On Friday 5 December, 12 Year 7 students were lucky enough to attend a STEM event held at Runshaw College. In the morning, students got creative when they had to use Micobits to control the robotic Spheros ball to navigate around the maps. Students had to use lots of different skills to help them create the correct code. Team work, problem solving and effective communication certainly helped them. Then after lunch, groups of 6 students, including Mr Spence, were tasked with several cyber cracking missions. To add to the pressure and excitement, groups were only given 2 laptops and 1 hour to complete. With time ticking away, both groups worked frantically to complete as many challenges as possible.
At the end of the action-packed day, PGHS team “Megabrains” came second! No medals but with a total of 8 teams competing, it was very happy minibus making its way back to school for the weekend.
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 code to help produce their websites.
Year 9 have been working in small groups to produce work around online safety and social media influencers. Within their groups they have created a leaflet or fact file, a poster and a presentation. Some groups then presented this work to their peers and gave some very good advice regarding the use of social media.
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. They have been learning about networks and how different networks are structured. The final learning will be about looking at the security of networks and 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. I wish you all the luck in world going into year 11 and I know that you will continue to work hard.
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 and social media influencers 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 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 looking at challenging the students to write some HTML code to help produce their websites.
Year 9 are learning about cyber security and understanding how humans can pose risks for their data and information. They are learning about how different attacks can affect the computer systems and users and the consequences of hacking. They are also learning about the common malware threats to computer systems and the most effective methods of preventing the cyber attacks. The students will be moving onto App design and creating their own App.
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 challenging questions. All students are working hard and I wish them all the success with their GCSEs.
All students have taken part in Safer Internet Day. Each year there is a theme for the day and this year’s theme was ‘protecting yourself and others from scams online’.
The students have had assemblies delivered to them to make them aware of how to spot signs of scams and the different kinds of scams that can happen both online and over the phone. The students have been told ways about how they can protect themselves and their families. These include using a strong and separate password for each online account, using 2-step verification and making sure that they are careful when making purchases online and that they can trust the websites they are using.
We feel it is important that the students actively have conversations and be open about what they are doing and seeing online.
Key Stage 3 Computing
In Year 7, the students have been learning all about spreadsheets and will be in the process of creating a spreadsheet for a specific scenario that needs to include a range of formulas and charts. The students will complete this independently and will be using the skills taught in the previous lessons to do this. They will be moving onto exploring a different way of programming using BBC Micro:Bits. This unit has seen them complete a range of challenges and games using the Micro:Bit website.
Year 8 are exploring the history of computing and how technology has developed over the years. They are also investigating what the future of technology may look like. The students have learnt about the use of AI in products and how this will be moving forward into the future. The students will be designing a new product for the future and explaining the different features that they use. They will be moving on to designing their own music festival and have planned a website to promote this. 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 looking at challenging the girls to write some HTML code to help produce their websites.
Year 9 have been learning about cyber security and how humans can pose risks for their data and information. They are learning about how different attacks can affect the computer systems and the consequences of hacking. They are also learning about the common malware threats to computer systems and the most effective methods of preventing the cyberattacks. The students will be moving onto App design and creating their own App.
GCSE Computer Science
Year 11 have completed their final mock exams. This has helped them prepare for their GCSE exams in May. 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. Let’s keep this going over the next few weeks!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
