St Simon Stock Catholic School ICT Department

ICT Department

Teachers

Mr B Palmer (Subject Leader)
Mr C Edwards
Mr A McGee

Introduction

The school has been awarded technology college status. The ICT department underwent a major redevelopment in 2003 and is now housed in a purpose built block. There are three fully equipped and networked ICT rooms. The network is the popular Community Connect 3. Each of the three computer rooms has a smart board for teachers to demonstrate the use of software and for students to interact in the learning process.

Key Stage 3

In line with the new national curriculum for ICT, we have invested in and interactive set of resources for KS3. Students have access to interactive media in the form of an active eBook; this is also supported with a paperback book. The students work through units in the active book and complete activities that can be submitted to their own electronic area. At the end of each activity, there are assessment points to allow the students to see what NC level they are working at. All computers have robust dedicated headphones to enhance and experience the full multimedia content the software offers.

Year 7

Students follow the competency curriculum which provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge to confidently use a range of software packages and information systems. This is taught through a range of cross-curricula subjects ranging from Art, ICT, Technology and Languages.

Year 8

All year 8 students follow the ICT 4 Life projects which is a unique interactive workbook that allows allow students to build their capability by learning and applying skills in relevant, interesting scenarios. ICT 4 Life has been developed to help both pupils to be creative and enthusiastic - resulting in many more enthusiastic, capable learners. It does this by offering:

Assessment that drives progression

The easy-to-use assessment tool helps you track students' progression and personalise their learning.
Clear assessment criteria and regular opportunities for teacher, self and peer assessment support students in progressing at least two levels through the key stage.

Capability through real challenges

Problem-based challenges allow students to build their capability by learning and applying skills in relevant and interesting scenarios.

Coverage of Functional Skills

Functional Skills in ICT matched throughout all 3 tiers of the course.

Relevant contexts to engage and motivate

Interesting real-life scenarios, for example virtual tours, gaming, videos and animations.
Interviews with real people to engage students with ICT outside the classroom.

Year 9

In year 9 students will be accelerated on to the OCR Nationals course. This year will be dedicated to the completion of a mandatory unit for the OCR Nationals award in ICT.

By completing this unit pupils will develop the ability to create files in different software packages, including word processing, DTP, spreadsheet, database and presentation software.

They will then be able to communicate effectively using email and will search the internet efficiently for information. Students will be able to demonstrate:

· good working practices, including the organisation of files using appropriate file and directory/folder

· names and the regular backing up of files

· features of email software methods of searching for information on the internet

· methods of integrating different types of files into a document or presentation

· the appropriate software to use for different tasks methods of storing, retrieving and analysing data

In year 9 students will be accelerated on to the OCR Nationals course (see below).

Key Stage 4

OCR Level 2 Nationals in ICT

As of September 2007, the St Simon Stock ICT department has been offering Year 10 and 12 students the chance to study towards the OCR Level 2 Nationals in ICT. This largely vocational course will allow students to learn ICT skills that can be taken into real life situations. Students who choose the course as a single module will look to achieve the First Award, worth one GCSE but theoretically a hard working student could achieve the full Award worth 2 GCSEs. The target for those doing the double module will be the full Award with the possibility of achieving a full Certificate, worth four GCSE’s.

The course allows students to learn a wide range of industry standard Software, including the powerful tools Macromedia Flash and Fireworks. Each student will take a mandatory Unit, learning ‘ICT skills for business’, but can then choose from over 20 other courses in order to complete their course. Other Units available range from the creativity seen in ‘Creating animations’ and ‘Computer Graphics’, to the more traditional Relational Databases and Spreadsheets courses, with the opportunity to gain some actual ICT based Work Experience.

Whilst studying the course, each student will create an electronic E-Portfolio which will comprise all of their work, which can be improved and added to until it is finally submitted. Each Unit works on a Guided Learning Hour (GLH) basis where a student must complete the said number of hours (usually 30 or 60 GLH) and build their E-Portfolio.

OCR Nationals Course Description

Key Stage 5

OCR Level 3 Certificate for IT Professional (iPRO) (ICT Systems Support)

With Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)

Minimum Entry Requirements

5 GCSE grade A* - C or equivalent, including English and Maths. Student must have a real interest in computer networking.

Course description

Students study towards OCR’s Certificate for IT Professionals award but three of the six modules will contribute towards Cisco’s CCNA exam modules. There is an additional CCNA module which will need to be completed if students are to be awarded the CCNA qualification. CCNA is an industry standard qualification and recognized worldwide in the Computer Networking industry. There is an opportunity for exceptional students to study towards the Diploma award.

Proposed Structure

	Unit	Title	Mandatory/Optional	GLH			Term
	1	Customer Support Provision	Mandatory	75	Diploma	Certificate	4
	3	Service Delivery, Planning & Control	Mandatory	75			5
	8	Maintain Equipment and Systems	Mandatory	75			6
CISCO	14	Networking for Home and Small Businesses	Optional	75			1
	15	Working at a small-to-medium business or ISP	Optional	75			2
	16	Introducing Routing and Switching in the Enterprise	Optional	75			3
	17	Designing and Supporting Computer Networks	Optional	75
		Optional Unit	Optional	75

Assessment

The iPRO units will be delivered through a practical, hands-on approach. Unit 1 is assessed by an external OCR exam, Units 3 and 8 are assessed internally through practical activities. The Cisco modules use an online curriculum, online multiple choice exams and practical skills-based training. All modules are graded either PASS or FAIL.

UCAS Points

Qualification	UCAS points	Equivalent A Level Grade
Certificate	80	C
Diploma	100	B

Progression

There is a high demand for CCNA qualified network engineers. Students can also use the iPRO qualification to study related subjects at University or to contribute to their overall UCAS score if they want to study an unrelated subject.

Edexcel GCE in Applied ICT

The Edexcel GCE in Applied ICT has been developed to provide a broad educational basis for further training, further education or for moving into appropriate employment within the ICT sector. They have been designed to be delivered in a work-related context and to allow learners to develop an understanding of the ICT sector.

Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced GCE

All Single Award Advanced GCE qualifications in this suite comprise six equally-weighted units and contain an Advanced Subsidiary subset of three AS units. The AS is the first half of a GCE course and contributes 50 per cent of the total Advanced GCE marks. The A2, the second half of the Advanced GCE, comprises the other 50 per cent of the total Advanced GCE marks.

Useful Links

www.ocr.org.uk

www.cisco.com

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student working at computers

Student working on Computer

ICT Class