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IT & Computer Science

INTRODUCTION TO THE DEPARTMENT

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Our desire is to equip pupils with the required knowledge and skills needed for this digital age.  The department is forward thinking and takes pride in the pathways it offers our students. We really want our pupils to be confident, effective users and creators of IT.  

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Our department has attained CyberFirst accreditation – offering opportunities to help pupils explore the fast paced world of cyber security.

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STAFF​

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T.Gamble (HoD)

I.Walker

A.Williamson

P.McIvor

T.Wallace

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WHAT WILL I LEARN?

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In turn, our pupils can expect the IT department to:

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  • Help all pupils to use IT resources with purpose and enjoyment.

  • Help all pupils to develop the necessary skills to exploit IT skills – especially as a facilitator to other subjects.

  • Help all pupils to become autonomous users of IT resources.

  • Help all pupils to harness and evaluate the benefits of IT and its impact on society.

  • To develop pupils self confidence in a range of IT related activities.

  • To develop the ability to apply IT tools and gain a knowledge of IT in action.

 

Presently the department delivers the following courses each week:

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  • Year 8 IT – 2 periods

  • Year 9 IT – 1 period

  • Year 10 IT – 1 period

  • GCSE Digital Technology (Multimedia) (CEA)

  • A-Level Digital Technology (CEA)

  • GCSE Computer Science (AQA)

  • A-Level Computer Science (AQA)

  • ECDL

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RESOURCES

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The department has five main suites that are used by dedicated IT classes and which are available to other subject areas throughout the year.

 

Rooms G1, G3, G4 and H1 are fully equipped C2K computer suites which can be booked by any teacher.  Computer room G2 houses a legacy suite (non-C2K) where the Computer Science courses are mainly taught.

 

Key Stage 3 is taught right across our Year 8 to Year 10. 

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KEY STAGE 3

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Here is a breakdown of topics currently covered at KS3:

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Year 8 (2 periods per week)

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  • 8.01: Health & Safety

  • 8.02: Folder & File Management (& good ‘house-keeping’)

  • 8.03: Internet Safety

  • 8.04: Using a Word Processor

  • 8.05: Spreadsheets

  • 8.06: Scratch (Basic)

  • 8.07: PowerPoint (Advanced using VBA)

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Year 9 (1 period per week)

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Cryptography

Studying encryption methods

Practical application of encryption and decryption

Enigma Machine and Alan Turing

 

Scratch Programming.

Pupils gain exposure to fundamental concepts of programming structure and program flow while developing the skill of problem-solving.

 

Python programming.

Pupils learn how to code in Python and apply basic constructs covered in the previous Scratch Module.

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Year 10 (1 period per week) 

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HTML website development

Studying the nature of the HTML language and its application

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Robotics programming

Using BBC Microbits and BitBots to perform a variety of challenge tasks.

 

Mobile App development

Learning how to prototype and develop Mobile Applications

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Minecraft project

An annual collaborative project where entire class sets build a solution to a given challenge task.

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After Key Stage 3, we offer our pupils a choice of pathways – GCSE Digital Technology and GCSE Computer Science

GCSE Digital Technology (Multimedia) (CEA)

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The GCSE in Digital Technology offers opportunities to build on the skills and capabilities developed through the delivery of the Key Stage 3 curriculum. The focus of this GCSE is the use of multimedia to create solutions.

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GCSE Computer Science  (AQA)

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This GCSE pathway allows pupils to look closely at how computers work. With a strong focus on programming and computational thinking, pupils will learn the Python language to create solutions to a range of problems.

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After Key Stage 4, the department offers the A-level in each pathway.

A-Level Digital Technology (CEA)

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This is a modular A-Level and therefore exams are taken at both AS and A2 level.

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A-Level Computer Science (AQA)

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This is a linear A-Level; no external exams take place until the end of Year 14. The chosen language for this course is C#.

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Useful links for Computer Science course(s):

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