Computer Science

Vision

Colchester’s Academy vision is to nurture students offering all a learning experience and curriculum that is broad, balanced and relevant. We believe that it should engage and challenge students, enable each of them to fulfil their individual potential and equip them with the requisite knowledge, vocabulary, and meta cognitive skills required in an ever-changing and increasingly demanding world.

We live in a world where Computing is an integral part of our daily lives. Our energy at Colchester Academy comes from our passion to ensure we build a culture of computational thinking, critical thinking, problem solving and creativity so that students have the best outcomes to thrive and become successful members of a digital society.

Our curriculum is planned and sequenced to ensure our students are progressing year on year and getting the flavour of topics in GCSE as they progress through to :

utilises Rosenhine’s Principles of Instruction through our teaching pedagogy.
use and apply key vocabulary in each topic.
use retrieval practice to build upon prior knowledge and develop students' long term memory.
use questioning and modelling to extensively teach new concepts and develop cognitive skills.
Scaffolding will be used to support students on complicated tasks, coupling with stretch and challenges as they develop confidence in every lesson.
Use opportunities throughout KS3 and 4 to develop their extended writing skills.

Key Stage 3

Our Key Stage 3 curriculum has been designed to enable students to be computational thinkers, digitally literate when communicating and presenting information and creative in digital technologies. The curriculum mixes Computer Science, business IT, Media and digital literacy to ensure students are taught a range of skills to apply to different subjects and use beyond their school life. Skills and knowledge have been mapped to the National Curriculum and to new concepts to prepare students for GCSE content and provide them with a broad knowledge of Computer Science and design.

Year 7 Computer Science	Topics Covered:
	Introduction to School Systems E-Safety Introduction to MS Office (Spreadsheets) Scratch Game Programming Computational Thinking 1

Year 8 Computer Science	Topics Covered:
Autumn	E Safety Microbit Programming Mobile App Development
Spring	Computational Thinking Spreadsheets
Summer	Impact of Digital Technology Python Programming 1 Computing Systems - Hardware and Software

Year 9 Computer Science	Topics Covered:
Autumn	Mobile App Development Computer Networks
Spring	Computational Thinking 3 Python Programming 2
Summer	Binary and Data Representation Boolean Logic

comp and business curriculum map 2023 24 ks3.pdf

Key Stage 4

Our Key Stage 4 curriculum focuses on two distinct areas of Computer Science; algorithms & programming and the principles of Computer Science. The two areas in the curriculum are blended together to create a practical subject, to encourage computational thinkers who can apply learning in the classroom to real-word systems. The curriculum is mapped to the GCSE specification, with a constant focus on retrieval practice to allow students to fully master more complex computer science principles.

Year 10 Computer Science	Topics Covered:
Autumn	Boolean Logic Data Storage and Units Algorithms Computational Thinking Practical Programming
Spring	System Architecture Programming Fundamentals Memory and Storage Practical Programming
Summer	Memory and Storage Computer Networks, Connections and Protocols Programming Fundamentals Exam Preparation Year 10 Mocks

Year 11 Computer Science	Topics Covered:
Autumn	Network Security Systems Software Producing Robust Programs Impacts of Digital Technology Programming languages and IDE
Spring	Algorithms Practical Programming Mock Revision Exam Preparation
Summer	Exam Preparation

comp and business curriculum map 2023 24 ks4.pdf

Useful Links

Title	URL (link)
GCSE Bitesize	https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zmtchbk
Craig ‘n’ Dave	https://student.craigndave.org/gcse-ocr-j277-computer-science-videos
Teach ICT	https://teach-ict.com/2016/GCSE_Computing/OCR_J277/OCR_J277_home.html
Scratch	https://scratch.mit.edu/
CodeCademy	https://www.codecademy.com/
Sololearn	https://www.sololearn.com/
W3Schools	https://www.w3schools.com/
Seneca Learning	https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/

Specifications

Title	URL (link)
OCR GCSE Computer Science	https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/computer-science-j277-from-2020/