Teach Computing Curriculum coming to Oak National Academy
Over a year ago, we embarked upon an ambitious project, a collection of over 500 hours of teaching materials to help you with the delivery of the entire computing curriculum from Key Stages 1 to 4 in England. We call it our ‘Teach Computing Curriculum’. You might have seen our units of work appearing on the Teach Computing website and even downloaded them.
Our goal has always been to support teachers in England with teaching this relatively new subject by producing all the materials required for all lessons, and showcasing the best approaches to teaching computing based on research. We are now very close to completing all 500 hours of lessons, and at the end of July we will unveil a new way to explore them online.
Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdown, we’ve also been thinking hard about how we can support teachers and students outside of the traditional classroom. Today, I’m excited to announce that we’ve partnered with the Oak National Academy to present our Teach Computing Curriculum lessons on camera, direct to students.
Our lessons on Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy is an online classroom and resource hub, providing high-quality video lessons and resources to support teachers, parents, and pupils, both at school and at home.
This September, learners in Years 7, 8, and 9 will be able to access our full key stage 3 computing curriculum via the Oak National Academy platform. Our curriculum is divided into units, each containing six hour-long lessons.
| Year 7 | Impact of technology - collaborating online respectfully | Gaining support for a cause | Networks: from semaphores to the Internet | Spreadsheets | Programming essentials in Scratch: part I | Programming essentials in Scratch: part II |
| Year 8 | Design vector graphics | Computing systems | Networks 2 | Representations: from clay to silicon | Mobile app development | Intro to Python programming |
| Year 9 | 3D graphics, animation, video editing | Data Science | Cybersecurity | Representations: going audiovisual | Python programming with sequences of data | Programming physical computing |
GCSE computer science theory units will also be available on the following topics in September, with programming units following in the winter term:
| GCSE theory | Data representation | Computer systems | Networks | Security | Impacts |
| GCSE programming | Algorithms | Programming | Databases & SQL | HTML (Optional unit) | Object oriented programming (optional unit) |
In addition, we’re providing six units of lessons for Year 6 learners in September, and six more units for Year 5 after half term:
| Computer systems & networks | Creating media | Programming | Data & information | |||
| Year 6 | Communication |
Web page design |
3D modelling | Variable in games | Sensing | Spreadsheets |
| Year 5 |
Sharing information |
Video editing | Vector drawing |
Selection in physical computing |
Chatbot selection |
Flat-file databases |
Get Involved
This is an exciting opportunity for computing to be at the forefront of a new era of distance learning, with our lessons seen by thousands of learners in England and beyond.
We are looking for passionate and engaging computing teachers who are comfortable delivering lessons to camera. If you’re interested in getting involved, and are available from now until the end of August, then register your interest here.
Much of our curriculum resources are already available to you. Simply log into your Teach Computing account and visit our resources page to try them out today. We’re always looking for feedback too, so don’t be afraid to tell us what you think by emailing us or via our feedback form.
About the authorCarrie Anne Philbin is the Director of Educator Support at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, CAS Board Member, Chair of CAS include, author, and YouTuber