Computing / Creative Imedia

Our aim in Computing is two-fold: to inspire students – as pioneers of the future; and to nurture a love of our subject. As computer programs pervade every aspect of our lives, our society needs individuals that are digitally literate, as well as being passionate to develop computing in every type of industry should they wish to pursue computing further.

In practice, this means that students need to see the wider picture and to relate their learning to the real world and possible career paths. They need to become digitally literate, and digitally resilient. We will achieve this by teaching them to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of Computer Science. They will acquire this knowledge by learning key facts and words, by analysing problems in computational terms, and through repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve problems. In addition, pupils will be fully aware of E-safety and be confident creators of Digital Multimedia. Students will thus learn to evaluate and apply information technology (including unfamiliar technologies) and will become competent and creative users of it – in both home and work contexts. We have highly ambitious expectations of all our students and are unapologetic in our pursuit of academic excellence.

The aim of the Computing curriculum is to ensure all students:

• Can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation.

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

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

• Are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

• Understand the impacts of digital technology to the individual and to wider society and apply mathematical skills relevant to computer science.

At KS4 we offer Computer Science, Creative IMedia and Business Studies. Each subject is aimed at creating insight, creativity and experience to provide our students with a broad, exciting and ambitious curriculum that will develop their knowledge, skills, understanding and cultural capital so that they are able to succeed in life. Our aim is for our students to gain the confidence and resilience to tackle the ever-changing technological environments they are and will be faced with.