Information & Communication Technology
All students study ICT for 2 periods per fortnight throughout years 7, 8 and 9 and in lessons we endeavour to build upon the student’s prior experiences in using ICT in lessons within their Primary School.
Lessons follow units of work which are built around the KS3 National Scheme of Work for ICT and we aim to support students in becoming capable, confident and autonomous users of ICT able to apply all their acquired knowledge, skills and techniques to problem solving using ICT tools. Each year we rewrite our schemes of work so as to stay abreast of new technological change and to encompass the ICT skills all children need in both school and in the workplace. We are using a methodology that ensures that students are proficient in the following areas:
- Planning, developing and evaluating
- Handling data, sequencing instructions and modelling
- Finding, using and communicating information
All the lessons take place in one of our six dedicated ICT suites where each student has their own networked computer with access to a comprehensive suite of modern software tools including Microsoft Office, Microsoft Web Expression, Adobe graphic software, Macromedia web authoring and animation software, and the Serif suite of software. Although having computer access at home clearly helps the students to consolidate their ICT skills, it is not essential for the course and any homework which requires ICT tools can be completed in our well equipped Learning Resources Centre on the school site.
Within the course we emphasise to students the need to be a safe and considerate user of communication tools such as the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, wikis, and bulletin boards and insist upon them accepting their own responsibility for working within our school’s “Acceptable Use of ICT Systems” policy.
As parents, it is helpful if when your children are using their own computer systems at home you can encourage them to see beyond the use for ‘games’ and ‘chat’ and to encourage them to apply their newly learnt ICT problem solving skills to all their school work across all curriculum subjects.