ICT GCSE Coursework Catch Up Sessions Now On.. WEDNESDAY afterschool. Every Wednesday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm in T15. Any pupil that is not up to date with their coursework can come along for some additional help.

 

ICT Staff

Sharon Boyles - Head of ICT / Teacher

Gabriel Ajayi -  KS 5 Co-ordinator  / Teacher
David Bridgeman - Teacher
Mark Fairbank - Teacher
Victoria Rickard - Teaching Assistant
Diane Stell - Teacher
Dexter Williams - Teacher

 

The ICT Department

The ICT Department currently employs 6 full time teachers who are ICT specialists and a full time Teaching Assistant.

The school has 5 dedicated ICT suites with both wired and wireless networking.  Four of the rooms are equipped with desktop PCs with LCD monitors and the fifth room has a combination of desktop and laptop computers.  All rooms have an Interactive White Board and a printer.  Software includes Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe Master Collection CS3 giving students access to a wide range of industry standard programs.  The department also has several digital cameras and camcorders which students can use to gather pictures and video clips.

Work is set and delivered to students using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) which allows them to gain access to work at school or at home via the Internet.  In Year 10 students are given a school email account which allows further options for communication / setting of work between the student and teacher.

The ICT Department fully supports the training of new teachers, and in most terms has a student from the Graduate Teacher Programme working/training alongside one of the qualified members of staff.

 

The ICT Curriculum

The new National Curriculum for England came into force in September 2008.  Many of the department's Schemes of Work have been updated or replaced to meet the requirements of the new curriculum.

KS3
Year 7 (3 lessons per fortnight)
Students come to Sawtry from many different Primary Schools and thus have a wide range of experience and ability in ICT.  During the first lesson students are informed about the Department, specific rules for ICT and how to access their individual work area.  In the second lesson all students sit an online test to determine their current ability in ICT.

Other topics covered in Year 7

• Presenting Information
• E-Safety
• Modelling
• Databases
• Project 1 (Individual)  - Planning a Holiday
• Project 2 (Group) - Creating a Newspaper

Year 8 (1 lesson per week)
In Year 8, students build on their learning from Year 7.  Topics include:

• Web Design (Online Pizza take-away)
• Modelling
• Adobe Flash
• Data and Information
• Creating a Video

Year 9 (3 lessons per fortnight)
In preparation for their GCSE work, students spend a large majority of Year 9 completing a project and producing the evidence of the skills they have used.

• Yaxley Theatre Project.  Topics include
• Creating a seat booking system using a spreadsheet
• Creating an accounting system using a spreadsheet
• Creating job specification, job description and job advertisement for a new Assistant Manager
• Design and create a logo
• Create a letterhead
• Mail merge letters inviting applicants to interview
• Create a website to promote the theatre
• Create and maintain customer and employee databases
• Create a range of advertising material for the theatre
• Create an accounting system for staff salaries
• A14 Assessment
• An assessment that allows students to demonstrate the skills they have gained during the year.
• OCR Nationals Introduction
• For the last few weeks of Year 9, student are introduced to the course there will study for their GCSE, and work through one of the Assessment Objective required for the qualification.

KS4 (3 lessons per week)
ICT is a compulsory subject at KS4 and all students  are entered for GCSE.
After an initial trial in 2007, the ICT Department now deliver the OCR Nationals course to all Year 10 and 11 students.  All students can gain a GCSE by completing 2 units over the 2 years, but most students are encouraged to complete 4 units and gain a double award (up to GCSE A/A* for the most capable students)

Year 10
Unit 1 - ICT Skills for Business
This unit covers:

• Good working practice with files. Directories, folders and sub-folders
• Download information from the Web and send and receive emails
• Create a business presentation
• Create a variety of business documents
• Create a simple business spreadsheet
• Manipulate a business database using enter, sort and search

Unit 20 - Creating animation for the WWW using ICT
This unit covers:

• Review existing animations
• Design and plan an animation
• Create an animation
• Test an animation

Year 11
Unit 21 - Creating Computer Graphics
This unit covers:

• Research, collect and describe a range of existing graphics used on web pages
• Plan the production of a range of graphic images for a client, to be sued on their website
• Create a navigation bar
• Create a set of navigation buttons
• Create an advertising banner
• Present work to a client for a specific purpose, using a suitable format for display

Unit 2 - Webpage Creation
This unit covers:

• Design a multimedia website
• Create multimedia web pages
• Create functioning hyperlinks
• Create interactive elements
• Create a user form
• Test the website
• Evaluate the website

 

Diploma in Information Technology

The Diploma in Information Technology gives students a chance to learn in different settings.  It lets them explore technology, and see first hand the role that it plays in organisations, for individuals and in society as a whole.

