Curriculum

ICT

Department Staff: Mr D Andrews (Head of Department), Mr P Hewitt (Second in Department) and Mr D Newton.

The department teaches the syllabuses set down in ICT to the highest of standards.

The department develops the syllabuses to be increasingly linked to the needs of the pupils and our society.

The pupils learn to the maximum of their abilities. Students do not have a pre-ordained level of maximum achievement.

Pupils learn to enjoy using ICT and tackle all applications with confidence and a sense of achievement.

Pupils understand the capabilities and limitations of ICT and the implications and consequences of its use.

We provide pupils with enhanced adaptability to accept rapid change in technology which will certainly continue through their lives and through our work we prepare them for the rest of the 21st century where totally new models of lifestyles exist.

We believe that Information Technology is a vital part of education into the 21st century:

  • It is already a dominant force in the world and its impact will grow.
  • It is an important medium for learning and study at all educational levels.
  • The ability of pupils to use ICT to their advantage will increasingly be a factor in how successful a person is in coping with 21st century society.
  • ICT is part of the pupils' lives and thus needs to be at the heart of the school's activity if the school is to be perceived as relevant to the pupils.

Department Facilities:

Specialist suite with 100 networked PCs
4 projectors & whiteboards
Specialist software
Logitec VTC equipment
Quizdom hardware and software

Structure at KS3:

Year 7

In Year 7 we follow units of work set out as part of the national strategy. These units build on work from year 6 and include work on: Word processing, Desktop publishing, Computer Sequencing, Spreadsheets, Databases and ICT in Society

Year 8

Unit 20 of the OCR nationals in ICT is taught with a spreadsheet and database “national strategy” module.

Year 9

Unit 22 of the OCR nationals in ICT is taught with a Functional skills module.

Structure at KS4:

Students follow the Mandatory Unit 1 of OCR nationals in ICT.  The course helps students to become competent users of Emails, File keeping, spreadsheets, databases and presentation software.  It is 100% coursework and they have a single one hour lesson each week in order to complete this.