Academic Departments
I.C.T
Pupils should ideally become autonomous users of I.C.T. with the associated skills supporting life long study, the pursuit of personal interests and prospective employment in a modern technological society.
The aims of the I.C.T department are;
- To develop, maintain and stimulate pupils' curiosity, interest and enjoyment in I.C.T. and to encourage pupils to have open, enquiring minds and to perceive I.C.T. in the context of a wider body of knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
- To allow pupils to develop informed opinions about their I.C.T. and to be able to support them by reasoned arguments. To enable pupils to develop a range of desirable personal qualities such as safety awareness, politeness, perseverance, concern for others, initiative and independence.
- To enable pupils to acquire appropriate, transferable I.C.T. skills, knowledge and understanding - progression must feature in the acquisition of I.C.T. skills. Pupils should then feel confident to apply their I.C.T. capability to different areas of the Curriculum.
Curriculum
The curriculum in the I.C.T department is as follows;
Year 7
Pupils follow a course based on the National Curriculum ICT KS3 strategy. Pupils develop basic skills in Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases, Desk-Top-Publishing, Graphics, and Internet including use of e-mail. The pupils work around a ‘discover the world’ geographical theme.
Year 8
Pupils start an ICT National First Award qualification (OCR Examination Board). The pupils design and create a range of business related documents from mail merged letters, business cards and promotional materials such as flyers and PowerPoint presentations. The pupils also create business model spreadsheets and databases. Aspects of using the Internet productively and safely play an important role, along with using standard e-mail features effectively.
Year 9
Pupils continue with the course they started in Year 8 with all pupils achieving a qualification equivalent to a GCSE at Grade A, B or C. The focus of the work in Year 9 covers two main areas: advanced spreadsheet design and animation.
GCSE
Pupils can opt to continue with the ICT Nationals course and build on the qualification already attained by the end of Year 9. There are a range of options available to follow, for example; interactive multimedia, website design and creation, graphics, animation, creating video and creating audio. The course allows up to a maximum of 4 GCSE equivalent qualifications.
A Level
Pupils follow the OCR Nationals in ICT (Level 3 - A Level) which offers students a more in-depth look at ICT in the modern workplace, and gives an insight into its role in specialist careers. As an alternative to similar exam-based courses, these qualifications provide ongoing learning and assessment of the practical skills and knowledge required to succeed in ICT-related careers.
Rooms and Resources
The department teaches out of rooms ICT 1, ICT 2, ICT 3. All rooms have interactive whiteboards (Smartboards) and multimedia projector, laser printers, scanners, TV (DVD/Video) and audio equipment.
Fieldwork/Extra Curricular/Educational Visits
In the Lower Sixth Form the students visit Porsche at Cheshire Oaks to study the impact of ICT on production and retail processes.