At Key Stage 3 our pupils study a combination of Information Technology and Computer Science following the golden strands of Computer Science, Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship.
What are the aims and purpose of the curriculum?
This curriculum enables pupils to become confident and efficient users of technology. The aim is for pupils to understand how the technology they use every day has an impact on the world around them, giving pupils the knowledge to express themselves and develop their ideas in real-world contexts.
The Information Technology element of the course teaches students to become familiar with and confident using applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, desk top publishing, video and sound editing, 3D design and multimedia.
The Computer Science element teaches students the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming in Scratch and Python. It encourages independent learning and problem-solving vital skills in today’s world.
Digital Citizenship teaches students about the technology used to communicate with others online and know how to use the internet in a safe and responsible way.
The overview of subject areas covered is shown below
|
|
Autumn |
Spring |
Summer |
|
Year 7 |
Students learn basic digital literacy skills to help them settle in to the Secondary School including basic word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. |
Students build upon their digital literacy skills. Digital Citizenship & online safety awareness is also introduced here in the form of a leaflet. |
Students continue to develop their digital literacy skills, while introducing some video and sound editing projects. Online safety is also reinforced here. |
|
Year 8 |
Students refresh their digital literacy skills from year 7. They then build upon these by accessing advanced spreadsheet skills. Online safety is also reinforced here too. |
Students build upon Digital Literacy skills, recapping and reinforcing. Online safety as part of digital citizenship is revisited here too. |
Students develop their multimedia skills during this term. They also investigate more online safety scenarios and take their end of year assessment in digital literacy. |
|
Year 9 |
Students further embed digital literacy skills, introducing some advanced features of spreadsheets, docs and presentations. Digital Citizenship knowledge is developed through a research & present project. |
Students continue to develop their digital literacy skills. They are also introduced to the core concepts of Computer Science in order to make an informed decision about their GCSE's. |
Students prepare for the end of KS3 award, then specialise in Computer Science or Multimedia. Digital Citizenship is also revisited here. Students sit the digital skills award. |
At Key Stage 4 students follow the J277 OCR two year course leading to a GCSE in Computer Science. The grades achievable range from 1 – 9. It is assessed with two written papers with a 50% weighting each.
The aim of the course is to:
- Understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of Computer Science, including abstraction, decomposition, logic, algorithms, and data representation.
- Analyse problems in computational terms through practical experience of solving such problems, including designing, writing and debugging programs.
- Think creatively, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically.
- Understand the components that make up digital systems, and how they communicate with one another and with other systems.
- Understand the impacts of digital technology to the individual and to wider society
- Apply mathematical skills relevant to Computer Science
Paper 1 topics include:
- 1.1 Systems architecture
- 1.2 Memory and storage
- 1.3 Computer networks, connections and protocols
- 1.4 Network security
- 1.5 Systems software
- 1.6 Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impacts of digital technology
Paper 2 topics include:
- 2.1 Algorithms
- 2.2 Programming fundamentals
- 2.3 Producing robust programs
- 2.4 Boolean logic
- 2.5 Programming languages and Integrated Development Environments
Much of the teaching and learning aspect of paper 2 is practical based with students learning languages such as Scratch, Python, Javascript and SQL.
