Computing
Computing KS3
Inspire
Our Computing courses are designed to make full use of the outstanding facilities we have in
college. Using a range of hi-spec desktops, Apple Macs, iPads and netbooks, we aim to
introduce and develop students’ skills to prepare them for other curriculum areas and
ultimately a digital future none of us can predict.
Students begin Year 7 being introduced to our Google Apps for Education, which includes
email and cloud based storage. Students collaborate on presentations in order to learn
about topics such as Digital Citizenship, eSafety and Copyright. An introduction to gamemaking is also provided so that students can develop their programming skills.
The skills and techniques learnt in Year 7 are utilised in Year 8, when topics such as Photo
Editing, Video Creation and Creating Web Graphics. A wide-range of industry standard
software, such as Photoshop and Fireworks are used to bring the topics to life and maintain
a relevance for the future.
Aspire
Students in Year 9 are encouraged to use the skills obtained in ‘Inspire’ to further enhance
their digital learning. The Year 9 course is project-based designed to promote independent
learning, in preparation for students’ progression into Key Stage 4. Programming software is
utilised to produce high quality, interactive games and students are encouraged to critique
professional software with a view to improving their own outcomes.
Students will produce Animation projects to bring digital characters to life using the
industry-standard Adobe Creative Suite. In addition, students will study video and sound
editing to produce professional TV adverts. A Business Enterprise unit is also included to
provide students with an introduction to how digital learning becomes an essential element
of entrepreneurship in the real world. Computing KS4
Why study Computing?
Technology is now a major part of everybody’s life and businesses are increasingly looking
for people with a firm understanding of technology and how computers work. Our
Computing course ensures students have the right skills desired by businesses and that they
are also equipped with problem solving skills that are transferable across the curriculum.
What’s on the course?
There are a variety of topics within Computing, including computer hardware, software,
networking, database concepts and algorithms. This course will give you the opportunity to
learn about computers in more depth, including using computer programming to solve
problems. This course allows students to develop a greater understanding of current and upand-coming technologies as well as gaining technical skills in various situations.
The department prides itself on using a wide range of stimulating approaches to teaching at
all levels, and actively encourages independent learning through a variety of exercises and
projects.
Perform
The GCSE course is assessed by an exam and two individual pieces of coursework; an
independent research project and a programming assignment. The independent research
project encourages students to look in depth at an aspect of computing and conduct their
own research. For the programming project the students will have choice of projects to
undertake and it will be their opportunity to demonstrate their programming and problem
solving skills.
Exam Board Details
GCSE Computing: OCR