Computing
Curriculum Intent
At Peacehaven Community School, our Computer Science curriculum is a shining example of our commitment to providing an outstanding education, empowering students to excel in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Our expertly designed curriculum equips learners with essential digital literacy and computational thinking skills, supporting them to become responsible, innovative, and confident global citizens.
We believe that our curriculum is the driving force behind instilling values in our students. Our approach to project-based learning ensures that students develop their collaboration skills and have a comprehensive understanding of computer architecture, networks, and programming, and are well-prepared to tackle the challenges of the future.
Additionally, we strive to inspire our students to pursue higher education and rewarding careers in diverse sectors of the industry. By placing a dedicated focus on online safety and ethical considerations, we are committed to fostering a generation of responsible digital citizens who are equipped to navigate the complexities of an interconnected world. Our goal is to produce graduates who not only contribute to the community but also drive its values.
Sam Hamblin - Head of Computing - sam.hamblin@swale.at
KS3
At KS3 all students will have two 60-minute lessons per fortnight.
Year 7
In terms 1 and 2, students will build on their experiences in key stage 2. They will use a range of different skills across several pieces of software. Learners will work between different applications to create a poster and slides on a given theme. Students will complete a programming unit using Scratch to build learners’ confidence and knowledge of the key programming constructs. Importantly, this unit does not assume any previous programming experience, but it does offer learners the opportunity to expand on their knowledge.
In terms 3 and 4, students will develop their understanding of information technology and digital literacy skills. They will use the skills learned 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. Students will be introduced to networks and the pros and cons of wired and wireless networks. Learners will develop an understanding of the terms ‘internet’ and ‘World Wide Web’, and of the key services and protocols used.
Terms 5 and 6 are all about programming, students will build on their understanding of the control structures’ sequence, selection, and iteration (the big three), and develop their problem-solving skills. Learners will learn how to create their own subroutines, develop their understanding of decomposition, learn how to create and use lists and build upon their problem-solving skills by working through a larger project at the end of the unit.
Medium Term Plans
Term 1
Clear Messaging in Digital Media
Term 2
Learning the Essentials of Programming in Scratch
Year 8
In terms 1 and 2, students will be taken on a tour through the different layers of computing systems: from programs and the operating system to the physical components that store and execute these programs, to the fundamental binary building blocks that these components consist of. Students explore the building blocks of the World Wide Web, HTML, and CSS, learners will investigate how websites are cataloged and organized for effective retrieval using search engines. By the end of the unit, learners will have a functioning website.
In terms 3 and 4, students are introduced 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. Students will then be introduced to text-based programming with Python. The lessons form a journey that starts with simple programs involving input and output and gradually moves on through arithmetic operations, randomness, selection, and iteration. Emphasis is placed on tackling common misconceptions and elucidating the mechanics of program execution.
In terms 5 and 6, students will be taken from designer to project manager to developer to create their own mobile app. Using App Lab from code.org, learners 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. Learners will work in pairs to 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.
Medium Term Plans
Term 1
Computing Systems
Term 2
Developing for the Web
Year 9
In terms 1 and 2, students will get a chance to develop their digital image editing skills and get chance to make various digital products. Students will then continue to work on Python programming and will be taught how data can be represented and processed in sequences, such as lists and strings. Students will need to apply skills to various realistic programming problems such as processing solar system planets, book texts, capital cities, leaked passwords, word dictionaries and more.
In terms 3 and 4, students will be introduced to data science, and by the end of the unit, they will be empowered by knowing how to use data to investigate problems and make changes to the world around them. Learners will be exposed to both global and local data sets and gain an understanding of how visualizing data can help with the process of identifying patterns and trends. Towards the end of the unit, the learners will go through the steps of the investigative cycle to try to solve a problem in the school using data.
In terms 5 and 6, students will focus on digital media such as images and sounds, and discover the binary digits that lie beneath these types of media. Students will be taken on an eye-opening journey of discovery about techniques used by cybercriminals to steal data, disrupt systems, and infiltrate networks. The learners will start by considering the value of their data to organisations and what they might use it for. They will then look at social engineering techniques used by cybercriminals to try to trick users into giving away their personal data. The unit will look at the more common cybercrimes such as hacking, DDoS attacks, and malware, as well as looking at methods to protect ourselves and our networks against these attacks.
Medium Term Plans
Term 1
Image Editing
Term 2
Python Programming
KS4
Allocation of time:
Five 60-minute lessons per fortnight
Exam board and hyperlink to specification
Year 10 Computer Science
In term 1 students will study programming languages, IDEs, algorithms and Python programming. On the theory side they will learn about systems architecture, memory and storage.
In term 2 students will study different algorithms used in Computer Science. As an example, this could be for searching and sorting through data. This will be backed up with continued Python Programming.
In term 3 students will learn about the fundamentals of programming and how to produce robust programs.
In term 4 students will revisit the learning in terms 1-3 to allow a deeper understanding in preparation for trail exams.
In terms 5&6 students will complete a final end of year programming project which will be evidenced for the exam board.
Year 10 Creative iMedia
In terms 1&2 students will study the first part of Unit R093: Creative iMedia in the media industry. This is a theory unit that will be examined in Y11. The topics covered will also help their understanding of the design process that will be assessed in their NEAs
In terms 3&4 students will study for their first NEA, Unit R094: Visual identity and digital graphics. Students will learn to develop visualidentities for clients. They will also learn to apply the concepts of graphic design to create original digital graphics which incorporate your visual identity to engage a target audience.
In terms 5&6 students complete Unit R094 and begin to study for their second NEA. This unit is flexible and can be changed based on the particular cohort of students.
Year 11 Computer Science
In term 1 students will study the Ethical, legal, cultural & environmental impacts of digital technology. Students will also learn about computer networks, connection and protocols.
In term 2 students will study Network Security and different types of Systems software. They will move on to learning about boolean logic and Programming languages and IDEs
In terms 3-5 students will revise all Computer Science topics to prepair for their final exams.
Paper 1 - Computer Systems
Paper 2 - Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming
Year 11 Creative iMedia
In term 1-3 students will study for and complete their second NEA.
In term 4-6 students will complete the learning for Unit R093: Creative iMedia in the media industry. And revise for their final R093 exam.
Homework
KS3 homework will be given as appropriate, in line with the school's policy. This will typically be a revision task for topic assessment.
KS4 homework will be given fortnightly, in line with the school’s policy. This will comprise of tasks to help students embed learning from their classwork.
Additional Resources
Creative iMedia
Any useful coursebooks to purchase:
PG Online ClearRevise OCR iMedia J834
Websites to use:
Image editing online platform - https://www.photopea.com/
Video editing online platform - https://clipchamp.com/en/
Computer Science
Any useful coursebooks to purchase:
GCSE Computer Science - PG Online Clear Revise OCR Computer Science J277
Websites to use:
Online coding platforms - https://replit.com/ - https://trinket.io/
Block based coding platforms - https://scratch.mit.edu/
Micro:Bit - https://makecode.microbit.org/
The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first.
LARRY PAGE - Google