Computing KS3

Year 7 Curriculum

Flowol

Students will cover a six week practical unit covering the principles of producing control and monitoring solutions using Flowol, a flowchart-based interface.

Programming the Micro:bit

Students will create programs using the Micro:bit website and download these programs onto the Micro:bit. Students will create a number of programs including digital dice, Rock, Paper, Scissors and Magic 8.

Binary

Students will understand how a computer can only understand binary. Students will undertake activities resulting in them converting binary to decimal and vice versa, binary addition and ASCII.

Computer Systems

Students will cover how a computer works looking at the different types of hardware and software.

Scratch

Students will cover a six week unit with an introduction to the programming features in Scratch. They then progress to planning and developing their own game, learning to incorporate variables, conditional statements, loops and procedures.

Heroes of Computing

Students will undertake a project where they will research the heroes of computing, produce a questionnaire and Magazine cover in Photoshop.

Year 8 Curriculum

Computational Thinking

Students begin the year learning about computational methods. Students will apply the computational methods to real life scenarios and then make the connections in computation terms. Students will progress to design programs with flow charts and pseudocode.

Advanced Scratch

Students revisit Scratch in Year 8 learning about the advanced programming features. Students learn about event driven methods and incorporate variables, conditional statements, loops and procedures in their programs.

Python

Students will be introduced to Python, a powerful but easy to use high-level programming language. Students will understand the process of developing programs, the importance of writing correct syntax and will create algorithms for simple programs.

Advanced Computer Systems

Students will learn how a CPU works and the factors affecting the performance. Students will learn about the need for memory in a computer and the different types of storage technologies available.

Spreadsheet Modelling

Students will cover the principles of creating and formatting basic spreadsheets to produce and use simple computer models. The unit is centred around creating a financial model for a TV show. Students will look at different types of models and then use spreadsheet techniques to create and format a financial model to calculate the expected income from viewers’ voting.

Back to the Future

Students will learn about computing pioneers and conduct activities such as problem solving, code breaking and Boolean logic.

Year 9 Curriculum

Programming with Python

Students will revisit the basic skills already covered in year 8. Students will then use conditional statements, For Loops and While Loops. Students will then learn about the benefits of using procedures and functions with parameters when programming.

App Design and Development

Students will start this unit by evaluating existing apps, deciding on a topic for their app and then create their own designs. Students will then learn new skills to build, test and evaluate their own app in a web-based app builder.

Web Design and HTML

Students will design and develop a website for a given purpose. Students will learn the basics of HTML and CSS. They will learn how to create text styles and add content, including text and graphics.

Computer Crime and Cyber Security

Students will learn some of the legal safeguards regarding computer use, including overviews of the Computer Misuse Act, Data Protection Act and Copyright Law and their implications for computer use. Phishing scams and hacking are discussed with ways of protecting online identity and privacy.

Networks

Students will cover the principles and architecture of local and wide area networks. Students will learn that the World Wide Web is part of the internet, and how web addresses are constructed and stored as IP addresses. Client-server, peer-to-peer networks and the concept of cloud computing are also covered.

Assessment & Monitoring

Students will have a topic assessment at the end of every half term and their progress will be mapped against their end of year and end of KS3 target which is monitored regularly. Specific, individual targets for improvement are given throughout the year to raise achievement.

Support

The ICT classrooms are available within the department at lunch time and after school to allow students to gain additional help and guidance and also continue with their practical work.  We also encourage all students to explore and develop their ICT and computing skills at home.

Resources

Students are able to download the free Scratch programming software for use at home from: http://scratch.mit.edu/scratch2download/

Students are also able to download the Python 3.4 programming software for free from: https://www.python.org/download

Students can access support and revision materials from: www.teach-ict.com