Digital Skills

The ability to use digital skills effectively is an essential life skill. Our aim is to produce learners who are digitally confident, competent and creative.

We interpret the term digital skills to include the use of any equipment that allows users to communicate or manipulate information (in the broadest sense of the word) electronically.

Select an option below

Nursery

Pre-Prep

Prep

Children in the nursery have access to interactive whiteboards, programme floor robots, cameras, listening corners and remote controlled cars.

There are opportunities in the nursery setting for these ICT resources to be used in a self-directed way.

Children are encouraged to persevere with ICT, to work as a team, be curious, wait and take turns, make choices and enjoy achievements along the way.

ICT falls within the Knowledge and Understanding area of the EYFS curriculum and includes learning basic skills such as turning on and operating some ICT equipment; finding out about and identifying the uses of everyday technology; using ICT and programmable toys; completing a simple program on a computer; using a mouse and keyboard to interact with age-appropriate computer software; and using ICT to perform simple functions such as selecting a channel on a TV remote control.

Some experts predict that 65% of children now will have jobs in the future that don’t even exist yet.

We want to give our children a head start by introducing them to IT and coding and giving them the problem-solving, logical, creative skills needed to become successful computer programmers and users.

Whether our children are building instructions and making things happen on screen, creating a basic animation or learning about digital citizenship, they are always excited to find out what they are going to learn next.

In our planning, we include the following digital skills elements:

Communicating ideas: children write, edit, draw and compose.
Handling information: children collect data which they sort and represent on the computer using simple graphs.
Control: children learn to programme within problem-solving activities.
Modelling: children use software which allows them to make decisions which give them some control over what happens next e.g. adventure games.
The Internet: e-safety is incorporated into the curriculum from Year 1.
Applications of ICT: children are taught and shown some ways in which ICT is used in everyday life (e.g. remote controlled toys/TV, email, recording etc).

In weekly lessons, we focus on computer science, information technology and digital literacy and online safety.

Additionally, the Digital Skills department works with teachers across all subjects to use ICT to augment learning, further develop digital skills and importantly to foster greater understanding and enjoyment.

Across all subjects, we aim to:

Identify opportunities for the development of digital skills.
Ensure progression in ICT capability through different strands of the scheme of work.
Plan activities where ICT is used as a tool to help achieve a curriculum objective for another subject.
Plan activities involving whole class teaching, where ICT is used by the teacher to enhance the depth and pace of pupils learning.
Ensuring there are opportunities for pupils to work individually or collaboratively, in pairs or small groups.
Modified activities to give access to pupils with special needs or pupils who need extension activities.
Ensure the necessary time or support is available to enable the pupils to carry out the activity.

Digital Skills

Out of the classroom: co-curricular

Digital skills play a big part across the whole Westbourne House curriculum.

The Digital Skills Department works with teachers across all subjects to use ICT to augment learning, further develop digital skills and importantly to foster greater understanding and enjoyment.

Departments are responsible for including the use of ICT in their planning and examplars of this are held by the Head of Digital Skills.

Mark Forsyth

Head of Digital Skills

Digital skills play an integral part of modern life. It is very exciting that I am able to introduce children to some of their first experiences of using computers in both an educational and safe way. Teaching all of the pupils in the Prep school, enables them to experience a broad and varied curriculum. This ensures that by the time they leave in Year 8, they are fully equipped for modern digital life.