Departments - Information Technology - Students

The ICT Department

 


Mrs Walsh - Head of ICT

Full-time ICT

Mr Alexander (BTEC Co-ordinator)

Mr Longstaff.

Business/ICT

Mrs Percival

Geography/ICT


Mrs McTernan

Miss Jerrison

Careers/General Subjects/ICT and Maths KS3

Mr O’Hara

Ian Lord provides the SMT link with the department.

The Network Manager for St Cuthbert’s is Kevin Lowrey, and he is supported by one full-time technician.


Facilities


Years 7 and 8 are taught in a dedicated suite in Lower School equipped with an Interactive White Board.


Years 9, 10 and 11 are mainly taught in three ICT suites with Interactive White Boards, situated in the ground floor of the Science Block.

Years 12 and 13 are taught in three ICT suites situated on the third floor of the sixth form block.

September 2007 heralds a significant investment of new ICT equipment throughout the school.



Teaching Groups

Currently students are taught at Key Stage 3 in their tutor groups.

After options in Year 10, alpha band students pursuing the Short Course are generally placed in mixed-ability groups.

One group of students from the alpha band and one group of students from the beta band will choose to study ICT, they will be able to achieve the equivalent of 4 GCSE’s.


In addition to Key Stage 4 options, all students participate in a Careers/ICT carousel. These lessons are one hour in length and are taught on a fortnightly basis. The time is used either to continue the work from option lessons, or to work on basic skills.

In the beta band there will also be two further groups that are generally set and work towards achieving 1-2 GCSE’s.

For Students who wish to return to St Cuthbert’s in the sixth form and further their studies at Key Stage 4, the Edexcel DIDA course taught over 18 hours/fortnight provides the opportunity of achieving the equivalent of four GCSE’s in ICT. The course is taught in a mixed ability group.

At Key Stage 5, all lessons are taught in mixed ability groups.


Staffing

At Key Stage 5 staff are allocated to teaching groups according to their expertise in both theoretical ICT and their experience in software. The Applied GCE double award covers an extremely wide range of subject areas and software, hence the staffing in year 12 and 13 will be different.

At Key Stage 4 staff that are experienced in delivering the Edexcel DIDA suite of qualifications will be assigned to teaching groups for both years 10 and 11.

 

 

The Key Stage 3 curriculum is currently supported by four members of staff. Three of these staff have teaching commitments to geography and careers.


ICT time


At Key Stage 3, students have one hour of ICT each week.

CIDA students will have 5 hours per fortnight.

The BTEC certificate taken from the beta band are taught over five periods a fortnight, the BTEC Diploma students are taught over ten periods a fortnight.

Apart from option time at Key Stage 4 all students participate in a Careers/ICT carousel which is timetabled on a fortnightly basis for one hour.

At Key Stage 5 students in year 12 are taught for nine hours per fortnight and in year 13, for ten hours per fortnight.


Software

At Key Stage 3, students will develop skills in MS Office, Matchware and Mediator products. Depending on the pace of the group, they may also experience control and programming software; Flowol and MS Logo. Music software called “Eejay” is introduced at Key Stage 3.

At Key Stage 4, students continue using these suites of programs, and depending on the course that they are following, will start to use Adobe Photoshop Elements as well as a diverse range of software at the CLC. They will also experience several pieces of software on Apple Mac machines.

Examination Entries from September 2009



Key Stage 4

GCSE students will be entered for the Edexcel DIDA suite.

AIDA = 1 GCSE

CIDA = 2 GCSE’s

Key Stage 5

Applied A-level Single Award – Edexcel

Applied A-level Double Award – Edexcel

See Specifications on Edexcel website.


