IT

The KS3 programme Computing / ICT is designed to: 

• Cover and exceed the full breadth of the National Curriculum in Computing whilst also preparing students and give them options for their KS4 study. 

• Teach students to be responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology at school, at home and throughout their lives. 

• Teach students to analyse problems in computational terms and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems. 

• Teach students to evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems. 

• Underpin and enrich core knowledge and skills through an increasing range of layers of schema and prototypes. 

• Give the opportunity to develop further from knowing and remembering, by students being able to demonstrate an ability to apply, analyse, synthesise and evaluate the knowledge gained. 

The KS4 programme for IT/Creative Media is designed to: 

• Offer students the opportunity to build the range of knowledge, understanding and practical skills they need to progress to further learning. 

• Give students an engaging and stimulating introduction to the world of creative media where they will explore the key areas within the creative sector, develop digital media production skills and learn how to address the needs of clients and create digital media work that meets creative project briefs. 

In line with our vision that students should experience the full spectrum of this subject, from the technical to the creative, and from the conceptual to the practical, we also now offer students the option to study GCSE Computer Science in KS4 from this September. This will: 

• Allow students to continue and extend all of their KS3 learning into KS4. 

• Allow students to choose a pathway through the computing curriculum that best suits them, their skills and aspirations for the future, and in so doing also allow students who may not have chosen to study the Creative Media course an opportunity to study a computing subject at KS4. 

In KS3 students cover (and exceed) the requirements of the National Curriculum for Computing and also begin to explore areas which crossover into the practical, creative application of computing and IT skills that will be required to study a Creative Media in KS4. The course of study can be viewed as modular, allowing the sequencing of certain modules to be re-ordered if circumstances require, however the current order is designed to provide the best and most coherent flow of concepts and development of skills from one module into the next. 

Modules follow a logical path of increasing complexity with the later modules requiring students to combine applications to achieve a single coherent outcome, so that students learn about the technicalities of how computers work in their first module and then how to control / program them in Modules 2 and 3. Module 3 is the first module taught in year 8 and builds upon the programming skills taught in module 2 at the end of Year 7 by extending them into the text-based programming language of Python and introducing the main programming constructs that this language supports. This is then followed by website design module which takes in HTML coding, website design and prototyping. 

In year 9, students complete 3 further modules centred around the common theme of information. The first looks at the concepts of data and information through the practical application of spreadsheets and databases, before looking at how information in the form of images can be created and edited in the second, and finally how sound can be digitized, edited and stored in the final module. 

In KS4 students study for either a Level 1/Level2 Tech Award in Creative Media Production or a GCSE in Computer Science (or both).  The Creative Media course is essentially an applied IT course learning how to use IT based technologies to plan and produce digital media products such as computer games, websites, magazines and other similar products. In year 10 we start by learning the course content for Component 1 (Exploring Media Products) – this is the theory-based content and then completing a practice assignment from a previous year. In Term 3 we then move onto Component 2 (Developing Digital Media Production Skills) where students learn the skills required to design and produce their own digital media products. We cover all 3 areas (Printed, Audio/Moving Image and Interactive) before again completing a practice assignment from a previous year in the area of their choice.  

In September of Year 11, the first batch of assignments is released for the Christmas exam window and the students spend the first 2 terms completing the Component 2 assignment. In January, the second batch of assignments are released (for the summer window) and the students complete their component 1 assignment between Christmas and Easter. After returning from Easter, the students then begin their component 3 external assessment and which they complete under exam conditions for the May deadline. 

The GCSE Computer Science course, by comparison, is more traditional in its assessment, with students sitting a final, written exam in May/June of Year 11, having studied the intricacies of how computers and computer systems work at a technical and conceptual level since September of Year 10. 

The computing and creative industries are a growth area for the UK economy, with the top 3 most in-demand jobs in the UK falling firmly within these areas. Having successfully studied these subjects to GCSE level, students can choose to further their studies with many local Sixth Forms and Colleges offering Level 3/A-Level courses in Creative Media and Computer Science, or they could apply for an apprenticeship with an employer such as BAE Systems in Rochester. Planning further ahead still, many universities in the Kent/London area now offer degree courses in these subjects, with Brunel University in Uxbridge and Escape Studios in Greenwich recognised as being among the very best in the UK.