ICT and Business Department
ICT and Business Department
As a department we are committed to developing pupils’ ICT skills and capabilities to support its use in other subjects and the wider world.
We believe that all pupils should be competent and efficient users of ICT and that their ICT capability will develop as they move through the school.
We accept the importance of preparing our pupils to participate in a world dominated by changes in technology. We strive to encourage our pupils to be independent learners, we aim to do this by giving all our pupils the opportunity to learn to use ICT skills effectively, and apply those skills in a variety of ways across a range of subjects.
Through Business we aim to encourage a sense of entrepreneurship, an understanding of the world of work and business and develop the ICT skills necessary to participate in a working environment.
Approaches to teaching
ICT is delivered in the school as both a discrete lesson and throughout the curriculum. In Years 7 pupils develop ICT skills through ‘Skills’. Year 8 and 9 pupils are given one lesson per week of discrete ICT teaching. This is supported by cross curricular work in other subjects. In Years 10 and 11 pupils can opt to take GCSE ICT or OCR Nationals in ICT as a discrete subject. They will also be supported in using ICT skills in all their subjects. Pupils can also opt to study GCSE Business and Communication Systems at GCSE.
Extra curricular activities
All pupils are welcome to join ICT club, this is run during break and lunchtime and after school. Business pupils are encouraged to get involved with Young Enterprise, where pupils set up and run their own business and compete on a local and national level. More able and talented pupils in ICT are given an opportunity to join Technoclub and develop Smart Phone applications.