Links to Examination Boards

http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/home/

http://www.edexcel.org.uk/quals/gce/ict


http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/AS_AlevelGCEICT.html



Link to Key Stage 3 Strategy Units


http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/secondary_ICT/



Departmental Mission Statement


We aim to:

develop students’ ability to use ICT confidently and appropriately, so that students can communicate, create and transform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Teaching and Assessment Methodologies

A diverse range of strategies are adopted throughout the key stages. Learners are introduced in year 7 to the concept of e – portfolio and from then use either Matchware Openmind software or Powerpoint to present their work in a digital format. This practise continues until the final e – portfolio is created in Year 13.

All external Exam Board assessments are created in an e – portfolio. The long term aims of examination boards are to develop methods which will permit them to access school servers and dip in to learner e-portfolios; in the mean time student course work is sent to examiners via CD.

The department engage in regular assessment of student work; this is now carried out by students placing their work into the staff marking area of the school server. This provides the rights to teaching staff to access student folders but only permits students to place their work on the server with no access to other students work.

The department employ “assessment for learning strategies” throughout all key stages; this includes a range of self assessment and peer assessment techniques. Many of these use resources that are placed on the resources server based at

school.

We put a growing emphasis on presentation of work to include students presenting their work to their peers. Students act on feedback to improve their products so that they are “fit for purpose”. We also employ a range of multimedia techniques to enhance the presentation of work including video and sound.

The department actively considers a range of teaching and learning strategies when developing pedagogy.

All members of the department are involved in teacher buddying. Regular observations take place with prior agreement on a specific teaching focus.

Staff work together closely to ensure that shared assessment standards are adhered to.



Systems Life Cycle and Key Stages

Throughout all key stages, the fundamental emphasis in the teaching of ICT is founded on the System Life Cycle.

This process is inherent in the work carried out for DIDA and GCE.

 

 

 

 

 


The Dida Suite of qualifications

In order to maximise achievement in DIDA, staff provide a weekly after school DIDA club where students are able to keep up with their own stated deadlines for completion of work.


 

 

The DIDA philosophy entails students acquiring ICT skills prior to the commencement of the project; the process involves the learner in actively managing the project and recording his successes and problems encountered.

 

Students plan their own work at the onset of the brief. Their plan is agreed by their teacher. At all stages the students are encouraged to provide a professional pathway to completion of their task, i.e. they work closely with a buddy who will help to provide feedback on designs and products at both formative and summative milestones.


 

 

 

 

The essence of the Multimedia and Graphics units is the creation of a prototype for a client, and via the iterative process the development of a product that is “fit for purpose”. The above photograph shows year 7 students reviewing products created for eleven year olds.



DIDA acts as an excellent preparation for Applied GCE single and double award.


 

 

There is a strong emphasis on students creating original assets. This can entail using Apple Mac machines to create unique sound tracks for media presentations, it can also involve going to specific locations to collect assets such as sound recordings and photographs, these are subsequently manipulated for “fitness for purpose” using Adobe or macromedia software.


In the past we have held parents meetings to explain the time scale and challenges presented by DIDA and hope to continue to use this method of informing parents.


Specialist Workshop and Super Learning Days


In the course of the academic year, the department will use the expertise of ICT professionals working in industry in areas such as MAN’s (Metropolitan networks) and graphics.


These workshops are normally a day in length and vary in purpose from booster sessions for practical examinations to one off workshops for skill acquisition.


A professional web developer supported a small group of year 11 boys in developing the structure of the school website. Having created the structure they have worked independently to populate the site.


The department is able to enhance its work by using the Newcastle CLC. The website is: http://www.newcastleclc.org/


The CLC is a superb facility within ten minutes walk of the school. The facilities that it provides can be seen on its website. In particular the department benefits from:


The Multi-media theatre

Film studio

Expert workshops

Access to Industry standard software..

Video conferencing

Simulations


Every Child Matters


Much of the curricular work at Key Stage 3 and 4 carried out in the department links with Citizenship/PHSE.


Key Stage 3 topics integrate Citizenship/PHSE and allow the students to gain knowledge on relevant health topics such a healthy eating as well as developing skills in a range of software.


