To help keep all pupils safe, please ensure the school has up-to-date information about any allergies your child may have. Accurate allergy information enables us to put appropriate support plans in place, train staff effectively, and respond quickly in an emergency. We all have a part to play in creating a safe environment, including following our nut-aware policy and being mindful of the food brought into school. If your child has an allergy, please contact the school or update their details via Arbor. Be Allergy Aware and Save A Life - see more here.
In KS3 pupils are taught content around the 3 pillars of the National Curriculum – Computer Science, Information Technology and Digital Literacy.
In an ever changing technological world, pupils are taught how to use technology safely, also responsibly. Students learn how to see potential threats and minimise their risks to dangers they face in the online world. We ensure E-safety is covered in every year to develop an understanding of the responsibilities of using online methods of communication to stay safe online.
Our pupils will gain an understanding of using a variety of digital applications, including email, word, publisher, PowerPoint and website-authoring software as we prepare our pupils for the demands of the wider world. We aim to give our pupils exposure to different applications they will encounter in further education and employment and build their confidence to create digital content such as websites, logos and audio.
By the end of KS3, pupils will have been taught programming. The skills delivered are made progressively more challenging as their educational journey develops, to embed key programming concepts and build on prior knowledge and to cover skills needed for further study and employment in this sector. This includes key sequence, selection and iteration concepts that are the fundamentals of logical thinking and problem-solving.
At KS4 students can choose either Computer Science or IT or opt to take both subjects – offering a broad educational experience and allowing students the opportunity to specialise in different areas of the digital world. With Computer Science, pupils will expand upon the sequence, selection and iteration programming skills harnessed at KS3, gain further experience of different programming concepts, whilst also expanding on the numeracy elements delivered at KS4 including number systems and computational logic. Within the more creative IT qualification, pupils will gain key employability skills, create interactive products like images, audio, video and websites, in order to meet a design brief.
Pupils leave the Academy with a developed ability to problem-solve and answer computational algorithms using analytical skills, are able to work independently. These skills are transferrable and desirable for future study and employment in the digital world.