Information and Communication Technology

ICT is changing the lives of everyone. Through teaching ICT we equip children to participate in a rapidly-changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology. We enable them to find, explore, analyse, exchange and present information. We also focus on developing the skills necessary for children to be able to use information in a discriminating and effective way. ICT skills are a major factor in enabling children to be confident, creative and independent learners.

The aims of ICT are to enable children:

• to develop ICT capability in finding, selecting and using information;
• to monitor and control events both real and imaginary;
• to apply hardware and software to creative and appropriate uses of information;
• to use ICT for effective and appropriate communication;
• to apply their ICT skills to develop their language and communication skills;
• to explore their attitudes towards ICT and its value to them and society in general.

Teaching and Learning Styles
As the aims of ICT are to equip children with the skills necessary to use technology to become independent learners, the teaching style that we adopt is as active and practical as possible. While at times we do give children direct instruction on how to use hardware or software, the main emphasis of our teaching in ICT is for individuals or groups of children to use computers to help them in whatever they are trying to study.

Children at Wheatlands Primary School have weekly access to our ICT suite. They also have access to computers in their classrooms. Teachers use ICT to promote skills, knowledge and understanding across the whole primary curriculum as well as being a discrete subject in its own right. Other resources available to the children include calculators, tape recorders, spell checkers and floor turtles, which are used for teaching control and simple programming.
We recognise that all classes have children with widely differing ICT abilities. This is especially true when some children have access to ICT equipment at home, while others do not. We provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability and experience of the child.