Business, IT/Computing and Vocational Education
Head of Business and ICT
The department is a very creative and dynamic environment with every teacher able to communicate their passion for their subjects. The department consists of four very experienced members of staff who work closely as a team. Business Studies has a dedicated classroom with excellent resources. The Information Technology (IT) and Computer Science teaching is based across four dedicated classrooms, each with 32 computers and all having air-conditioning. The department covers many courses across different exam boards and grading criteria. We offer Business, Digital Information Technology and Computer Science courses at both GCSE and A level.
At KS3 groups are taught both Information Technology and computer science in fully mixed ability classrooms, allowing students to make an informed decision at the end of Year 9 for options. The intention is to offer a high-quality curriculum which allows students to use computational thinking and creativity, learning about the principles of computation and information systems and thus using their knowledge in programming. This makes students digitally literate, regardless of their abilities or background, so they can become digital citizens of the world.
At KS4, they can choose the GCSE OCR Computer Science course or the more creative Tech Award in Digital Information Technology. In the sixth form, at KS5, we offer the BTEC National Information Technology and A - level Computer Science. In the sixth form, as part of the enrichment activities we also run a Digital Enterprise Award. Business is an option for GCSE where we deliver the Edexcel specification. This is followed through into the A - level Edexcel Business course. The business course is a very popular option and students enjoy the many varied activities this subject allows. Business should enhance students' understanding of the world of work. Students will look at business enterprise and finance, as well as marketing and human resources.
Course Summary
KS3 (YEARS 7-9) COMPUTER SCIENCE
Logins, passwords, files and folders. Email Systems. Using Edulink and MS Teams. Online Safety and developing awareness of online dangers such as phishing, grooming, and fraud. Fake websites. Copyright.
DTP skills. Presenting information. Creating Animations. Photo editing skills. Spreadsheet Modelling. Databases. Building websites and HTML coding. Computing pioneers. Scratch Programming. Small Basic Programming. Coding with Python. Microbits and Bit Bots. App builder.
KS4 (YEARS 10-11)
GCSE (9-1) BUSINESS
- Theme 1 Investigating small business - Enterprise and entrepreneurship; Spotting a business opportunity; Putting a business idea into practice; Making the business effective; Understanding external influences on business.
- Theme 2 Building a business - Growing the business; Making marketing decisions; Making product decisions; Making financial decisions; Making human resource decisions.
GCSE (9-1) COMPUTING J277 OCR
- J277/01: Computer systems- systems architecture; memory and storage; computer networks, connections and protocols; network security; systems software; ethical, legal and environmental impacts of digital technology.
- J277/02: Computational thinking, algorithms and programming- Algorithms; programming fundamentals; producing robust programs; boolean logic; programming languages and Integrated Development Environments
Computer Science Learning Journey
IT – TECH AWARD IN DIGITAL APPLICATIONS
- Exploring User Interface Design Principles and Project Planning Techniques – What is a user interface?; Design Principles; User Needs; Designing an efficient user interface.
- Collecting, Presenting and Interpreting
- Effective Digital Working Practices- How and why modern technologies are used by organisations and stakeholders to access adn manipulate data, and to provide access to systems and tools in order to complete tasks; How modern technologies are used to manage teams, to enable stakeholders to access tools and services, and to communicate effectively; How the increased reliance of organisations on digital systems to hold data and perform vital functions presents a range of challenges and dangers. The nature of threats to digital systems adn ways that they can be mitigated through organisational policy, procedures and the actions of individuals; the wider implications of digital systems and their use; How legislation covering data protection, computer crimes and intellectual property has an impact on the way that organisations and individuals use digital systems and data. Procedures that organisations must follow in order to conform to legal requirements and professional guidelines; how individuals in the digital sector plan solutions and communicate meaning and intention. How different forms of written and diagrammatical communication can be used to express understanding and demonstrate the flow of data and information.
KS5 (YEARS 12-13) SIXTH-FORM OPTIONS
A LEVEL BUSINESS (Edexcel)
- Theme 1: Marketing and people – meeting customer needs; the market; marketing mix and strategy; managing people; entrepreneurs and leaders.
- Theme 2: Managing business activities – raising finance; financial planning; managing finance; resource management; external influences.
- Theme 3: Business decisions and strategy – business objectives and strategy; business growth; decision-making techniques; influences on business decisions; assessing competitiveness; managing change.
- Theme 4: Global business – globalisation; global markets and business; expansion; global marketing; global industries and companies (multinational corporations).
A LEVEL COMPUTING
The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices; Software and software development; Exchanging data; Data types, data structures and algorithms; Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues; Elements of computational thinking; Problem solving and programming; Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms. Analysis of the problem; Design of the solution; Developing the solution; Evaluation.
BTEC NATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (Edexcel)
- Information Technology Systems – Digital devices in IT systems; Transmitting data; Operating online; Protecting data and information; Impact of IT systems; Issues.
- Creating Systems to Manage Information – The purpose and structure of relational database management systems; Standard methods and techniques to design relational database solutions; Creating a relation database structure; Evaluating a database development project.
- Using Social Media in Business – Explore the impact of social media on the ways in which businesses promote their products and services; Develop a plan to use social media in a business to meet requirements; implement the use of social media in a business.
- Data Modelling - Investigate data modelling and how it can be used in the decision-making process; Design a data model to meet client requirements; Develop a data model to meet client requirements.