Computing

What will l learn in Year 9 Computing

In year 9 you develop a deeper within the key areas of Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy. We will focus on the following topics:

Cyber Security:
- Understand a range of ways to use technology safely, respectfully, responsibly, and securely, including protecting your online identity and privacy
- Recognise inappropriate content, contact, and conduct, and know how to report concerns
Data science:
- Undertake creative projects that involve selecting, using, and combining multiple applications, preferably across a range of devices, to achieve challenging goals, including collecting and analysing data and meeting the needs of known users
Introduction to Python programming:
- understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
- analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
- use two or more programming languages, at least one of which is textual, to solve a variety of computational problems
- understand several key algorithms that reflect computational thinking; use logical reasoning to compare the utility of alternative algorithms for the same problem
- understand how instructions are stored and executed within a computer system
- design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems

Key Stage 4

GCSE Computer Science

Exam Board: OCR

Course Title: OCR GCSE Computer Science (9-1) (First teaching from September 2020)

Course Code: J277

Exam board information: https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/computer-science-j277-from-2020/

What will I learn on this course

On this course you will learn about:

Computer systems
- Systems architecture
- Memory and storage
- Computer networks, connections and protocols
- Network security
- Systems software
- Ethical, legal, cultural and environmental impacts of digital technology
Computational thinking, algorithms and programming
- Algorithms
- Programming fundamentals
- Producing robust programs
- Boolean logic
- Programming languages and Integrated Development Environments

Creative iMedia

Exam Board: OCR

Course Title: Cambridge National Certificate Level 1/2 in Creative iMedia

Course Code: J817

Exam board information: https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/cambridge-nationals/creative-imedia-level-1-2-award-certificate-j807-j817/

What will I learn on this course

On this course you will learn about the purpose and content, how to plan for, how to produce and how to review the following areas of media:

Pre-production skills
- Creating a range of design documents such as mood boards, mindmaps, visualisation diagrams and storyboards
- Analyse a script
- The properties and limitations of file formats for still images
- The properties and limitations of file formats for audio
- The properties and limitations of file formats for moving images
- Suitable naming conventions
Creating digital graphics
- Source and create assets identified for use in a digital graphic
- Ensure the technical compatibility of assets with the final graphic (e.g. pixel dimensions, dpi resolution)
- Create a digital graphic using a range of tools and techniques within the image editing software application
- Save a digital graphic in a format appropriate to the software being used
- Export the digital graphic using appropriate formats and properties
- How to use version control when creating a digital graphic.
Creating interactive multimedia products
- source assets to be used in an interactive multimedia product
- Create and re-purpose assets
- Store assets to be used in an interactive multimedia product
- Create an interactive multimedia product structure
- Set up interaction and playback controls
- Save an interactive multimedia product in a format appropriate to the software being used
- Export the interactive multimedia product in a file format appropriate to client requirements
- How to use version control when creating interactive multimedia products
Creating a multipage website
- Create suitable folder structures to organise and save web pages and asset files using appropriate naming conventions
- Source and import assets
- Create a suitable master page as a template for a multipage website
- Use a range of tools and techniques in web authoring software to create a multipage website
- Insert assets into web pages to create planned layouts
- Create a navigation system
- Save a multipage website in a format appropriate to the software being used
- Publish a multipage website to a location appropriate to client requirements
- How to use version control when creating multipage websites

Key Stage 5

BTEC Level 3 Information Technology

Exam Board: Pearson

Course Title: Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Information Technology

Course Code: 603/0455/8

Exam board information: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/btec-nationals/information-technology-2016.html

What will I learn on this course

You will study the following units:

Unit 1: Information Technology Systems
- Hardware and software which form an IT system
- The way that systems work individually and together
- The relationship between the user and the system
- The use of IT systems in organisations
- The impact It has on organisations and individuals
Unit 2: Creating Systems to Manage Information
- The structure of data and its origins
- How an efficient data design follows through to an effective and useful database
- Developing an effective design solution to produce a database system
- How to test a database
- Evaluating each stage of the development process and the effectiveness of a database solution
Unit 3: Using Social Media in Business
- Social media websites
- How social media can be used
- The potential pitfalls when using social media for business purposes
- Developing a plan to use social media strategies for business purposes to achieve specific aims and objectives
- Implementing a plan, developing and posting content and interacting with others
- Collecting data on the business use of social media
- Reviewing the effectiveness of the use of social media
Unit 4: Programming
- Computational thinking skills
- Types of programming language
- How to code using Python
- The principles of designing and developing computer programs
- Testing and refining a computer program
- Reviewing a computer program for a given purpose
Unit 5: Data Modelling
- The fundamentals of the decision-making process
- How using data modelling provides the computational ability to compare consequences, and determine a preferred course of action
- Develop the skills and techniques necessary to create complex spreadsheets in order to produce accurate information that informs decision making
- Examining a scenario and then designing, developing and testing a spreadsheet
- Reviewing a spreadsheet and making refinements based on user feedback
- Providing an evaluation of the effectiveness of the alternatives produced.
Unit 9: IT Project Management
- The principles of project management
- Different project management methodologies, as used in the IT industry
- Delivering an IT project
- The five main stages of a project
- Initiating a project by researching a problem and using creative skills to generate a range of solutions
- Undertaking a feasibility study to select an appropriate solution
- Outlining the requirements of a project
- Undertaking the planning, execution, monitoring and control stages of a project
- reflecting on the success of a project outcome and personal performance
Unit 11: Cyber Security and Incident Management
- The different types of cyber security attack
- The vulnerabilities that exist in networked systems
- The techniques that can be used to defend an organisation’s networked systems
- The techniques used to assess risks
- Ways of planning to deal with the results of a cyber security incident
- Recovering systems following an incident
- Carrying out risk assessments
- Preparing protection plans
Unit 21: Business Process Modelling Tools
- Business aims and objectives
- Organisation models
- Departmental functions and processes and their interrelationships
- Selecting a specific business process to examine and producing a model of the way it operates
- Developing a plan to improve the process to better support the businesses aims and objectives