The Grey Coat Hospital

Church of England Comprehensive School for Girls

Computing

The National Curriculum encourages the exploration and development of links with Mathematics, Science and Design and Technology.  Developing computational thinking and creativity is also considered to help students understand and change the world through understanding technology.

Over the current academic year (2022/2023) it is the aim to provide students with an excellent foundational understanding of Python that provides opportunities into careers in programming including; game development, web development and design, software development, graphic design, operating systems management and many more technological areas. Technology and education are becoming more intertwined. For this reason, it is even more imperative that we teach general technological literacy through Microsoft Office as part of the curriculum. Understanding how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams is an invaluable skill that extends into every other subject area, future careers and employability.

Increasing students’ global awareness around technology is another major focus of the Computing department at Grey Coat. We feel that it is essential for students to understand the environmental impact of the life cycle of their devices, from how they were manufactured, shipped and sold to e-waste disposal that requires rethinking. Students are therefore taught modules on the environmental implications of increased technological device demand; this provides them an opportunity to think on a global scale as global citizens.

Please click on the link below to see The National curriculum in England: computing programmes of study

National Curriculum: Computing

Year 7 Computing

Topics covered in year 7 will include:

  • Under the hood of a computer

  • E-safety

  • Computer networks

  • Data Representation

  • Spreadsheet modelling

  • Control

  • Scratch to python

Assessed with end of unit test after each unit followed by an end of year test.

Year 8 Computing

Topics covered in year 8 will include:

  • E-safety

  • Copyright

  • Computer Systems

  • Computer networks

  • Data Representation

  • Computational thinking

  • Python programming

  • Web design

Assessed with end of unit test after each unit followed by an end of year test.

Year 9 Computing

Topics covered in year 9 will include:

  • Cybercrime

  • Computer Networks

  • Data Representation

  • Algorithms and programming techniques

  • Creating programs

  • Ethical, legal and environmental issue

Assessed with end of unit test after each unit followed by an end of year test.

Aims

Our curriculum aims to ensure all students are able to:

  • understand and apply the fundamental principles of computing

  • analyse problems in computational terms and have practical experience of writing computer programs

  • evaluate and apply information technology analytically to solve problems

  • become responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information communication technology

  • use technology in a safe, respectful and responsible manner

Extra Curriculum Activity

Coding club for year 7-8