How programming fits with the curriculum

Recently there have been some high profile national debates about what schools should teach as part of the ICT curriculum and a high profile has been given to programming. Programming in schools isn't new and builds on work they will already be doing. It starts in early years with work on instructions, positional language and knowledge of machines and devices that can be controlled in the world around us. Much of this early work doesn't need to involve technology at all but there is lots of technology that can be used to support it. Floor turtles and computer based resources can be programmed with simple instructions or complex sequences and there are several free applications. On this page there are resources to support programming for pupils of all ages.

Northern Grid has produced more information about control and our scheme of work has more information about the progression of skills.

Northern Grid can work with schools to support their teaching of programming, contact support@northerngrid.org for more information.

Useful information about using Roamer / Logo / Floor Turtles

http://www.ks1resources.co.uk/page2.html

http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/kentict_ct_bee.cfm

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/contents_control.htm

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fa/ICTFalkirkPrimaries/category/control/ and

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fa/ICTFalkirkPrimaries/2011/04/20/beebot-to-logo/

Beebot and programming from Sunderland Learning

Online Tools

There are tools online that can be used to support work in control and programming.

The Little Red Ship from Northumberland allows Early Years pupils to navigate a ship through rocks to the lighthouse:

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/Foundation/littleredship/control/control.html

 Control Unit from Naace allows primary pupils to control an onscreen robot: http://primary.naace.co.uk/startower/unit/index.htm

The TES iboard ICT resources include many that can be used to support positional language, instructions and control.

http://www.iboard.co.uk/activities/subject/ict

Free Programming Applications

Scratch

 What teachers say:

"it's excellent. Children pick it up quickly and enjoy it."

"yeah really great there are some brilliant resources with the site."

Most people had used this with KS2 or higher but I was encouraged to try it with younger pupils

"Used with Y5, I'd give it a go with KS1 - Challenge them and see how they go! :-)"

"I delivered Scratch to a local feeder primary earlier this year, kids loved it"

Scratch is a free application that allows users to use programming language to create interactive stories, animations and game. Information, support and examples of projects can be found the Scratch website: http://scratch.mit.edu

The online community for educators is at: http://scratched.media.mit.edu

Start by downloading the application from:

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Scratch_1.4_Download

A reference guide for getting started with Scratch is available:

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/files/file/ScratchReferenceGuide14.pdf

An excellent page of tutorials from the basics to more complex games is available on http://www.teach-ict.com/programming/scratch/scratch_home.htm

Other useful sites

http://learnscratch.org

http://learnscratch.co.uk

http://ltc.smm.org/gamestudio/files/scratchtutorial.pdf

http://moodle.ictcurric.org.uk/course/view.php?id=10

http://moodle.ictcurric.org.uk/course/view.php?id=17

Kodu

 What teachers say:

"Would use Kodu with KS1, and scratch with KS2....my opinion"

"Much more suitable for younger ones!"

Kodu is a free basic programming tool from Microsoft that allows users to create their own worlds and program Kodu and other objects to interact with it. It's a great way to create interactive games. It works using either a mouse and keyboard or an X Box controller.

More information is available at: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu

Start by downloading Kodu from http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=10056

A useful educators' kit with support materials and videos can be found at: http://fuse.microsoft.com/page/kodu

There are also some tutorials within the Kodu Application, the later ones get a bit confusing until you realise that each tutorial appears twice, the first version sets the challenge the second version (which will end in the word SOL'N) provides the solution.

There are some useful videos on You Tube explaining how to get started. A good place to start is this simple Kodu game tutorial (using keyboard)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-FjskAHgN0

Other useful sites

http://teacherweb.com/TX/McNeilHS/Alleman/KoduLesson1.pdf

http://www.interactiveclassroom.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Help-Sheets1.pdf

http://lis7410.slis.wayne.edu/WeekGame1/doc/Learning-guide.pdf

http://sites.google.com/site/koduxperts/home

Coding and Copyright and coding

Copyright is an issue schools have to consider whenever pupils or staff create materials, coding is no different.

The NEN Copy Rights and Wrongs website includes an article describing how coding works with ‘intellectual property’. If you use code to create an original programme or app when would you use copyright and when would you use a patent? -  this is something that older students, teachers and schools need to be aware of.

See http://www.copyrightsandwrongs.nen.gov.uk/students/code 

Find out about our latest news, upcoming events, and some of the best educational resources on the web in our Monthly Newsletter.
 

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Creative Strategies to Support Literacy KS2

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or...The Importance of Ownership

A superb eSafety video from Northern Grids' ‘Protecting Adults Who Work With Children’ event.

This resource covers ICT Skills and Development

Northern Grid worked with a number of teachers in the North East region to produce resources for the foundation stage. This page contains a number of worksheets and activites aimed at developing ICT skills.

Download all of the worksheets and activities here.

Schools are well aware of the need to keep pupils, teachers, data and systems as safe and secure as possible. All schools need to ensure that they have an up to date Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). To support schools in meeting their eSafety requirements Northern Grid has a responsibility to ensure that the whole Regional Broadband Network continues to be safe and secure. This means that all organisations connected to the network need to abide by a common Northern Grid AUP. As technology changes rapidly this Grid AUP is updated regularly.

The Northern Grid Acceptable Use Policy has been endorsed and approved by the Northern Grid Directors who are all senior managers within partner Local Authorities. Your Local Authority has agreed to abide by this AUP.