"In order to compete in the global economy, UK companies urgently need more young people to understand technology in business.  The content of the Diploma will help develop students, both for university courses and rewarding flexible careers" Andy Hill, Head of Resourcing, Vodafone

Higher Diploma (at KS4)

• Business - Students learn the basics of managing projects, for example planning and scheduling all the tasks involved (using a tool called critical path analysis)
• People - Students learn how to write proposals focusing on particular challenges or opportunities within a business, suing creative, investigative, interpersonal and numerical reasoning skills.
• Technology - Students learn how to make prototypes and test their products to make sure it meets its specific purpose and audience needs.
• Cross-platform: multimedia - Students will gain the technical knowledge and skills to design and develop their own multimedia product for a specific audience and purpose.

Advanced Diploma (at KS5)

• Business - Students will understand the way technology has had an impact on society, organisations and individuals - with a global focus.  They will also look at how the Internet and mobile communications have transformed the business world.
• People - Students will gain the knowledge and the skills to work effectively in a business environment.
• Technology - Students will learn to create an integrated technology solution for a specific type of user. For example design, develop, test and implement a small-scale technology solution.
• Cross-platform: multimedia - Students will learn how to design and develop their own multimedia product using video, audio, music and animation, for example an advertisement.

Additional to the above core units, the Diploma includes:

Additional and Specialist Learning
At each level, students can develop a particular IT interest further by taking specialist courses relating to their chosen subject and career ambition.  For example, a student could learn about software design, web development or business enterprise.

Students can also choose a GCSE or A level in a range of different subjects which might be useful to get onto a university course.

Functional Skills in English, Maths and ICT
All Diploma students need to develop a good standard of English, Maths and ICT.  These subjects are essential to succeed in any business or learning environment.  Students have to take 3 separate exams and need to pass them all to gain the Diploma.

Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS)
All Diploma students will develop are range of PLTS such as team-working, creative thinking and self-management.  These are vital skills in both life and work.

Work Experience
All Diploma students will complete at least 10 days of work experience.

Student Projects
All students will complete a student project to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have learnt.

 

KS5 (4 lessons per week)
All students at KS5 are taught by 2 teachers - generally 2 lessons with each per week, with one teacher focussing on the theory and the other focussing on the coursework.

Year 12

Unit 1 - Information, systems and applications

• Data, information, knowledge and processing
• Software and hardware components of an information system
• Characteristics of standard applications software and application areas
• Spreadsheet concepts
• Relational database concepts
• Application software used for presentation and communication of data
• The role and impact of ICT

Unit 2 - Structured ICT tasks

• Introduction to coursework
• Design
• Software development
• Testing
• Documentation

Year 13
Unit 1 - ICT systems, applications and implications

• The system cycle
• Designing computer-based information systems
• Network and communications
• Applications of ICT
• Implementing computer-based information systems
• Implications of ICT

Unit 2 - ICT Project

• Introduction to the project
• Definition, investigation and analysis
• Design
• Software development, testing and installation
• Documentation
• Evaluation
• Presentation of report.

Extra Curricular

• KS4 Lunchtime Sessions allow students who are studying for OCR Nationals to come in and do additional work.
• Selected students can study and take the Microsoft Office Specialist exams for Word, Excel and PowerPoint in their own time after school.
• The Department run ad-hoc evening sessions and 1 day 'school holiday' sessions as required to assist student progress.

 

National Strategy for ICT -

KS3 National Strategy for ICT  -

OCR Nationals -

OCR AS/A Level ICT