Year 7 ICT
Brief summary of the syllabus:
The course aims to ensure that pupils are confident users of ICT to at least National Curriculum level 4. They will be able to word- rocess documents, manipulate data using spreadsheets and databases, write sequences of instructions, present information in a variety of ways and retrieve information effectively. The National Curriculum programme of study for ICT in Key Stage 3 groups the knowledge, skills and understanding students need to acquire into themes. These themes, which characterise what people normally do when they work with ICT, are:
- Finding information
- Developing ideas
- Communicating information
- Evaluating
What skills and attributes are being developed and examined?
Pupils will become increasingly independent users of ICT tools and information sources. They will have a better understanding of how ICT can help their work in other subjects and develop their ability to judge when and how to use ICT ad where it has its limitations. They will become more focused, efficient and rigorous in their use of ICT, and carry out a range of increasingly complex tasks. They will think about the quality and reliability of information. Pupils will be taught key skills in ICT. Pupils will learn to apply their skills to familiar and unfamiliar situations. All of the skills and attributes will be tested through class work, homework, tests and assignments.
What can parents expect to see in class work and homework?
In class work and homework parents should expect to see a variety of activities aimed at developing their son's knowledge and skills in ICT, including the preparation of presentations using the computer, annotation of work, and printing of presentations. Presentations will include documents, spreadsheets, databases, web pages, and multimedia presentations. Evidence of proofreading should be expected.
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What can parents do to help in this subject at this stage?
Encourage your son to practise his ICT skills so that he is able to apply them to familiar and unfamiliar situations. Encourage the production of a high standard of work through the consideration of layout, formatting and audience. Encourage boys to proofread their work, checking the content and layout before printing and submitting. Encourage your son to submit all work on time and catch up on all work missed as a result of absence. Ensure that your son keeps a backup of his ICT work by saving it to a home computer, the school computer and a memory device, such as a memory stick.
Discourage your son from breaching copyright and plagiarising. All work he completes must be his own and there are stiff penalties for those who copy other peoples' work. Encourage safe working practices by ensuring your son takes breaks from using the computer and avoids long periods of repetitive game- playing which can lead to RSI. Check that your son is using his time on the computer wisely as it is very easy to become distracted by other activities when using a computer.
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Testing and Setting:
Pupils will be assessed in a variety of ways, including class work, homework, written tests, skills checklists and assignments. All assessment will identify the National Curriculum level that the pupil is working towards. The testing schedule will be:
- End of September: Baseline assessment - written test
- Autumn half-term: Presentation assessment task
- Spring half-term: Internet safety assessment task
- Easter: Spreadsheets assessment task
- May half-term: End of year assessment - written test
- Summer Term: Databases assessment task
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Revision:
Pupils will be using the handbook for Key Stage 3 ICT, from which they should revise for all tests. They should also revise from notes they prepare from lessons and homework. Pupils may be referred for additional revision to the Learning Resources and specific web sites.
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Pupil Target-Setting:
At the conclusion of each unit of work boys will be expected to review their own learning and set themselves targets for improving their performance, knowledge, understanding and skills for future units of work. They will also be guided on appropriate targets for improvement through assessment feedback. They will be able to check their own performance against National Curriculum Levels.
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Working towards Target National Curriculum Levels:
In the Autumn term, each pupil and his parents will be made aware of a target National Curriculum Level which he should be aiming to achieve by the end of the academic year. Progress towards this target will be reviewed at the end of each half-term and in the mid-year review of pupil progress, which is reported home in the Spring term. The criteria for each National Curriculum Level in ICT can be read here.
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