Here at Penwortham Girls’ we are involved with a pilot of a global project called ‘I Am the code’. The aim of the project globally is to enable 1 million young women and girls into coding by 2030. We are piloting this project with a select number of year 10 and Year 11 Computer Science students with the intention to role this out across other years later on this academic year. We are working in partnership with Lancashire County Council and other educational establishments. It is an exciting opportunity for the school and students to learn a variety of coding skills and team building skills.  

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Computer Science is off to a great start this academic year. Year 11 have been looking at algorithms and starting to plan a variety of programs using different algorithms. They will be putting their planning into practice to ensure that they can code these programs successfully.

Year 10 have made a fantastic start to Computer Science. They have learnt about the CPU components and how the CPU works. We are currently learning about a variety of storage devices and how they work.   

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Key Stage 3 Computing has started this academic year with Year 7 students starting to investigate and use a variety of programming codes, ranging from Scratch to Python.  They will be designing and creating their own game using Scratch. The game will have to have a theme about healthy eating and educating others all about being healthy. The games will also have to include a variety of scripts, sprites and variables. These games will be evaluated and assessed and I am looking forward to seeing their games with imaginative designs. 

Year 8 students are building their knowledge about binary and are going to explore the world of programming by using python. This will develop their knowledge from year 7 and their ultimate goal will be to create a mini quiz using python.  

Year 9 students are learning about advanced programming skills using python. Students have started to recall their previous learning from Year 8 with some of the basics but will move to discovering functions, loops and more advanced programming skills.

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty

September 2024 will see the Computer Science department taking part in a Lancashire pilot of a scheme, ‘I am the Code’. This project is a worldwide project that is aiming to get 1 million women and girls into coding by 2030. We are piloting it here at PGHS, working alongside Lancashire Education Authority. Selected Year 10 and Year 11 GCSE Computer Science students will be involved. The project allows the students to learn a variety of programming languages and the team work skills needed for the workplace and further education. The aim is to support the students who have a keen interest in developing their Computer Science knowledge and who wish to continue their Computer Science studies further afield. I look forward to seeing how this project develops over the next academic year.    

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Year 10 have almost completed the theory for paper 1, Principles of Computer Science. This consists of systems architecture and software, looking at data representation including binary, hexadecimal and sound.  They have also been learning about networks and how they work.  This includes the internet and the security issues.  The final learning will be about ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science including legislation.  They have also started revisiting Python programming language from Key Stage 3. You have all worked extremely hard this year and I look forward to next year when the main focus will be paper 2 and the practical elements of the course.  Interventions will also begin.

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

This final half term has seen Year 7 exploring digital media.  They have explored social media influencers and looked at why they have a huge impact in young people’s lives. The students have created an interactive presentation, including sound and videos all about these social media influencers and the impact social media and influencers have on people’s health.

Year 8 have been learning about designing their own music festival and they have planned a website to promote it. The students have incorporated a variety of features into their websites, including scrolling text. They have investigated the programing language HTML that sits behind the websites and have started to write some HTML codes to help produce their websites.

Year 9 have learnt about sound and video editing and have created an advert for a holiday. They have downloaded suitable music and sound effects and using Audacity, have mixed the music and effects together to create the audio track for the advert. They have downloaded video clips and have used open shot video editing to create their final advert.  There has been some brilliant work produced by Year 9 students.  Well done!

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Key Stage 3 Computing

This final half term sees Year 7 exploring digital media. They are exploring social media influencers and looking at why they have a huge impact in young people’s lives. The students will be creating an interactive presentation, including sound and videos all about these social media influencers.

Year 8 are learning about designing their own music festival and they have planned a website to promote this. The students are incorporating a variety of features into their websites, including scrolling text. They are investigating the HTML programming language that sits behind the websites and are starting to write some HTML codes to help produce their websites.

Year 9 are learning about sound and video editing and are currently in the process of creating an advert for a holiday. They have downloaded suitable music and sound effects. Using Audacity, they are mixing the music and effects together to create the audio track for the advert. They will then download video clips and start to edit these and add the sound track. I am looking forward to seeing the finished products.

GCSE Computer Science

This term has seen the year 11 cohort complete their GCSE Computer Science exams. They have been an absolute pleasure to teach and have worked exceptionally hard and made me extremely proud! Good luck, girls in your future career paths.

Year 10 have almost completed all the theory for paper 1, Principles of Computer Science. This theory consists of systems architecture and software, looking at data representation including binary, hexadecimal and sound, learning about the security of networks and how different networks are structured including the internet. The final learning will be about ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science, including legislation.  They have also started revisiting Python programming language from Key Stage 3. You have all worked extremely hard this year and I look forward to next year when the main focus will be Paper 2, focusing on the practical elements of the course and intervention will also begin.

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Key Stage 3 Computing

This half term sees Year 7 completing a programming unit using BBC Micro:Bits. This unit has seen them complete a range of challenges and games using the Micro:Bit website. They will be exploring digital media, looking at social media influencers and why they have a huge impact in young people’s lives. The students will be creating an interactive presentation, including sound and videos all about these social media influencers.

Year 8 are learning about designing their own music festival and have planned a website to promote it. The students will be incorporating a variety of features into their websites, including scrolling text. We will be investigating the programing language, HTML that sits behind the websites and challenging the students by asking them to write some HTML code to help to produce their websites.

Year 9 are learning about computational thinking and understanding how programs and computers think and work. They will be exploring flowcharts, pseudocode and then looking and creating mini-programs based on the flowcharts and pseudocode into python. This will give the students an insight into GCSE Computer Science. 

GCSE Computer Science

Year 11 are preparing for their final GCSE exams. The students have been spending the time learning about the practical paper and how to answer some of the questions. All students are working hard and I wish them huge success with their GCSEs.

BTEC Creative Media Production

Year 11 have completed their final 10-hour practical exam. There has been some amazing work produced. Well done!

Year 7 and Year 8 Computing Club

The students can come along and build a Lego robot and then start to program these to make them move using BBC Micro:Bits. Come along from Monday, 3rd June in room 53 at lunchtime.

Year 11 are currently completing their final 10-hour practical exam.  They have completed the first 5 hours and produced some detailed plans ready for the final creation of their media product. They will need to arrange the assets that they wish to include in the final product. Well done with the preparation stage and good luck for the final 5 hours of exam!

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty

Year 11 have completed their final mock exams and there are some pleasing results. The students have been spending the time learning about the practical paper and how to answer some of the challenging questions. All students are working hard and hope they continue this hard work over the next few weeks in preparation for the final GCSEs.

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for C.A.T. Faculty