At St Augustine’s Prior, we recognise that building strong foundations in computing begins with the development of essential mouse and keyboard skills, which enable children to navigate digital tools with confidence and independence.

Alongside these technical skills, we place great emphasis on helping pupils create digital content for different audiences, encouraging them to think carefully about purpose, tone, and presentation in their work.

Equally important is ensuring that all pupils understand how to stay safe online. Through a range of dedicated e-safety lessons, cross-curricular activities, and wider school initiatives, we teach children how to use the internet responsibly, recognise potential risks, and make informed choices when engaging in digital spaces. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on the impact of their online behaviour, to respect others, and to know how and when to seek support if something they encounter causes concern.

By embedding these values and practices across both computing lessons and the wider curriculum, we ensure that our students develop not only the technical skills they need, but also the awareness and resilience required to thrive as responsible digital citizens.

Children in Years 3 to 6 will typically use Purple Mash to explore coding in fun and creative ways. They start with simple activities like moving a character around the screen in 2Go, which helps them understand giving step-by-step instructions.

As they get older, they are introduced to Purple Mash’s 2Code to design their own games, stories, and animations, moving from drag-and-drop blocks to more advanced coding. With 2Logo, they can make exciting patterns by programming shapes and loops, while 2Simulate lets them experiment with real-life scenarios like running a shop or designing a fire drill.

They also get to create their own games and 3D worlds using 2DIY and 2DIY3D, testing their ideas and problem-solving as they go. Alongside this, children practise debugging, solving logic puzzles, and even handling data with tools like 2Calculate spreadsheets and 2Investigate databases.

All of this helps them build confidence, creativity, and problem-solving skills that prepare them for the digital world.

At Key Stage 3, our computer science course provides students with a strong foundation in digital literacy, problem-solving, and computational thinking. Emphasis is placed on providing our students with sound programming and reasoning skills, with Year 7 pupils starting their journey with block-based programming using Scratch and robotics, Year 8 progressing to topics such as web design and databases, and Year 9 students moving on to text-based programming with Python Turtle and later Python, applying the computational thinking strategies they first developed with block-based coding.  

Crucially, our module on online safety is designed to help our students acquire a range of important skills and attitudes that help them both inside and outside of school, such as protecting their privacy, acting responsibly and navigating the digital world securely. 

At GCSE level, we teach the OCR Computer Science syllabus, which provides students with both practical programming experience and a strong theoretical understanding of how computers work. Unlike other exam boards such as AQA or Edexcel, OCR places a far greater emphasis on programming, particularly on algorithms, giving students more opportunities to develop their coding skills in depth. This focus helps learners build strong problem-solving and logical thinking abilities, while also covering essential topics such as data representation, computer systems, networks, and cybersecurity.  

At A-Level, we teach the OCR Computer Science syllabus, which challenges students to develop advanced programming skills alongside a deep understanding of computer systems, algorithms, data structures, and the theory of computation. A key element of the course is the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) project, where students design and build a substantial piece of software to solve a real-world problem of their choice. This project is invaluable because it allows learners to apply their knowledge creatively, manage the full software development lifecycle, and demonstrate independence and resilience. The NEA also provides excellent preparation for both higher education and industry, giving students practical experience that goes beyond the classroom and reflects the kind of problem-solving expected in computing-related careers. 

Alongside the taught curriculum, our computer science department offers a wide range of co-curricular activities that enrich and extend students’ learning. All pupils take part in the national Bebras Challenge, developing their problem-solving and logical thinking skills, and our female students are encouraged to compete in the CyberFirst Girls Competition, promoting diversity and opportunities in cybersecurity.

Each year, our Year 9 students visit Bletchley Park, where they experience an extensive guided tour and hands-on workshops while learning about the crucial role of wartime code-breakers in cracking the Enigma code and shaping modern computing. They also take part in the West London Science and Technology Challenge Day at the University of West London, where they collaborate with peers in practical STEM challenges that foster innovation and teamwork.

For our KS5 students, we run a C++ coding club, which introduces the principles of C-based programming and exposes them to new approaches that differ significantly from Python, broadening their programming expertise and preparing them for further study or careers in technology.