How we use computers and computer programs has defined the world we live in today. Computer scientists connect the abstract with the concrete, creating the products we use every day. A fundamental understanding of computing enables students to be not just educated users of technology, but the innovators capable of designing new computers and programs to improve the quality of life for everyone. Needless to say computer scientists are always in high demand. Computer science is a practical subject where students can apply the academic principles learned in the classroom to real-world systems. It’s an intensely creative subject that combines invention and excitement, and can look at the natural world through a digital prism.

Skill

Each child will develop:

• An understanding and ability to apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including: abstraction, decomposition, logic, algorithms and data representation
• The ability to analyse problems in computational terms through practical experience of solving such problems, including writing programs to do so, and error correction
• The capacity to think creatively, innovatively, analytically, logically and critically
• The capacity to see relationships between different aspects of computer science, in particular the relationship between hardware and software components, and how they communicate with each other, and with other systems
• Mathematical skills
• Digital literacy
• An understanding of the fundamentals of e-Safety

Character

Generally, students much prefer to collaborate than to work alone, and computing can give them the disciplines and methods they need to work successfully on large uncertain projects, and in collaborative teams.

Computational thinking also helps to build resilience through problem solving and encourages students to take risks; computers are forgiving in the sense that it is easy to rectify a mistake simply by clicking undo. Although students need to be aware that virtual mistakes – such as those found in bad programming – bugs – can have just as much impact as physical ones, Computer Science by its nature can teach students how to “fail well”.

It is essential that students learn how to become responsible “digital practitioners”. This involves, for example, good e-safety and file management practice, commonly termed as “acceptable use”; and being conversant in the moral, ethical, legal and social issues behind technology.

Experience

Computing teaching nurtures students’ interests, passions, and sense of engagement with the world around them. Programming is both the expression and implementation and of computational thinking, and a role in which millions of people across the planet are employed; and Computer Science students simulate this job role every week in their lessons. In order to embed some of the “digital practitioner” elements identified in the previous section, and gain an understanding of the significant current emphasis in the technology sector, these simulated experiences will involve some focus on cybersecurity.

Criticality

Computing students learn logical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, design and structured problem solving—all concepts and skills that are valuable well beyond the computing classroom. Students gain awareness of the resources required to implement and deploy a solution and how to deal with real-world and business constraints. These skills are applicable in many contexts, from science and engineering to the humanities and business, and have already led to deeper understanding in many areas.

Computational thinking teaches you how to tackle large problems by breaking them down into a sequence of smaller, more manageable problems. It allows you to tackle complex problems in efficient ways that operate at huge scale. It involves designing, using and evaluating computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems. It which enable students to focus on the most pertinent aspects of a problem, and move from specific solutions to general ones.

Computational thinking involves a clear focus on tangible problems; a large collection of proven techniques such as abstraction, decomposition, iteration, and recursion; an understanding of the capabilities of humans and machines alike; and a keen awareness of the cost of it all.

Students also develop a “healthy scepticism” when searching for and evaluating digital information prior to its use: in particular, critically evaluating the reliability, accuracy and quality of that information.

Students also need to develop efficiency when working with technology, which necessarily involves working with computers in an organised manner.

Core Computing

	Term 1		Term 2		Term 3
Year 9	Careers programme	Cybersecurity	Data science	Physical computing	Representations (audio-visual)   Multimedia project	Computers and the Law
Year 10	Being safe online Careers programme		Media applications Careers programme		Media applications Careers programme
Year 11	Being safe online Careers programme		Media applications Careers programme		Media applications Careers programme

*Year 9 have 1 hour of core computing every week

** Year 10 and Year 11 have 1 hour of core computing every two weeks

The KS4 course in Computing is OCR GCSE in Computer Science.

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 10	Computer systems: systems architecture, memory, storage, networks, and ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns relating to technology	Computational thinking: standard algorithms, computational logic, and data representation.	Practical programming project- the Python programming language.
Year 11	Computer systems: network topologies, protocols and layers, system security, and system software	Computational thinking: advanced algorithms, robust/defensive programming, and translators/facilities of languages.	Completion of the practical programming project

ICT

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 10	Unit 2 ICT in context   Image editing software Databases	Unit 2 ICT in context   Spreadsheets	Unit 2 ICT in context   Mail merge External coursework
Year 11	Unit 2 ICT in context   External coursework	Unit 2 ICT in context Unit 1 ICT in society   External coursework	Unit 1 ICT in society