ICT

The school recognizes the importance of Information and Communication Technology in the curriculum, both as a means of preparing pupils for the demands of their future professional and social lives, and as the means of enriching, enhancing and extending their learning opportunities in all subjects.
 
The ICT Department has three well-equipped computer rooms where pupils have access to scanners, digital cameras and high quality colour laser  printers. In addition, the school has a large number of laptops to enable all other subjects to use ICT resources in their lessons.
 
All pupils have a password-protected personal identity and storage facility within the network and (subject to parental agreement) have an audited and filtered access to the Internet.
 
Years 7, 8 and 9
In Years 7 and 8, we provide all pupils with a discrete course, comprising one double-period lesson per week, in which pupils develop their ICT capability. This involves developing pupils’ undertaking of the nature of information and of technology, in particular the key concepts relating to information gathering and presentation and the technical processing skills required to select and use appropriate software for a given purpose.
 
The aim of the ICT Department is to ensure that by the end of Year 9, all pupils can use ICT securely, creatively and independently, are competent and confident enough to keep their skills up-to-date, and are able to use ICT to fulfil a range of different tasks in a variety of situations. Pupils’ cross-curricular use of ICT also helps to achieve this aim. The department also seeks to ensure that pupils understand the impact which ICT has on their lives and the lives of other people. 
 
GCSE
ICT may be taken as an option to follow one or two units of study from    Edexcel’s DiDA qualification. The course is designed to develop students’ practical skills and promote their creative use of digital applications to produce effective and impactful communications for the new digital  generation.
 
The course uses a wide range of software applications from animation to website-authoring and video-editing, and equips students with the skills they need to live and earn in the 21st century. Its real-life, outcome-driven approach inspires and challenges students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in realistic contexts.
 
The course requires students to complete a substantial coursework project and showcase their achievements in an electronic (web-based) portfolio, which accounts for 100% of their final assessment. There are no formal written examinations in the course.
 
The Sixth Form
In the Sixth Form, the Department offers pupils the opportunity to study ICT at AS and A2 level. Again, the OCR Examination Board is used. The four modules, two in the first year and two in the second, provide a 40:60 split between practical and theory work.
 
Extra-Curricular
The ICT facilities are available daily to pupils, both at lunchtimes and after school, for work related purposes. Clubs are offered for support with prep, or GCSE/A level project work, to provide opportunities for students to further explore their interests and also to develop skills in aspects of ICT which might not be part of the standard curriculum. Activities such as 3D computer  animation, computer games design and film and video development are currently supported on an extra-curricular basis.