ICT and Creative IT and Multimedia
Computing and digital media skills are fundamental to allow our students to be successful in a modern working environment. We aim to prepare our students for their future by providing opportunities to develop their digital literacy, computational thinking and creative use of technology in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed for an ever-changing digital world. We provide students with the knowledge of how to use IT and the internet safely, and the understanding of the dangers of the digital world as well as how to protect themselves.
Mrs S Bamford
Curriculum Leader
Our curriculum will:
Develop the character of all students
- Students are required to think critically, analytically and creatively to develop appropriate solutions to a problem/project brief
- Students will develop independence and confidence in using skills that would be relevant to the IT and media industry and wider workplace
- Students will develop resilience, developing skills to enable them to manage challenging activities.
- Students will design, plan, create/implement and review solutions which are fit for purpose meeting both client and target audience requirements
Ensure all students are literate and numerate
- Reciprocal reading and clarification tasks are embedded within every lesson of ICT/Computing and key words and phrases for every lesson are clearly defined before learning begins
- Subject specific terminology is enforced in both written and oral tasks and students are encouraged to ‘speak like an expert’
- Students will apply numeracy skills to calculate data capacity requirements and perform binary, denary and hexadecimal conversions. They will use numeracy to calculate pixel dimensions, resolution and file size of multimedia products
Build knowledge and aspirations of all students
- Learning episodes build on prior learning, specific topics are taught to connect learning
- Students develop their programming skills and multimedia creation skills from KS3
- Learning is frequently revisited to embed understanding
- During set assignments, students develop planning and project management skills (including setting and working to deadlines), digital design and core IT skills
- Students will use client briefs modelled on real-world scenarios to develop products for a specific audience and purpose, thus reflecting what would happen in a client/business project
Ensure all students have the secure foundations to progress into further education and employment
- The applications and techniques taught are directly transferrable to level 3 qualifications and beyond. For example, a student going on to study a degree in photography would be highly likely to use the same software that we teach - Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom
- KS4 courses are selected with further education pathways in mind and lead directly to connected level 3 qualifications, such as Creative iMedia Level 3 Award and OCR A Level Computer Science
- Careers are promoted through displays, SOL and a subject specific careers library
Develop cultural capital of all students
- Students have access to technology and a wide range of industry standard software that they may not otherwise get the chance to use
- Students have access to specialist hardware, such as DSLR cameras, which can be used in lessons, extra curricula and can be loaned to take home
- Various clubs and competitions are promoted throughout the year, such as the monthly photography competition, the BAFTA Young Games Designer competition and Innovate to Save the Planet
Information Technology KS3
Currently there are a lot of changes happening to the KS3 ICT curriculum so this information is subject to change.
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Creative iMedia
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Exam Board: OCR Qualification: BTEC Assessment: Coursework (controlled assessment) 75% Practical examination (developing web products) 25% |
Outline of course content: You will learn how to create elements for the web including interactive products, graphics, and multimedia. You will create websites for a range of audiences and purposes, and will use vector and bitmap tools to create graphics. |
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Outline of course structure: Unit 1 is about creating web products and is assessed by a 2.5 hour practical examination, in which you will be required to build a website and create the assets that it requires. You will learn how to create buttons and navigation bars, set up hyperlinks, embed video and audio, and how to format the appearance of your pages.
Coursework will either be based on graphics (unit 3) or multimedia (unit 2). In the graphics unit, you will learn how to create, edit, and repurpose graphic images for a range of audiences and purposes. You will work with vector and bitmap tools using the Adobe Creative Suite software, such as Photoshop and Fireworks.
In the multimedia unit you will learn how to create, edit, and repurpose multimedia elements, such as video, audio, and animation. You will have the opportunity to create your own multimedia products, such as a radio advert or promotional video.
In both units, you will plan and track your progress and present your work in a digital portfolio (e-portfolio). |
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Careers using ICTIT is used in almost every work place you can think of; offices, schools, call centres, factories, warehouses, hospitals, the Armed Forces. The list is endless!
Skills and how the subject relates to workTo work in the area of IT, you’ll need to be a good problem solver. IT work is usually about sorting out things which have gone wrong, working out how something can be done more effectively, or planning how a task is to be carried out.
IT work often involves being part of a team, so teamwork skills are important. Communications skills are also essential. You may be dealing with lots of people in an organisation who are not IT specialists, and it’s important you can explain things clearly to them and understand the help they need.
Potential jobs:Development jobs: The IT industry is always looking to improve aspects, such as hardware, software, and operating systems, etc. Consider how phones, tablets, laptops have changed in the last five years. If you’ve got the right skills would this be a great job for you.
IT managers: Think about huge organisations such as the NHS, the Armed Forces, Government departments, Local Government, and Universities. They all need to make sure they have up to date systems, systems which may need to be up graded, systems which are virus free, and all managed within a set cost. Are you interested?
‘Tech’ support: Think about any organisation; who makes sure the staff have an IT system they’re able to use? Who helps the staff if things go wrong? Answer: ‘Tech’ support. Some companies employ people on site to do this, others use specialist companies (often overseas and it’s all done by phone or ‘remote access’). All the big UK media companies (Virgin, Sky, Plusnet) have call centre support for people using their products.
Websites, multi-media and Interactive systems: What about websites and the internet? Designing, developing, adding graphics, and moving images all require people with IT skills. Most companies now have social media (Facebook and Twitter); who keeps these up to date? Many design and marketing agencies employ people with IT skills to develop websites, produce adverts, and so on.
Print media: IT skills are needed in the magazine and newspaper world. How about setting out the pages of a magazine or promotional material?
Games, animation and ‘special effects’: Have you seen the film ‘Gravity’ (set in space)? No-one actually went into space to film it. The main actors didn’t leave the USA, but all the images were created in London and the actors superimposed on to them. The people doing this have excellent creative skills but are also IT experts.
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