Key Stage 3 Computing

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.  In year 7, the girls will be designing and creating their own game using Scratch. The game has to be themed around 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 the students’ imaginative designs.

Year 8 students are building their knowledge about binary. They are going to explore the world of programming by using Python; this will develop their knowledge from year 7. The 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.  

GCSE Computer Science

Computer Science is off to a great start this academic year. Year 11 have been looking at algorithms and are starting to plan a variety of programs. They will be putting their planning into practice to ensure 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 operate.   

BTEC Creative Media Production

Year 11 media students are looking at their next component and preparing to complete the 10-hour brief that they can select to create a print (magazine) or plan and create a mini-film, TV advert or trailer. We are currently learning the skills of filming and creating a mini film trailer where they will learn how to edit film footage. I am looking forward to seeing the finished products.  

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Year 10 have completed their first assessment for component 1. They have had to analyse media products around the theme of ‘Teens in Media’ and had 10 hours to write a detailed report. I am very proud of their achievements.  Well done, year 10!

Mrs J Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Year 10 have completed all the theory for paper 1, Principles of Computer Science! This theory consists of systems architecture and software, looking at data representation and a variety of security issues and finally including binary, hexadecimal and sound.  They have learnt about how networks are structured which includes the internet, looking at the security of networks and the ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science including legislation.

You have all worked extremely hard and I look forward to next year when we will focus on paper 2 and the practical elements of the course.

Mrs Bennett, Curriculum Leader for the CAT Faculty

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 about these social media influencers.

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

Year 9 are learning about media and have looked at some of the theory behind films.  They have looked at a range of audiences and purposes and have learnt about different narrative structures and character types. They are working in groups and have planned a film trailer for a teenage audience with a purpose of escapism. The students have produced their scripts and have started to film. They will then edit the video clips and incorporate sound effects for the trailer. I am looking forward to seeing what the students produce as there are some very interesting ideas!

Mrs Bennett, Curriculum Leader for the CAT 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 all about these social media influencers that includes sound and videos.

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

Year 9 are learning about media and have looked at some of the theory behind films. They have looked at a range of audiences and purposes and also have also learnt about different narrative structures and character types. They are working in groups and have planned a film trailer for a teenage audience with a purpose of escapism. The students have produced their scripts and have started to film. To finish their product, they will then edit the video clips and incorporate sound effects for the trailer. I am looking forward to seeing what the students produce as there are some interesting ideas.

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 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 also learnt about networks and how different networks are structured and work, including the internet. In addition, they have looked at a variety of security issues and ethical and environmental issues surrounding Computer Science including legislation. You have all worked extremely hard this year. I look forward to next year when we will focus on paper 2 and the practical elements of the course.

BTEC Creative Media Production

Year 11 have completed their final 9-hour practical exam. There has been some amazing work produced. Well done and good luck for the future!

Year 10 have worked extremely hard and have completed their first assessment for component 1. They have had to analyse media products around the theme of ‘Teens in Media’ and had 10 hours to write a detailed report. I am very proud of their achievements. Well done, year 10!

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

The students have successfully built their team robots and are now starting to program the robots to make them move. They are using BBC Micro:Bits to make this happen. We will then be setting a track for the robots to follow and will set a range of challenges for each team to complete. 

Mrs Bennett

Curriculum Leader for the C.A.T. Faculty

Year 11 have completed their final 9-hour practical exam. There has been some amazing work produced. Well done and good luck!

Year 10 have worked extremely hard and have completed their first assessment for component 1. They had to analyse media products around the theme of ‘Teens in Media’ and had 10 hours to write a detailed report. I am very proud of their achievements. Well done, Year 10!

Mrs J Bennett

Creative Arts and Technology Faculty

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.

Mrs J Bennett

Creative Arts and Technology Faculty

This half term sees Year 7 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 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 programming language HTML that sits behind the websites and challenging the students to write some HTML codes to help produce their websites.

Year 9 are learning about algorithms and flowcharts, using Flowol to create some flowcharts for different mimics, exploring inputs and outputs.

Mrs J Bennett

Creative Arts and Technology Faculty