Students are preparing themselves for a world that is increasingly saturated with technology. We provide them with technical skills to perform and open opportunities in today’s working environment.
Year 7:
E-Safety
Scratch Programming - PacMan
Microsoft Excel – Analysing game sales
Serif Web Plus – Game promotional website
Promotional Materials – Poster, leaflet, business cards, etc.
Dragons Den Presentation
Year 8:
Gamemaker Programming – Space Invaders
Serif Web Plus – Game promotional website (advanced features)
Microsoft Access – Game sales contacts
Promotional Materials – Poster, leaflet business cards, etc.
Dragons Den Presentation
Year 9:
KODU Programming – Xbox style adventure game
Microsoft Movie Maker or IMovie - Promotional Video Creation
Promotional Materials – Poster, leaflet business cards, etc.
Dragons Den Presentation
GCSE Computer Science
Computer Science is becoming a fundamental subject across many disciplines. GCSE Computer Science draws from subjects such as Mathematics and the Sciences, often intersecting with topics such as robotics and applications of programming. Students attending university will study programming languages as part of Engineering, Physics, Mathematics and other subjects.
Computer Science teaches students the fundamentals required to begin a future working with computers. The drawbacks of ICT such as a lack of technical knowledge are addressed through both theoretical and practical applications of computer systems and programming. The OCR course comprises 40% Computer Systems, 40% Computational thinking algorithms and programming and 20% Programming project.
The development of programming skills builds logical thinking and promotes precision, determination and patience. Breaking down problems and addressing them from different angles is key to effective programming and design.
Students will learn about the impacts of technology on their lives and its effect on wider society. A focus on cyber security provides students with the means to keep themselves safe and meet the requirements for modern day organisations.
A Level Computer Science
Computer Science is a practical subject where students can apply the academic principles learned in the classroom to real-world systems. It’s an intensely creative subject that combines invention and excitement, and can look at the natural world through a digital prism.
The aims of this qualification are to enable students to develop:
- An understanding and ability to apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including: abstraction, decomposition, logic, algorithms and data representation
- The ability to analyse problems in computational terms through practical experience of solving such problems, including writing programs to do so
- The capacity to think creatively, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically
- The capacity to see relationships between different aspects of computer science
- Mathematical skills.
- The ability to articulate the individual (moral), social (ethical), legal and cultural opportunities and risks of digital technology.
The course is made up of three elements:
1. Computer Systems (40%)
- The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
- Software and software development
- Exchanging data
- Data types, data structures and algorithms
- Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issue
2. Computer Systems (40%)Algorithms and Programming (40%)
- Elements of computational thinking
- Problem solving and programming
- Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms
3. Computer Programming Project (20%)
- Analysis of the problem
- Design of the solution
- Developing the solution
- Evaluation