A Pathway into Computational Thinking in Primary Schools

Computing is a key skill that cannot be underestimated in todays digitalised world. Computing abilities enable humans of all ages and backgrounds to understand, create and manage computerised environments. Consequently, computing education becomes an important concern. For instance, the national curriculum in the UK states that a high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. Our aim is to support the early stages of computing education in primary schools. Our proposal is a pathway into Computing Education (CE) through Computational Thinking (CT), starting off from traditional mathematics curricula for primary schools. This is a first step, not involving concrete computer programming or ICT management, but develops the key skills of computational thinking such as logical reasoning or abstraction.