About Computing
Take a look at the world around you. How close to a computer are you? When was the last time you used one? When was the last time you were creative with one? Life without computers is almost unimaginable. There’s nothing that doesn’t involve computing in some way. At PMSC, from Year 7 onwards, students will not only learn how to use computers and a wide range of software but also how to programme using a range of languages.
Years 10 & 11: GCSE Computer Science (OCR)
The course is made up of two units. Unit 1 looks at Computer Systems and is assessed with a 1 hour and 30 minute exam worth 50% of the GCSE. Unit 2 examines Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming and is also assessed by an exam worth 50% of the GCSE.
Year 10: Cambridge National Information Technology
The Cambridge National in Information Technologies improves students’ knowledge of the digital environment and their confidence with IT. Students learn about data management issues and develop practical skills by planning and creating an integrated technological solution to communicate information. The course is assessed by an exam worth 50% of the marks and a piece of coursework also worth 50% of the marks.
Key Stage 3
Throughout Years 7, 8 & 9 Computing is taught by specialist teachers with students having a lesson per week. Year 7 students begin by learning about some of the issues related to suing computers safely and responsibly prior to working with Scratch. In Year 8 students will be covering programming using HTML before moving on to website design. Finally Year 9 students have begun the year developing their programming skills using recap algorithms, Pseudocode and Python. A complete break down down of the KS3 curriculum is in the attached document below.
