Computing
INTENT:
What is the curriculum aim / vision for this subject?
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To equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to use technology in support of the broader curriculum aims of the school.
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To enable students to become confident and responsible users of technology and develop the transferable skills necessary for success in the modern workplace.
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To equip students with the necessary experience to choose appropriate qualifications in the sphere of computing to allow them to pursue their career goals.
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To ensure students enjoy computing.
What do we expect students to get from this subject?
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Students will develop an appreciation of the impact technology has on their lives and be able to use it to enhance achievement across the curriculum.
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Students will be well versed in computing safety and security and know how to use social media in a responsible and safe manner.
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They will be educated in computer crime and taught the skills necessary to protect their personal data. Students who choose to study courses leading to formal qualifications in this subject area will achieve recognised qualification that facilitate further study in Computing or related disciplines leading to careers in a variety of economically rewarding areas.
IMPLEMENTATION:
How does learning develop over the five years?
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The curriculum in Year 7 is designed to identify and close gaps in practice of our feeder primaries and give students a solid baseline in internet safety, digital literacy, computing fundamentals and programming
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The curriculum in Year 8 covers computing theory in more depth, the knowledge necessary for modelling and an understanding of web technologies and more complex programming exploring the text-based programming paradigm.
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The Year 9 curriculum gives students a broader experience with units focusing on pre-production techniques and video editing, as well as more sophisticated programming and cyber-security.
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Two qualifications are on offer in Years 10 and 11: Computer Science GCSE and Cambridge Nationals iMedia.
What principles have guided our decision making in developing this curriculum? What is distinctive about our curriculum?
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Underlying all our curriculum decisions has been the concept that the “Digital Literacy” strand of the National Curriculum underpins students’ ability to make good progress in all other subjects.
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We make Digital Literacy the core of our curriculum at the beginning of Year 7 to ensure students can use technology to support their learning in all subjects.
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Alongside this our curriculum combines traditional ICT topics such as modelling and Computer Science necessary to equip students with the understanding required for continued progress in Computing.
How is the timetabled curriculum supplemented or enriched by other approaches to learning?
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We have integrated external competitions such as the Tomorrow’s Engineers Robotics Competition, MOSAIC Challenge, Bloodhound SSC Rocket Competition into our approach to learning to provide students with holistic opportunities to put their work in Computing into a practical context.
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We have organised educational visits such as the Year 12 trip to the National Museum of Computing to allow students the opportunity to experience technology in its historical context and in a hands on manner.
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We feel the broadness of our offer really allows students the opportunity to personalise their learning in Computing and choose a course that allows them to exploit their own particular strengths.
In what ways does our curriculum help to develop…?
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Cultural diversity and identity
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Physically and mentally healthy lifestyles
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Community participation
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Careers and enterprise
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Technology and the media
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Creativity and critical thinking
Our entire curriculum is centred upon the last two dimensions listed: Technology and the media & Creativity and critical thinking. We fundamentally view Computer Science as a problem-solving discipline with a focus on creative problem-solving and critical thinking. Students are given opportunities to develop their problem solving skills by tackling challenging algorithm problems and constructing creative solutions.
Our iMedia course has a strong media and creative-use-of-technology focus where students use a broad range of media and techniques to create solutions to client requests for videos, websites and graphics. Where possible we actively engage with opportunities for students to participate in career and enterprise focused events such as the MOSAIC challenge.
IMPACT:
What forms do assessments take? What is the purpose of assessment?
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At Key Stage 3, biannual formal assessments check whether students know more and are able to remember more. These are used to inform future learning and curriculum development.
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Years 10 to 11: End of topic, formative tests, practice papers, practice portfolios, marked programming tasks. All used holistically to help students achieve their target grade by identifying strengths and weaknesses relative to the appropriate specification.
How do we know if we have a successful curriculum?
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Student-voice surveys.
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Uptake of the courses on offer at (when computing is optional).
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Attendance at extra-curricular clubs and activities.
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University destinations.
CURRICULUM CONTENT
KEY STAGE 3
Click here for the Key Stage 3 Curriculum Map
KEY STAGE 4
Click here for the Key Stage 4 Curriculum Map
KEY STAGE 5
Click here for the Computer Science Key Stage 5 Curriculum Map
Click here for the Digital Media Key Stage 5 Curriculum Map
For more information, click here to visit the Key Stage 5 courses page.
