Curriculum Overview, Year 7 – Computing
In Year 7 the aim is to arm the students with digital skills, knowledge and understanding that will support them inside and outside the classroom for future years. As well as addressing key concepts within the National Curriculum for Computing. Students will be introduced to the school network; learn how to use tools such as email; and how to work safely and responsibly. They will start to learn some key basic concepts of computer programming using Kodu Game Lab. They will learn some of the basics of how a computer works, such as some of the key hardware components inside a machine; binary; and how data is represented by a device. Towards the end of year Y7 students will experience more programming but using a text based language this time, Small Basic.
Curriculum Overview, Year 8 – Computing
In Year 8 students will build on their Computing knowledge. They will start to learn how to think computationally, looking at concepts such as abstraction, decomposition and logical thinking. They will experience using two programming languages (Scratch and Python). They have the opportunity to take problems, decompose them and build solutions for them. Students will look at how data is represented in a computer. How the computer does all the incredible things it does even though it’s just using switches in a binary context. They will also spend some time looking at how devices communicate in networks.
Curriculum Overview, Year 9 – Computer Science
The Year 9 curriculum sees the introduction of the Computer GCSE option for those students who have chosen to study the qualification. In Year 9 the focus begins with looking at algorithms and computational thinking. This allows students to practise problem solving skills, which they then put into practice by developing their Python programming abilities. This year, in the curriculum, the students will also look in more detail at how data is represented in a computer as text, images and sound. They will look at how logic gates are used within the systems, as well as learning about the machine hardware in greater detail than previously studied. By the end of the year they will have also enhanced their knowledge of wired and wireless networking.
Curriculum Overview, Year 10 – Computer Science
In year 10 the GCSE course continues with the students studying ethical, legal, cultural and environmental issues that surround the use of technology. They discuss these with reference to their effect on a variety of stakeholders. They will also look at system security threats and ways to prevent them, as well as learn about operating system and utility software. Students will revisit their programming skills regularly in order to prepare them for a longer programming project they will face in Year 11. As part of the Year 10 course students will also spend time revisiting work they have previously learned in order to consolidate and secure their understanding of the GCSE Computer Science content.
Curriculum Overview, Year 11 – Computer Science
The focus for the Year 11 GCSE Computer Science course is to ensure students are as prepared as they possibly can be for their terminal summer examinations, as well as completing the required extended programming task. The programming task involves a problem-solving project in which students have to design, implement, test and evaluate a working solution, putting their practical computational thinking and programming abilities into a challenging context. This project serves as good preparation for the paper 2 component of their final exam. The rest of the focus for Year 11 is revisiting the content they have covered over the previous two years to put them in a strong position to be successful in their final GCSE. Students will practise answering questions, try different revision techniques and consolidate content so as to be able to walk confidently into the exams.
Curriculum Leader of Computing
Mr P Clark – pclark@sbch.org.uk