Computing
Below you will find information on the Computing curriculum at Preston School. The five year learning journey for Computing is available in all student books, on the front of the ILS block, and to view here.
Year 7
In Year 7, students study two hours of Computing and as such, undertake three Study Cycles during the year.
Study Cycle 1 - IT Fundamentals
Overview: This unit acts as an introduction to Computing at Preston School. During the unit you will learn how to login to the school computers, how to access your homework and use Office 365 to complete work at home. You will look at how to use the Internet safely and how you can check that the information that you find will be reliable. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the biased newspaper article that you create as part of Lesson 5 of this Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 2 - Computer Systems
Overview: During this unit, you will learn the science, which makes a computer work. You will firstly investigate the hardware components, which make up a modern day computer system, before looking at how analogue and digital signals are utilised. Finally, you will learn binary, the language of the computer. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the ARCHIE Information Sheet you create during Lesson 2 of this Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 3 - Algorithms and Programming
This unit builds upon the Scratch scheme of work as part of an introduction to computer programming. You will firstly consider how sequences of instructions can be used to control a computer in the form of small robots, before moving on and beginning to program a simple ChatBot in Python. Later in the unit you will consider how complex code, such as IF ELSE loops can be used to make a computer program appear to be intelligent. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the Four Cornerstones Poster you create during Lesson 2 of this Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Year 8
In Year 8, students study two hours of Computing and as such, undertake three Study Cycles during the year.
Study Cycle 1 - Branding and Business Documents
Overview: This unit acts as an introduction to branding and the way in which businesses use key documents, such as business cards. You will learn how to use Publisher to edit digital graphics, before moving onto Photoshop and investigating the more advanced editing tools available. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the visualisation diagram you design for your magazine front cover during Lesson 3 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 2 - Advanced Algorithms and Programming
Overview: This unit of work builds upon the algorithms and programming unit studied in Year 7 and teaches you how to use more complex programming constructs such as iteration and selection. Within the unit you will build a number of simple computer programs such as a random number guessing game and utilise code libraries suc h as Turtle to create some Python art using code loops. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the code explanation poster you create during Lesson 4 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 3 - Planning Digital Animations
Overview: This unit of work acts as an introduction to the world of digital animations and 3D character creation. You will learn the basic planning tools, including a storyboard and script before putting your animation into practice, within the Blender suite. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the Types of Animation information sheet you design during Lesson 2 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Year 9
In Year 9, students study two hours of Computing and as such, undertake three Study Cycles during the year.
Study Cycle 1 - Digital Graphics
Overview: This unit of work builds upon the graphics design and branding skills that you learnt in Year 8. You will continue to learn the key features of Adobe Photoshop and how each of these can be used to manipulate and change digital graphics. You will also consider the roles available in the media industry and how these skills could lead to each career path. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the evaluation of your logo undertaken during Lesson 3 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 2 - Website Design
Overview: This unit of work acts as an introduction to Website Design. As part of the unit you will investigate what makes an effective website and then write a review of a website of your choice. You will then look at basic HTML techniques for adding content to your website, before using CSS to style your new website, which will inform users about some of your interests. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and to view here.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the design of your website that you undertake in Lesson 3 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Study Cycle 3 - The Future of Computing
Overview: This unit of work acts as a summative project to bring to an end your journey through Key Stage 3 Computing. You will work as part of a team to design a new piece of technology. In your teams, you will design and create a marketing website for the product, a budget, branding documents and a virtual app to promote its use. The Study Cycle Overview sheet is available in all student books and will be available to view here soon.
Assessment Opportunities: You will receive formative, Whole Class Feedback on the design of your website that you undertake in Lesson 3 of the Study Cycle. You will also undertake a formal, summative assessment in the penultimate lesson of this Study Cycle. The Study Cycle Summative Assessment sheet will be available to view here soon.
Years 10 and 11
The Computing curriculum is designed to allow students to specialise in either GCSE Computer Science or iMedia at the start of Year 10. It is possible for students to continue both courses as they exists within different option blocks.
You can find out more about GCSE Computer Science here.
You can find out more about iMedia here.
