Get Started Teaching Computing in Primary Schools: Preparing to teach 5 - 11 year olds

Learn key concepts from the computing curriculum alongside education experts.

It’s crucial for young people to develop their computing knowledge and skills so that they can understand and participate in our increasingly digital world - being creators rather than solely consumers.

On this four-week course you’ll start by thinking about why it’s important for your primary school students (aged 5-11) to learn computing. You’ll then explore the topics that you should cover, and ways that you can plan and teach computing lessons effectively.

You’ll investigate how to develop and teach a comprehensive computing curriculum. You’ll do this by examining the Teach Computing Curriculum, a free resource with everything you need to teach computing at primary school, including lesson plans, slides, worksheets, homework and assessment. You’ll also have the chance to practice modifying a lesson from this resource to fit your own context.

Improve your knowledge of primary computing and your confidence in the classroom.

You’ll be guided through key concepts, including computing systems and networks, data and information, creating media, and programming, as well as the impact computing has on your pupils and the wider world. Along the way, you’ll learn how to adapt your lessons to make them inclusive to all, using your own teaching experience and understanding of your pupils.

As you progress, you’ll reflect on your learning. By the end of the course you’ll have a personalised action plan to aid your future practice and inform your professional development.

The course, designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, is part of the National Centre for Computing Education, funded by the Department for Education.

This course will suit you if you’re a teacher of primary school children (aged 5-11) wanting to grow your computing knowledge and build confidence in helping your pupils to develop their computing knowledge and skills.

In order to access some of the resources used in this course, you will need to create an account with the National Centre for Computing Education.

You will also need access to Scratch 3, either online or installed on your computer.

• Why Computing?
• Welcome to week one
• Computing in our lives
• Computing in the curriculum
• Strands in Computing
• Welcome to week two
• Introduction to 'Computing systems and networks'
• Introduction to 'Programming'
• Introduction to 'Data and information'
• Overarching themes
• Welcome to week three
• Introduction to 'Creating media'
• Overarching themes
• 'Impact of technology'
• Teaching Computing in your setting
• Self-evaluation
• Meeting the needs of your class
• What next?