Strategic Lead for Computing: Mr J. McQueeney

 

 

Pupils at Scissett Middle School study Computing for one hour per fortnight throughout Year 6, and one hour per week in Year 7 and 8.

In Computing lessons the pupil : computer ratio is always 1:1. Other ICT devices in school for pupils to use include Kindle e-readers, digital cameras, digital video cameras and electronic keyboards in music.

 

Click here to see how British Moral Values are taught in Computing.

 

 

Year 6

In Year 6 Computing, pupils will study five modules: 

  • Basic Skills 

  • Spreadsheets 

  • Road Safety & Computing 

  • Scratch LOGO 

  • Games and Variables 

Basic Skills

Students will learn how to log onto the school network and discuss the importance of secure passwords. They will then use a range of programs as an introduction to ICT in the school, with an emphasis on saving, retrieving and printing work correctly, and on using technology responsibly and safely. 

Spreadsheets

Students will work through a set of learning exercises in Excel covering cell references, basic formulae ( +, -, /, *) and the SUM and AVERAGE functions. 

Road Safety & Computing

Pupils will use the program FLOWOL to create sequences of instructions related to road safety – e.g. zebra crossing, school crossing and traffic lights.  They will look at the stopping distances of cars and create a spreadsheet to produce a graph of stopping distances. 

Scratch LOGO 

Pupils will create some simple programs in Scratch. They will go on to program LOGO turtle commands in Scratch to draw regular polygons. 

Games and Variables

Pupils will create a “Bubble Popping” game using Scratch.

Year 7

In Year 7 Computing, pupils will study nine modules: 

  • Spreadsheets and Charts 

  • Bitmap and Vector Graphics 

  • How Computers Work 

  • Graphics Programming 

  • Encryption and Code Breaking 

  • Animation, Sequencing and Control 

  • RGB Colour 

  • Integrated Project – “The Sandwich Shop” 

  • Integrated Project – “Super Powered” 

Spreadsheets and Charts 

Pupils revise the spreadsheet work carried out in year 6.  They then go on to work on profit/loss spreadsheets, absolute and relative cell references and creating graphs for various scenarios. 

Bitmap and Vector Graphics 

Pupils will work on a series of image manipulation tasks. They will gather, input and process both real life and computer created images. Pupils will look at company logos and at what features make a good logo. They will produce logos for specific companies or organisations and evaluate their own work. They will create a portfolio of work in PowerPoint. 

How Computers Work 

Pupils learn about the parts that make up a modern pc. They will revisit the use of 4-bit binary numbers, and extend this to converting 8-bit binary numbers between denary and binary and vice versa. They will look at logic gates and how they can be used to create various outputs from binary inputs. 

Encryption and Code Breaking  

Pupils will look at some simple codes and carry out some exercises to encrypt messages.  They will look at why encryption is important today, particularly in relation to the Internet. Pupils will then learn about the work of Alan Turing and build spreadsheets to break coded messages. They will look at ASCII code and how it is used in a modern computer. 

Animation, Sequencing and Control 

Pupils will use FLOWOL to create sequences of instructions using selection and repetition.  They will design a toy for a young child that has hidden functions. Pupils will produce some animations using Scratch and engage in a series of problem-solving exercises using Scratch.   

RGB Colour 

Pupils will revisit the RGB colour model, carry out some exercises to revise RGB colour and then take a summative test.  They will complete a programming task in BASIC to animate a sprite and use the RGB colour model to alter the default colours. 

Integrated Project – ‘Sandwich Shop’ 

Pupils complete a project to set up a business selling sandwiches. They will need to create a logo for the company, create a spreadsheet to calculate profit/loss and design a three panel leaflet to advertise the business. Some pupils may go on to create business cards and letterheads for the company.  

Integrated Project - 'Super Powered' 

Pupils will work on a series of tasks using different programs to create a superhero character. They will design a costume, a team logo and team identity cards. They will use a spreadsheet to break a coded message, and then use a database to identify a supervillain. Finally, they will use the programming skills from a previous module to control a robot through a maze to the villain’s hideout.

 

Year 8

In Year 8 Computing, pupils will study eight modules: 

  • Information and Communication 

  • How computers Work 

  • The Maths Machine 

  • Sequencing and Control 

  • Programming in BASIC 

  • Binary, Hexadecimal and Colours 

  • Spreadsheets and Selection 

  • Databases 

  • The Guessing Game 

  • Sound and Vision 

Information and Communication 

Pupils will use spreadsheets to enter data, analyse results and produce bar charts and scatter graphs.  They will work in a word processing program to edit text and use a DTP package to create a poster for a specific audience. 

How Computers Work 

Pupils will revise binary and denary conversion, learn about hexadecimal numbers and look at how hexadecimal numbers are used in RGB colour codes. They will revise AND, OR and NOT gates and then look at NAND, NOR and XOR gates. They will then complete exercises using truth tables for the gates or sequences of gates. Pupils will also learn about computer parts and memory, storage and transfer speeds, and units such as Kb, KB, mb, MB, MiB etc. 

The Maths Machine 

Pupils will create some simple programs to revise the use of variables in BASIC.  They will then create simple programs to add, subtract, multiply and divide two numbers from user inputs.  They will revisit the use of IF…THEN…ELSE selection and write a short program using a series of IF…THEN…ELSE decisions. Each of these skills are then put together in a project to create a “Maths Machine” – a calculator that will carry out basic functions, but will also calculate areas of shapes, square roots etc using the previously visited functions and incorporating them into procedures. 

Sequencing and Control 

Pupils will program in Scratch using variables to move a sprite.  In FLOWOL pupils will complete an assessed project to create a system for a car park that controls IN and OUT barriers, counts cars in and out and utilises a “Full” sign that automatically stops cars from entering until another car leaves.  

Programming in BASIC 

Pupils will work through a series of programming problems, learning new commands as they proceed.  They will bring these skills together to create a program that simulates the rolling of a die using random numbers. 

Binary, Hexadecimal and Colours 

Pupils will revisit the theory work on binary and hexadecimal numbers and how these are used in the RGB colour model.  They will revisit computer memory and storage units.  They will create programs in BASIC that convert binary data into images on the computer. 

Spreadsheets and Selection 

Pupils will revise the work they have previously done using spreadsheets – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, SUM and AVERAGE, use of absolute and relative cells. They will then go on to learn how to use IF statements and the COUNTIF function. Finally, they will use their knowledge of spreadsheets to create a general knowledge quiz that will automatically give the user their score.  Some pupils will also look at recording and editing macros in a spreadsheet, and using RGB codes to change colours through the use of a macro. 

Databases 

Pupils will look at how databases are used and discuss how their own details are collected and stored on various databases around the world.  Using Microsoft Access, they will learn how to create a new database, create a user form for adding records, add, delete and edit records, import records from a CSV file, and use queries to search a database using multiple criteria. 

The Guessing Game 

Pupils will create a “Guessing Game” in BASIC where the user has a certain number of guesses to find a secret number.  They will create a user interface using custom programmed characters and use RGB codes to create custom colours. 

Sound and Vision 

Pupils will use images, video clips and sound to learn how to use a video editing package.  They will produce a 30 second holiday advert and a 60 second film trailer. 

Careers in this subject

  • Computer programmer
  • Computer games design
  • Computer games programmer
  • System/network analyst
  • Cyber security/ethical hacking
  • Robotics and artificial intelligence
  • Social media manager
  • Web design/programming
  • Graphic design
  • Data analyst
  • It risk analyst
  • Digital marketing

British Moral Values

Click here to see how British Moral Values are taught in Computing at Scissett Middle School.