Department Staff
Mrs C Grafton (Head of Department)
Mrs J King
Mr C Rice
Mr M Starkey
Ms C Grimley
Our department aim
ICT skills are an essential skill for life. No matter what job you find yourself in it is highly likely that you will use ICT in some way.
The ICT Department in St Colman’s are committed to ensuring that all pupils are equipped with these skills, whilst developing their confidence and providing fun and interactive methods of developing these skills. We use up-to-date teaching methods and resources via iPad technology to engage pupils. We encourage pupils to develop their ICT skills at home as well as in class by providing access learning material via Google Classroom which can be accessed using a home PC or on the pupils’ iPad.
We expect every pupil to ensure they bring their iPad to class and ensure that it is fully charged.
At all levels we provide opportunities for students to learn more about future employment opportunities in the IT sector and this is supported by workshops and guest speakers from organisations such as Enterprise NI, Sentinus and Hyperpixel studios and many more.
Key stage 3 provision
All pupils at St Colman's will have ICT for 1 hour a week. At Key Stage 3 the pupils will follow a broad, balanced programme in accordance with the Northern Ireland Curriculum. All pupils at Key stage 3 will start by learning about Digital Citizenship and how to stay safe when using the internet. Pupils will also be learning about Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Emailing, Vector Graphics and Scratch. Year 9 students will be introduced to Mobile App development in Term 3. Year 10 pupils will be introduced to Computing Theory, Web Development using Dreamweaver, as well as Python Programming in Term 3.
Key stage 4 provision
OCN - Level 2 Certificate for IT Users
This qualification is delivered over two years. On successful completion of this qualification, the award is equivalent to a Grade B at GCSE.
The pupils will cover the following units:
|
Unit name
|
Contribution to final grade
|
Assessment method
|
|
Word processing
|
20%
|
Coursework
|
|
Spreadsheet software
|
20%
|
Coursework
|
|
Email Software skills
|
20%
|
Coursework
|
|
Presentation software
|
20%
|
Coursework
|
|
Social media
|
20%
|
Coursework
|
This qualification is continually assessed via coursework and there is no formal examination. Assessment will be through completion of work on Google classroom.
GCSE Digital Technology
We currently offer the CCEA Digital Technology - Multimedia route. This course is delivered over two years. Pupils acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of digital technology in a variety of contexts. They also develop creative and practical digital technology skills, either using a range of generic software or in an object-oriented environment. They explore the legal, social, economic, ethical and environmental impact of digital technology. This qualification also helps them to develop transferable skills such as creative problem-solving and teamwork.
This qualification builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed through the Cross-Curricular Skill of Using ICT.
This specification is unitised, therefore Unit 1: Digital Technology is assessed at the end of Year 11. Unit 2: Digital Authoring Concepts and Unit 3: Digital Authoring Practice are assessed throughout and at the end of Year 12.
We deliver the following three units:
|
Unit name
|
Contribution to final grade
|
Assessment method
|
|
Unit 1: Digital Technology
|
30%
|
1 hour written examination
|
|
Unit 2: Digital Authoring Concepts
|
40%
|
1 hour 30 minute written examination
|
|
Unit 3: Digital Authoring Practice
|
30%
|
Coursework
|
This qualification equips pupils with the knowledge and skills to progress to study IT at Post 16 level.
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