A fully equipped computer suite is timetabled for class use and every classroom also has it's own computer. Children continue to develop basic skills which enable them to communicate through their use of IT. They will use a wide range of educational software, as well as beginning to learn the fundamentals of Microsoft Office applications such as Word.

Children will:

learn to use words to communicate messages and recognise that ICT lets them correct and improve their work, as they are working or at a later date. Children will also have opportunities to discuss their experiences of using ICT. Children will be able to apply what they have learnt in this unit when: writing stories with a clear sequence of events in a sustained style; using and punctuating a range of sentence types; commenting on the features which distinguish texts such as narrative, information and poetry.

develop visual ideas for different purposes by using ICT and other methods. They use the features of an ICT graphics package to explore and realise their ideas and to identify ways to develop and improve their work. They will need to select and use simple tools (pen, brush, fill, and spray) in their mark making, and understand that work can be easily amended and ideas can be tried out without spoiling earlier versions. They will learn how ICT techniques can inform other techniques and vice versa, and that sometimes a screen version is the final version of a piece of work.

learn to search for information on the internet. The children are introduced to the internet as a place containing large amounts of information. They are taught to use menus, indexes and key words to search for pictures and gather information.

learn how to create, test, modify and store instructions to control the movements of a floor turtle. They learn to programme the floor turtle to move around an area by using single instructions, a sequence of instructions and repeated sequences. The unit will develop children’s understanding of programmed devices used outside school .

develop their awareness of different types of questions, how they can be asked and how ICT can be used to answer them using different types of software. They learn that some of the programs they have used so far to present data cannot provide the answers to some specific questions. They begin to realise that programs have limitations and that it is knowledge of the facilities and tools offered that helps us to select the most appropriate tool for a task. Children learn how to ask questions that can be answered with yes or no responses. They have opportunities to work with a prepared file on a binary tree program to practise their questioning skills.