Digital science and business

Digital science and business introduces pupils to a range of ICT, computer science and business topics that will prepare them for their future choices and careers. The staff within the department encourage independent learning in lessons through the use of help sheets, video tutorials and webpages. Staff will also stretch students with extra challenges and encourage students to demonstrate their dedication to excellence within the subject.

Students will gain a firm grounding in the application of computer science and we also teach how to use ICT to solve problems, gather, analyse and present information.

All students will be provided with an academy email address together with cloud storage space. This can be accessed at home and at school to enable students to access work/homework easily. The department uses Microsoft Teams for all lessons with resources, classwork and some assessments located on Teams, this aids students in preparation for remote learning, homework and using collaborative tools which are used in many organisations today.

Each year across key stage 3 is structured the same with a topic every half term, each with a method of assessment and a mix of topics ranging from ICT and computer science.

Year 7

In year 7, the topics covered range from ICT topics such as digital footprint, magical spreadsheets, computer graphics and art alongside some computer science topics such as ‘Think like a Computer Scientist’, ‘Virtual Pet’ and ‘Under the hood of a PC’. All of these topics will link to topics taught in year 8/9 and possibly GCSE if they choose the subject.

Year 8

In year 8, the topics range from ICT such as quiz game spreadsheets, creating a multipage website, moving onto computer science such as ‘cracking the code’, programming, foundations of computing and sorting and searching. Year 8 covers some history when the students investigate Bletchley Park and the part it played during World War 2.

Year 9

In year 9, the topics are more relatable to computer science in preparation for their option choices, the students will study cybercrime, digital circuits, getting down and online, programming and then a topic will be specifically related to business studies for the students to gain an insight into what business studies is before they make their GCSE options.