ICT in the Primary Curriculum in the UK

The aim of my talk and paper is to provide an overview of and insight into the development and implementation of ICT within primary schools in the UK. I provide a brief overview of the foundations and principles, upon which the current curriculum is based. In order to provide an insight into the practical implementation of the new curriculum I present specific examples from current classroom practices within the primary setting. Using the examples of software and apps such as Scratch and Lightbot as well as hardware like Beebot I demonstrate and critique some practical strategies brought forward by classroom practitioners. This leads into challenges experienced by classroom practitioners, communities of practice, schools and the educational authorities. Typically, practitioners report that staff training needs, lack of finances and the demands of other areas of the curriculum mean that ICT and the ICT curriculum are not as well developed and effective as they could be. The proposed speech then concludes with a brief look to the future and where ICT within the primary curriculum will need to lead to.