networks. This will include the local networks within their school and the worldwide network we call the internet. Pupils will consider which services are made possible through networking computers, and the computer science behind how such services work.