Year 9 ICT

Brief summary of the syllabus:

All pupils follow a course leading to the OCR GCSE in ICT Specification B (1095). They will be expected to demonstrate ability in several areas of ICT including:

• Core knowledge underpinning the use of ICT
• Practical skills and understanding rRelating to the use of ICT applications
• Functionality and purpose
• Problems Solving using ICT
• Applications of ICT and their Eeffects

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 things out
• Developing ideas and making things happen
• Exchanging and sharing information
• Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses

Students will continue to develop skills based upon the themes of the National Curriculum, and an assessment of their attainment level will be completed.

What skills/attributes are being developed and examined?

Students develop theoretical knowledge and understanding by examining the general principles of information- processing in given situations and abstracting general principles from given examples. They identify a range of needs and opportunities, carry out systematic analysis, and design and evaluate effective ways of using ICT. Students use complex lines of enquiry to find and select information, using a wide range of resources.

Students will develop knowledge and understanding of the range and scope of information processing and communication applications and of the techniques and systems, including the software and hardware sub-systems needed to support them. They will use ICT terms and definitions appropriately and will be able to contrast and compare related ideas.

Students will use ICT to share, exchange and present work, demonstrating a clear sense of audience and purpose. They will discuss methods of detecting the loss or corruption of information and describe steps, which can minimise the likelihood of the abuse of personal information and reflect critically on their use of ICT and show understanding of the effects of its use in the wider world.

The skills, attributes and National Curriculum attainment levels will be examined through internal written assessment.

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What can parents expect to see in class work generally and in homework specifically?

Class work and homework will contain a variety of approaches, ranging from short 'question and answer'; practical problem- solving and investigation, to extended pieces of work involving research and presentation of work using the computer for a particular audience.

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What can parents do to help at this stage in this subject?

• Ensure that examination preparation is well planned. Pupils should prepare revision notes from the textbook and his own class notes on each of the topics for the tests.
• Check your son's ICT file and ensure that it is well ordered and tidy.

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Setting and Course Schedule:

Each boy will attend a double lesson of ICT each week. They Pupils will study the main theoretical and practical components of the course throughout Year 9, in preparation for the coursework and examination in Year 10.

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Tests in ICT:

During the scheduled blocks it is envisaged that your son will have the opportunity to undertake examination practice tests drawn from past OCR papers and covering the entire breadth of the syllabus. These tests may be used to judge each boy's commitment to his revision. Tests will include elements to test their aptitude for ICT and Computing at A-Level.

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Revision:

Students will be expected to complete revision summaries for each of the chapters in the textbook and make use of other sources of information to clarify any weak areas they have identified. They will be expected to make use of relevant revision websites and end- of- chapter and section questions from the textbook.

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Pupil Target Setting:

Feedback from tests, examexaminations and homework highlight areas of the curriculum from which a boy can determine for himself those areas in which he is confident and those in which he is weak. Pupils are encouraged to formulate action plans which concentrate upon improving the weaker areas.

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Upper Band Grade Descriptor:

GCSE ICT - A Grade Descriptor

Candidates show a good knowledge and understanding of the range and scope of information processing and communication applications and of the techniques and systems, including the software and hardware sub-systems, needed to support them. They use ICT terms and definitions appropriately and are able to contrast and compare related ideas.

Candidates apply principles of information processing to given situations and abstract principles from given examples. They identify a range of needs and opportunities, carry out systematic analysis, and design and evaluate effective ways of using ICT systems. Candidates evaluate information sources, software packages and computer models, analysing the situations for which they were developed and assessing their efficiency, appropriateness and ease of use.

Candidates use complex lines of enquiry to find and select information, using a wide range of sources. They explore, develop and interpret information to carry out a range of tasks and produce effective working solutions to a range of problems, including designing and implementing systems for others to use.

Candidates show efficiency and economy in developing, testing and refining sets of instructions to automate processes and to make things happen, including responding to external events. They use and develop computer models to investigate and test hypotheses. Candidates use ICT to share, exchange and present work, demonstrating a clear sense of audience and purpose. They discuss methods of detecting the loss or corruption of information and describe the steps that can minimise the likelihood of abuse of personal information, and reflect critically on their use of ICT, showing understanding of the effects of its use in the wider world.

Key Stage 3 National Strategy - Level Descriptors

Level 8

Pupils independently select appropriate information sources and ICT tools for specific tasks, taking into account ease of use and suitability. They design successful ways to collect and prepare information for processing. They design and implement systems for others to use. When developing systems that respond to events, they make appropriate use of feedback. They take part in informed discussions about the social, economic, ethical and moral issues raised by ICT.

Exceptional Performance

Pupils evaluate software packages and ICT-based models, analysing the situations for which they were developed and assessing their efficiency, ease of use and appropriateness. They suggest refinements to existing systems and design, implement and document systems for others to use, predicting some of the consequences that could arise from the use of such systems. When discussing their own and others' use of ICT, they use their knowledge and experience of information systems to inform their views on the social, economic, political, legal, ethical and moral issues raised by ICT.

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