The Computing and ICT curriculum aims to help pupils develop skills on a computer that:

• Develop their ability to think in a logical order
• Develop their creative problem thinking skills
• Develop their basic ICT skills
• Develop the awareness on E safety.

Computing covers the three main strands of Computing Creativity, Programming and Digital Literacy. At Key Stage 4 computing is covered by the formal qualification where they can gain either WJEC Level 1 / 2 in Vocational ICT, AQA computer science or Pearson Digital Functional Skills.

Computing at Key Stage 3

The Key Stage 3 Computing curriculum is a two-year cycle that covers the computing National Curriculum.

Term	Year 1	Year 2
Autumn	Coding with Microbit The aim of this unit is to build learners’ confidence and knowledge of the key programming constructs. The main programming concepts covered in this unit are sequencing, variables, selection, and count-controlled iteration. All of the examples and activities for this unit use Scratch, and Microbit.	Representation of data This unit conveys essential knowledge relating to binary representations. The activities gradually introduce students to binary digits and how they can be used to represent text and numbers. The concepts are linked to practical applications and problems that the learners are familiar with.
Spring	Using Media During this unit, learners develop their understanding of information technology and digital literacy skills. They will use the skills learnt across the unit to create a blog post about a real-world cause that they would like to gain support for. Learners will develop software formatting skills and explore concerns surrounding the use of other people’s work, including licensing and legal issues.	Mobile App Development In a world where there’s an app for every possible need, this unit aims to take the students from designer to project manager to developer in order to create their own mobile app. Using App Lab from code.org, students will familiarise themselves with the coding environment and have an opportunity to build on the programming concepts they used in previous units before undertaking their project. Students will consider the needs of the user; decompose the project into smaller, more manageable parts; use the pair programming approach to develop their app together; and finish off by evaluating the success of the project against the needs of the user.
Summer	History and Hardware This unit aims to teach learners where computers came to have an understanding of who the Key people are in computing history and how computer help us in are day to day life. This unit will also show the student the parts of the computer and how they work.	Modelling Data The spreadsheet unit for KS3 takes learners from having very little knowledge of spreadsheets to being able to confidently model data with a spreadsheet. The unit uses engaging activities to progress learners from using basic formulas to writing their own COUNTIF statements. This unit will give learners a good set of skills that they can use in computing lessons and in other subject areas.

Computing at Key Stage 4

During year 10 and 11 our students there is three paths for students to follow the first is WJEC Level 1 / 2 in Vocational ICT, AQA computer science or Pearson Digital Functional Skills.

WJEC Level 1 / 2 in Vocational ICT

In this course, students need to complete two Units. The first unit an exam completed in the June of year 11 and the second unit is a piece of coursework which is completed from the May of year 10 to the May of year 11.

Unit 1: ICT in Society

This is an 1 hour and 20 minute on-screen exam.

This unit allows learners to explore the wide range of uses of hardware, application and specialist software in society. They will investigate how information technology is used in a range of contexts, including business and organisations, education and home use.

Unit 2: ICT in Context

This unit enables learners to gain a broad working knowledge of databases, spreadsheets, automated documents and images and to apply their knowledge and understanding to solve problems in vocational settings.

AQA Computer Science

The Aqa computer Science qualification is split into two Papers both sat in June of year 11.

Paper 1: Computational thinking and programming skills

This is a 2-hour exam that tests students' ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of computational thinking, code tracing, problem-solving, and programming concepts. This includes designing effective algorithms, as well as writing, testing, and refining code.

Paper 2: Computing concepts

This exam is 1 hour 45 minute exam which tests the students' ability to understand number bases, units of information, representing images and sounds, Boolean logic, Software classification and the fundamentals of computer networks.

Functional Skills

Digital Functional Skills is a new qualification aimed at demonstrating a learner’s digital skills at Entry 3 and Level 1. The student is able develop students’ knowledge and skills on different software as well as their ability to apply these in different context. Allowing students gain a foundation of digital skills that they could use in employment, in further education and everyday life.

https://microbit.org/

https://code.org/educate/applab

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/alan-turing-creator-of-modern-computing/zhwp7

Hopefully this page has all the information you need, if you require further information speak to the Centre Manager for your centre who will be able to answer any queries.