Computer Science

Staffing List:

Mrs Edward-Boyce - Head of Computer Science
Mr Khawaja - Teacher of Computer Science

Vision Statement:

Computing enables us to develop logic, mindset and practical skills which can be used and applied in all areas of disciplines and our daily lives. With technology changing at such a rapid pace, in order to thrive and succeed in the 21st century we need to understand how computers work. We therefore aim to transform users of technology into creators of technology by giving all our students the opportunity to think, program, build, create, persevere, develop resilience and grow. 

Students will be will prepared for further study of Computer Science at A-level and beyond.

Year 7

Students will begin by looking at key skills to ensure that they are ‘Curriculum Ready’ and prepared with the skills that they will require for all subjects studied at Testbourne School.  They will then delve into the world of responsible digital citizens and programming, building their first websites in HTML before looking at a variety of programming languages in its simplicity, to enhance engagement and computational thinking.

Unit 1 – Curriculum Ready
Unit 2 – Collaborating Online Respectfully & Safely 
Unit 3 – Introduction to Web Design & Creating Websites Using Template Based Tools
Unit 4 – Introduction to Algorithms & Block Based Programming 
Unit 5 – Introduction to Image Manipulation and Data representation
Unit 8 – Microbit Madness

Year 8

In year 8, students will continue to hone their skills as programmers. They will take on more challenging programming tasks in various programming environments and will sample what the GCSE subject will be like. They will learn how the computer stores and communicates information and how data is represented in binary form.

Unit 1 – Computing Systems / Social Media / Infographics
Unit 2 – Representation: from clay to silicon 
Unit 3 – Cyber Security and an Introduction to Python Programming 1
Unit 4 – Developing for the Web - HTML 
Unit 5 – Introduction to Python Programming 2 and Binary Bits and Bobs  
Unit 6 – App Development 

Year 9

Year 9 brings more challenge and a deeper knowledge of the world around us, looking at IT in society and how data is continuously being used to monitor and evaluate vital decisions.  In addition, we will begin to tackle the challenges that our students face in the online world, following the CEOP Ambassadors programme.

Unit 1 – IT and Society   
Unit 2 – Data Science
Unit 3 – Online Safety   
Unit 4 – Binary Bits and Bobs 2 
Unit 5 – Python with sequences of data     
Unit 6 – Media - Animations 

At KS4, students will study the OCR 9-1 Computer Science J277 course. The course consists of 2 Components:

Component 1: Computer Systems 

Weighting: 50% Exam: 1 hour 30 minutes

This component focuses on a number of key areas: systems architecture, investigate computer memory and storage, the exploration of modern network layouts and how they function, data representation, build skills in the ever-important realm of cyber security, investigate how types of software are used within computer systems and stretch wider comprehension of how computers and computing affect ethical, legal, cultural and environmental issues.

Component 2: Computational thinking, Algorithms and Programming

Weighting: 50% Exam: 1 hour 30 minutes

This component offers a hands-on approach to studying the fundamental algorithms in computer science, whilst building a firm foundation in programming techniques.  Students apply knowledge and understanding gained in component 01 to develop skills and understanding in computational thinking: algorithms, programming techniques, producing robust programs, computational logic and translators.  Students are also given the opportunity to undertake a programming task(s) during their course of study which allows them to develop their skills to design, write, test and refine programs using a high-level programming language. Students will be assessed on these skills during the written examinations.

GCSE Computer-Science OCR Specification

  • Exam board: OCR
  • Specimen papers and mark schemes for Computer Science are available for download from the OCR website.
  • Revision guide: CGP: New GCSE Computer Science OCR Complete Revision and Practice - for the Grade 9-1 Course (with online edition)]
  • New Grade 9-1 GCSE Computer Science OCR 10-Minute Tests
  • Current news articles covering a breadth of subject related topics and developments
  • YouTube Channel: craigndave https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCiOXwirraUAvkTPDWeeSqAKty3LAG37-
  • Please encourage your child to keep up to date with new technologies and the impact they may have on different stakeholders e.g. the economy, businesses, local community. The technology section from the BBC website has lots of interesting articles and updates.
  • Logic is key to a good programmer.  Encourage logic games, puzzles and challenges.
  • Ensure that your child in reviewing and consolidating any work completed in class via revision guides, organisers, mind maps etc.
  • Check that your child understands the definitions of important key words and knows how to spell them.
  • Your child will be set pre-reading/videos.  Please encourage them to complete this and ask questions to check understanding.
  • At GCSE, your child should be completing a minimum of 1 hour a week on programming challenges, pseudocode or debugging challenges.
  • Students should make use of mark schemes to check any practice papers or exam questions they have completed so that they can identify where they have gained and lost marks - a great deal can be gained from unpicking questions and understanding what marks are awarded for.
  • Coding Club
  • An array of competitions and challenges, including Open Schools Software Competition, Vodaphone App Schools Challenge, Cyber Discovery, Cyber Ambassadors
Further information

For more details, please contact Mrs Edward-Boyce, Head of Computer Science, at: j.edward-boyce@testbourne.school