Computing, ICT and Media
The study of ICT and Computing develops the ability of students to think creatively, analytically and logically. It prepares them for the world of modern technology as well as improving their communication, project management and numeracy skills.
Students follow the National Curriculum Programme of Study for Computing.
They work on a variety of projects which cover the attainment targets for the revised national curriculum.
These targets are broken down into assessment criteria across three strands: Computer Science, Digital Literacy and Information Technology.
Students gain ‘hands-on’ experience of how a computer works through their encounters with the innovative ‘Raspberry Pi’ handheld computers and build on their KS2 knowledge of coding to use algorithms for designing and solving a range of computational thinking problems.
Concepts such as abstraction, decomposition and the Binary number system are unravelled and links with statistics in the maths curriculum are made through collecting and representing data digitally in real-life scenarios.
Esafety knowledge is developed by studying the CEOP’s (https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ ) KS3 resources which includes recognising inappropriate content online, inappropriate contact, conduct rules and how to report concerns. Students take part in the annual ‘Safer Internet Day’ (https://www.saferinternetday.org ) and have created their own BSL videos on topics such as cyberbullying. One group even won a Hertfordshire schools e-safety competition, ‘Don’t feed the trolls’ with their video entry.
Some groups take an e-safety qualification from the British Computer Society exam board at Level 1, (equivalent to a GCSE Grade E). This further improves and consolidates e-safety knowledge.
Students also continue to contribute to the new Heathlands Esafety website, which is part of the new Heathlands Computing website.
In Year 9 students take examinations to achieve the ‘Edexcel Functional skills ICT’ qualification at Entry Level, where they use their problem solving skills in the Digital Literacy and I.T. environment to practically demonstrate use of software applications. This provides a strong foundation for KS4 studies and equips students with knowledge of the expectations of the examination process.
Students use digital media to present and evaluate their projects and have a newly-built media studio in school to develop these skills in tandem with the computing curriculum. Students learn film production through masterclasses involving deaf professionals including acting in front of a camera, using the camera, scriptwriting and video editing. The students then produce their own film. This year the film project is for all KS3 students, working on different scenes and occasional workshops where all groups work together on a scene. This project is now enabling students to achieve a creative Arts Award. For more information please check the KS4 Media tab.
| Year 7 | Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term |
| Networking – E-Safety, Using computers and the Internet | Data Representation – Excel and introduction to Databases | Computational Thinking – Algorithms and decomposition | |
| Computers – Inputs/Outputs and Memory | IT – Graphic Design and Copyright | Programming – Basic Programming Techniques (Scratch) | |
| Year 8 | Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term |
| Computational Thinking – Turtle Programming and Algorithms | Data Representation – How data is represented in computers | Computers – Software and Hardware | |
| Networking – Networking Basics | Programming – Text Based Game Programming | IT – Using technology safely | |
| Year 9 | Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term |
| Computational Thinking – Programming algorithms | Computers – Introduction to Linux | Networking – Cryptography | |
| Programming – Further programming techniques in python | IT – Artificial Intelligence | Data Representation – Boolean Logic and Processing | |