Digital Technology

Welcome to St Killian’s ICT Department. Within our department we have experienced and enthusiastic staff who work together to ensure our students have the ability to be good ‘Digital Citizens’. We strive to ensure that all of our students can use ICT purposefully and confidently to find information, communicate and make a positive contribution to society.

Computers are changing the ways in which we learn, communicate, enjoy leisure time and live our lives. Today’s citizens need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to enable them to participate in an Information rich society.

The ICT Department is a thriving department and plays a big part in the lives of all students in St Killian’s College.

All key stage 3 pupils have access to ICT classes in the curriculum. We offer a broad range of software packages and skill based lessons in an effort to introduce cross curricular skills that will be beneficial in other subjects, and also equip our students for KS4 courses. Subject content at KS3 includes Microsoft Skills building, Cyber safety, Kodu, Code.org, Gamemaker, Dreamweaver and Python.

Key Stage 4

Pupils who chose to follow the GCSE path in this subject area, have two choices.

· CCEA GCSE Digital Technology – Multimedia route

· OCR GCSE Computer Science

The Digital Technology specification aims to encourage students to:

· acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of digital technology in a range of contexts

· develop and evaluate digital technology based solutions to solve problems

· develop their understanding of current and emerging technologies and the social and commercial impact of these technologies

· develop their understanding of the legal, social, economic, ethical and environmental impact of digital technology

· recognise potential risks when using digital technology and develop safe, secure and responsible practice

· develop the skills needed to work collaboratively.

The Computer Science specification aims to encourage students to:

· develop practical and creative problem solving skills

· develop understanding and application of core concepts in computer science

· analyse problems in computational terms

· devise creative solutions by designing, writing, testing and evaluating problems.

· Learn to program using high level languages

Key Stage 5

Pupils who chose to follow the Post-16 route in the ICT subject area, have two choices.

GCE CCEA A Level Digital Technology

This course is designed for students interested in current and emerging technologies, the impact they have and how to use them effectively.

New technologies, networks and services are transforming the way we communicate with each other, how we work and the way we learn.

GCE Digital Technology gives students opportunities to develop advanced skills in a range of development environments and apply these to relevant work-related scenarios.

Students will also acquire other skills valued in further and higher education, as well as in the workplace; these include research, investigation, analysis, communication skills, problem solving and working with others.

Pearson BTEC National Extended Certificate in IT

This course comprises of the following units of work:

· Unit 1: Leaners study the role of computer systems & the implications of their use in personal & professional studies (Exam Unit- externally assessed)

· Unit 2: Leaners study the design, creation, testing & evaluation of a relational database system to manage information (Case Study - Controlled Assessment)

· Unit 3: Leaners explore how businesses use social media to promote their products and services. Leavers also implement social media activities in a business to meet requirements.

· Unit 6: Leaners investigate website development principles. They will design& develop a website using scripting languages.

ICT is cross curricular and so students are encouraged to use ICT in a variety of ways through all the departments within the school. We have five computer suites with the latest computer systems and software to facilitate the department.