Mascalls School
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The ICT Department

ICT Department

Department Staff




Facilities

ICT is a growing department within Mascalls, Having just had a fifth dedicated ICT suite set up within the department. All Suites have in excess of 30 PCs with access to colour printing facilities, email, the Internet and a range of software, including Matchware Mediator, Microsoft Office 2010 and the Adobe CS5 Suite. Students will be using a range of computer peripherals within lessons including, headphones, microphones and digital cameras.

In Key stage 3 students have between 2 and 4 ICT lessons over 2 weeks. Other subjects also book ICT suites for subject specific ICT tasks, alongside all subject areas having access to banks of portable laptops for use within lessons. Students also have access to the computer suites every lunchtime should they require any further time for coursework or independent study.

Courses

Key Stage 3

In ICT at Key Stage 3, we are following a Personal learning and thinking skills based curriculum in Year 7, where the aim is to develop these skills in students, to enable them to be more effective independent learners in their future studies. In Year 8 and 9, we have a number of National Curriculum based units covering a range of areas including, Spreadsheet Modelling, Handling Data in Databases, Control and Monitoring and Managing projects.

Key Stage 4

In Key Stage 4 students have 2 ICT options open to them. The AQA GCSE ICT controlled assesment. This is a single GCSE option where 60% of the overall grade is portfolio based, and students take a theory exam at the end of the 2 year course making up the remaining 40% of their grade. The second option is the OCR National in ICT. This is classed as a double option on the timetable, however can equate to up to 3 GCSEs at C grade or above depending upon students individual progress. Students do not take any examinations for this qualification it is 100% coursework based.

Key Stage 5

In Key Stage 5 we offer students OCR Applied GCE in ICT at single level. This is a demanding course which comprises 3 units in Year 12 for the single option. If students take these qualifications through to A2 level, they then need to complete another 3 units. The subject matter of these units is varied and includes a large amount of business theory alongside more complex ICT skills in areas such as Websites, Multimedia Products, Programming and Networking.