Computing
Through high quality practise and provision, we will ensure children can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. Through a progressive and supportive curriculum, children will analyse problems in computational terms, have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve problems and become competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
Click here to view the year group subject overview
At Springfield we use Purple Mash to teach our children computing sessions. All children have access to a Chromebook during computing sessions. Purple Mash is a creative educational website for children and is used by thousands of schools. It is a cross-curricular resource covering art to science and all subjects in between. Our pupils can access Purple Mash from home on a laptop, desktop or a tablet.
All pupils have a login and a password. These should remain confidential and allow you and your child unique access.
Please click on the link to login to the school’s Purple Mash:
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/springfield-tw16
Purple Mash is a safe environment that does not require any downloading or allow interaction with people online and children cannot make any financial transactions. We will be using Purple Mash in school to support the curriculum and will be encouraging the children to continue their learning at home – Purple Mash is a great resource for this. It is also a great resource for your child to explore and enjoy when they have a bit of spare time! It is a huge and growing resource and there are some parts that the children will enjoy exploring themselves. However, you may want to take a few minutes to explore it yourself so that you can help them with their learning. Most apps have a video guide to support use.
Mini Mash:
Mini Mash is the area of Purple Mash specifically designed for children in the ‘Early Years’. Inside, you will find a virtual classroom packed full of activities for children aged five and under.
Creative Tools:
There are 20+ open-ended tools inside Purple Mash. They range in complexity from simple painting programs to sophisticated coding tools.
Topics:
Purple Mash has over 1,500 ready-to-use writing and painting projects. They cover everything from aliens to the Victorians. You can use the ‘Topics’ tab to browse by subject or, alternatively, use the search bar at the top right of the screen to look for something specific.
Games:
These are games that are incredibly fun to play, but also help children practise their maths and English skills. They are a great way to re-enforce learning outside of school hours.
Serial Mash:
Serial Mash about getting children to read for pleasure. New books are released over the course of a half term in the form of a weekly serial. The chapters come with a range of fun and educational activities. Serial Mash is great for solo or guided reading and can be read on tablets.
Saving and Sharing Work
Purple Mash lets your child save their work online. It is very easy, just look out for the floppy disk icon on the toolbar and follow the simple instructions. To access saved files, go to the ‘Online Work’ tab. Once saved you can also ‘share’ work. Just look out for the globe icon on the toolbar. This will share work to one of our school’s “display boards” or create a link so your work can be viewed online by people that do not have Purple Mash.
Purple Mash on Tablets
The vast majority of Purple Mash is accessible when using iPads or Android tablets. Use Purple Mash via your tablet’s browser.
Please do not hesitate to contact school if you have any questions (or lose the password) and we will be happy to help. Enjoy Purple Mash!