The DIDA project briefs integrate citizenship/phse activities. For instance students may need to create resources which provide an awareness of safe living.

 

Contemporary issues such as Alcohol Abuse are a popular topic for inclusion in the project briefs by Edexcel. This can provide opportunities for discussion and act as windows for the

provision of up-to-date information on “keeping safe”.




The link below provides useful advice for parents, teachers and students on using ICT safely at home:



http://www.chatdanger.com/


http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk


Virtual Learning Environment

The department is currently developing the VLE resource. This facility enables students to use the internet to access their user area both at home and at school. This method will be used to allow students to “carry” their work home and provide access to relevant school resources.



 

 

 

 

Homework policy and Course work deadlines

  Homework is set on a weekly basis.


 Students who are unable to access ICT facilities at home are able to make use of the    DIDA club to complete homework.


 As course work deadlines approach, the ICT department provides significant additional  opportunities for students to complete work.


 

 

 

BTEC First Certificate/Diploma for ICT Practitioners



Why choose B-Tec First’s for ICT Practitioners?

What will you study?

Subject topics will differ depending on whether the student is studying for a BTEC First Certificate (2 GCSE’s), whereby he will study three of the following units, or whether he is studying the BTEC First Diploma (4 GCSE’s), whereby he will study six of the following units:

 

How will you be taught?

Each unit will begin with pupil’s being taught the necessary theoretical and practical skills associated with each specialised unit. The lessons will then be focused on completion of the associated coursework, whereby lessons will mainly take the form of directed study, with the course aiming to promote independent learners, with pupils taking responsibility and ownership of their work.

Although we do seek to promote independence in the latter stages of each unit, a range of teaching and learning strategies will ensure that the early stages of each unit will maximise knowledge and skills retention to ensure that pupil’s are prepared for both the working environment, and/or further education upon completion of the course.

Date

Year 10

Year 11

19th December

Unit 1

Unit 18

8th April

Unit 9

Unit 10


Diploma Deadlines

Date

Year 10

Year 11

19th December

Unit 1 + Unit 18

Unit 5 + Unit 3

8th April

Unit 9 + Unit 10

Unit 2

(See above for explanation of unit content)

How can you find out more?

If you wish to view a full outline of each of the units or read further about the qualification, all information can be found online at:

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/firsts/ict-prac/Pages/default.aspx

or if you do not have access to the internet, please feel free to ask a member of the ICT department for more information.

DIDA

21st century qualifications for a digital generation

The DiDA suite of qualifications is unique in its scope, philosophy and delivery methods.

Inspiring and challenging
DiDA promotes creative use of digital applications. Its real-life, outcome-driven approach inspires and challenges learners to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in authentic contexts.

Modern and future-proofed
DiDA is a modern, world-class suite of qualifications that is designed to equip learners with the skills they need to live, learn and earn in the 21st century.

Creative and collaborative
DiDA enables learners to make the leap from passive consumers to active producers of quality digital content.  It develops their ability to organise themselves and their work and encourages them to reflect critically on their own and others’ use of ICT.

There are four qualifications in the DiDA suite:

DiDA qualifications are available at two levels, providing full A* - G equivalence. Learners can combine different units and levels.

Follow the link for more information:

http://www.edexcel.com/quals/dida/about/Pages/default.aspx

 

ICT Calendar

AIDA

Date

Year 10

Year 11




May 15th


D201

CIDA

Date

Year 10

Year 11

June 15th

D201


May 15th


D203

Applied A level Single Award

Date

Year 12

Year 13

December 15th

6951


May 15th

6952, 6953 (external examination)


January

6957 (external examination)



May 15th


6958

6860

Applied a level Double Award (Additional to the single award)

Date

Year 12

Year 13

December 15th

6955


May 15th

6954, 6956


January


6959 ( external examination)

May 15th


6961, 6962

Planned developments

 

Level 2 B-TEC First Certificate/Diploma for ICT Practitioners

 

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