This policy applies to all users of the Northern Grid broadband network whoever they are, whatever devices they are using, whenever and wherever they are connected to the network. This also includes users within a directly connected establishment or users connecting to the network remotely.

Any school, LA or other educational organisation using Northern Grid for Learning's Network or Service is required to comply with this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

Failure or non-compliance may result in the school's broadband service being disconnected and / or civil, disciplinary or legal action being taken upon individuals, groups of individuals or establishments.

Head teachers must ensure that all users are familiar with the relevant sections of this AUP.

This document refers to the use of the regional Northern Grid network. Schools also need their own Acceptable Use Policy covering the use of the internet and their network by pupils, staff and visitors.

Download the Acceptable Use Policy 2011-2012

Download the Executive Summary of the Acceptable Use Policy 2011-2012

How to play Number Sequence

Select a level difficulty from the options

Easy - Just Addition

Medium - Addition & Subtraction

Hard - Addition, Subtraction & Multiplication

Extreme - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication & Division

The icon next to the answer box will tell confirm if your answer is correct or not by showing a tick or a cross

Once a sequence is complete go back to the menu to try a harder level or select the same difficulty and new numbers will be generated

How to play Chain Letters.

You have 1 minute to make as many changes to the original word as possible.

Start by entering the original word then click save original word.

Make as many changes to the word as possible: - You can only change one letter at a time - You can't change the same letter more than once in a row e.g. if you had BALL, you could change it to HALL but you couldn't then change it to CALL, you'd need to change another letter first -

You can't use proper nouns At the end of the minute you will be told how many words you made. You get 10 points for each new word you make. Click reset to have another go with the same or a different word.

Woodlawn School, North Tyneside

One of Woodlawn's primary aims is to increase their children's participation in and enjoyment of learning. They recognise that that getting parents involved with their child's learning is one of the best ways to ensure that child is successful. Woodlawn School has been involved in the Becta Parental Engagement Project and has developed a wide range of methods for working with parents. As a special school Woodlawn deals with a wide range of special educational needs and all schools can learn from their experience.

This case study gives an overview of what the school did, what the benefits of better engagement with parents were, what they plan to do next and tips for other schools.

Please carry out the following checks.  If any of the tests fail then your Cachepilot configuration is not providing adequate protection.  Contact Easynet Support on 08453334568 for further advice and assistance.

Google Safe Search

Open your browser and type the URL www.google.com a search windows will open click on the search settings link top right.  If you can view and change the SafeSearch Filtering options SafeSearch in not enforced.

YouTube

If you have decided to allow access to YouTube for a CachePilot user group, login as a member of this group and access the URL www.youtube.com a green banner titled "Enabled Safety mode" should appear directly below the YouTube search bar.  After any video is selected check to ensure that viewer’s comments are disabled.  They would normally appear directly below the video.

Blocked Categories

From your workstation’s browser access the following URLs.  All of the following URLs should be blocked if they are not your browser will be automatically redirected to the Smoothwall home page.  If any sites are not blocked check you’re filtering for configuration errors!

The above categories are blocked by default on all Northern Grid Cachepilots.

Social networking sites are now the most common method of spreading malware and viruses due to their popularity and poor design.  If the school allows access to these sites a rigorous security policy needs to be enforced to protect the network.

Cachepilot FAQ

What can a CP do for your school?

A CachePilot can speed up the delivery of web resources to your school through transparent and advanced caching techniques.  The device can also be used as a local content store.  The Smoothwall web filtering solution protects web users from offensive and malicious websites and offers URL category blacklists and dynamic content control. 

How does the Smoothwall filtering work?

Smoothwall uses two separate techniques to block inappropriate websites.  A URL category blacklist database is stored and updated on the unit of well-known websites.  To enhance the URL blacklist a dynamic content filter is deployed.  This heuristic filter is able to identify and categorize websites in real time, and block or allow them according to the policy deployed.

The dynamic content control uses a weighted phrase limit.  The WPL is a sensitivity bar and defaults to 50 suitable for a primary school.  Secondary Schools may wish to increase the limit (desensitize) to 120.   The CachePilot has the ability to blacklist (block) or whitelist (allow) any website, webpage or file type download.

Can I use Site Lists with the new Smoothwall filtering solution?

We recommend you do not use site lists but they can be added to the site list permission if required.  The new filtering configuration is now simpler to use and more efficient due to the separation of filtering components.  To modify the filtering select User Accounts / Groups  and select the group you wish to modify. The Global group policy applies to everybody and should be populated with your school blacklist. The new filtering configuration allows exceptions to be added in a group thereby eliminating the need to reduce the number of blacklisted categories for the Global group.

The Cachepilot slows down web access?

A correctly configured and maintained CachePilot does not generate any significant delay. Slow Internet performance may result from a problem on your network or on the remote web server. The new web filtering solution is more reliable and provides faster performance than a CachePilot running Smartfilter.

Websites on the Internet are hosted on a range of equipment resulting in performance differences to add to this geographic location and server loading can impact on the speed of your web access. If a website is generally slow to access it is a prime candidate for using the CachePilot’s advanced caching functionality.  If the Internet connection is slow contact mark.vinnicombe@northerngrid.org to run a remote diagnostic check.

Download As Document

Northern Grid works with teachers, Local Authorities, Museums, Libraries, Archives and other organisations from across the region to develop a range of content for teachers and learners.

The Tools for Learning booklet highlights some of the these resources.

Download Booklet (21 MB)