Key Stage 1 computing · Information technology

KS1 computing: saving, naming and finding files and folders

Making something on a computer is only half the job: it also has to be kept safely and found again. In Key Stage 1, children learn to save their work, give it a name that makes sense, put it in the right place and open it later. These habits turn a lost picture or half-finished story into a piece of work they can come back to.

Saving and finding files, explained

The programme of study asks children to use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content. This page covers the middle and end of that list. When a child is working on a device, the work lives in the device’s temporary memory. If the device is switched off or the program closes without saving, it can disappear. Some programs save for you automatically, but children are taught to check rather than assume.

Naming is the first skill. A file that is called “Untitled” or “image12” tells you nothing, and after a few weeks there are dozens of them. A good name says what the work is: “Penguin poster” or “Jack’s story, chapter one”. Children can often type a short name themselves, with a capital letter if appropriate, and teachers usually ask them to include a word that identifies the project.

Organising means putting similar things together. A folder is like a drawer or a box that holds files, and children can make folders for different topics or projects, such as “Animals” or “Our trip”. At this age the structure is usually one level deep, with a few folders and a handful of files inside. Sorting is a skill that children already have from maths and from tidying up toys, so a physical comparison helps a lot.

Retrieving means getting the work back. Children learn to open a saved file from the place they put it, to look in a folder, to use recently opened files and, with help, to use the search box and type part of the name. Where files are kept varies from school to school. Some use the device itself, some use shared storage on the school network and some use online storage connected to a class login. Children learn that there are different places to keep work and that a teacher can help them find it.

Being a responsible user is part of the aim. That includes asking before deleting anything, not changing or removing other people’s work, and keeping any login details private. The same habits help later in Key Stage 2, when children use search tools and combine work from different sources.

Words your child will hear

File: One piece of saved work, such as a picture, a story or a recording.
File name: The name a file is saved under. A good one says what the work is.
Folder: A place that holds files and keeps them together, like a labelled drawer.
Save: To keep your work so that it is still there when you come back.
Open: To bring a saved file back onto the screen so you can look at it or change it.
Retrieve: To get saved work back, by opening it from where you put it or by searching for it.
Search: To type part of a name and ask the device to find files that match.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should be taught to use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content
Aim: pupils are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: saving a drawing and finding it again

A child has drawn a picture of their dog on a tablet or computer. Save it so that it can be found next week. There is a folder called “Pets”.

Finish the drawing, then choose Save. Don’t just close the window. Closing without saving might lose the picture.
Choose a name. The default may be “Untitled” or a string of numbers. Replace it with “Biscuit the dog”, which tells anyone exactly what the file is.
Choose where to put it. Open the “Pets” folder, which holds the other animal pictures, and save the file there. Say out loud where it went: “I put Biscuit the dog in the Pets folder.”
Close the program. Then check that the saving worked by opening it again. Go to the Pets folder, find “Biscuit the dog” and open it.
Try another way back. Type “Biscuit” into the search box and see whether the file appears. It is easy to find because the name includes that word.

The drawing is saved as “Biscuit the dog” in the “Pets” folder. It can be reopened through the folder or found by searching for part of its name.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking work is safe because it is visible on the screen

What you can see feels like it is stored. The difference between “on screen” and “saved” is invisible.

What helps: Make saving part of every finish, just as you would pack a bag at the end of a day. Close and reopen the work now and then to check that it is there.

Assuming the computer will remember where the work was put

Children are used to things staying where they left them, and they expect the device to do the same.

What helps: Say the location out loud each time you save, “in the Pets folder”. Ask your child to tell you where something is before they close it.

Mixing up the title inside the document with the file name

The title typed at the top of the page looks like a name, so children think it has already been named. The file name is separate.

What helps: Show both. Point out that the title is for readers of the work and the file name is for finding it in a list of files.

Believing that closing the window means the work has been deleted

The picture or document vanishes from the screen, so it feels like it has gone for good.

What helps: Open and close a saved file together a couple of times. Seeing that it comes back builds trust in saving.

How to help at home

Real folders and boxes. Sort a pile of paper or toys into labelled boxes or folders with your child. Talk about how a computer folder works in the same way and why a good label helps you find things later.
Name it together. When your child saves a drawing or photo on a family device, ask them to choose a name that would let someone else find it. Compare “IMG_4821” with “Sandcastle at the beach”.
Close it and find it. At the end of a session, save the work, close it and then reopen it by going through the folders. Do it again the next day. Finding it again is the real test.
Sort the photos. With you beside them, let your child group a few photos into albums or folders such as “Holiday” and “Pets”. They decide which group each photo belongs to and give each group a clear name.
Ask before deleting. Make it a family rule to ask before deleting anything, and to leave other people’s work alone. Keep any passwords private. These habits matter just as much as the technical skills.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Search engines and ranked results
Key Stage 2: Checking what we find online
Key Stage 2: Combining software to create content
Key Stage 2: Collecting and presenting data