Computer Science and programming are being introduced to school curricula in many western countries in an effort to equip students with Computational Thinking skills. However, as these subjects are still relatively new to pre-tertiary education there is much investigation to be done into how best to present these topics and how to prepare teachers. In this study we focus on the presentation of topics relating to computing, Computational Thinking, and Computer Science for primary schools.

We analyse English-language curricula that have been published, specifically the English, Australian and CSTA curricula for primary schools. From this we establish the main topics covered, and how they are positioned to be suitable for students from the first year of school to approximately their eighth year.

We then report on a pilot study of a curriculum based on Computational Thinking; long term the study will encompass a range of topics and year levels, but the pilot focused on topics suitable for 11 to 12 year old students. Here we detail the design of this part of the curriculum, the manner of its delivery, and the experiences and observations of the generalist teacher who taught the course. Through assessment data, student responses to an attitude survey, and class observations we have evaluated the pilot curriculum. The findings of this study are being used to inform the design of a planned larger scale study.