Gaynes School Language College

The ICT department consists of four ICT specialists who are all enthusiastic about their subject. ICT is a rapidly changing subject with exciting new products and software arriving all the time. At Gaynes school we strive to incorporate these new technologies to allow for a more varied and interesting curriculum.

In the current era computers are used in nearly every job and we understand the responsibility that we have to teach our students how to thrive in a common working environment. ICT is taught throughout KS3 and KS4 as a core subject as well as being incorporated into the other subjects.

In KS3 students have the opportunity to learn about Multimedia, Presentations, Data Handling, Control, Graphics, Animation, Web Design and much more.

In KS4 students undertake the AiDA course which is equivalent to a GCSE.

They will be completing the following unit.

Unit 1 - Using ICT

This unit provides learners with the knowledge and skills they need to design and produce publications for print and screen that are fit for audience and purpose. Learners will discover how to:

• establish the ‘who, why, where and what’ requirements for publications
• produce an up-front plan to help them manage a project and use it to track, monitor and communicate progress
• select and capture information from various sources and use spreadsheet and database tools to collate and analyse data
• build an E-portfolio that presents their achievements, giving ‘pride of place’ to project outcomes
• evaluate the effectiveness of publications they produce and assess the contribution of underpinning processes, such as planning and testing, to their success.

Some students may be able to attempt a second GCSE equivalent by doing the following unit.

Unit 5 - Games Authoring

This unit aims to provide learners with the knowledge and skills they need to design and produce interactive computer games.

On completion of this unit a learner will:

• Know about different types of games, game features and game play
• Be able to produce a game proposal and production plan
• Be able to design and develop games for others to play, employing an iterative, participatory approach to game development from initial concept to final game, using feedback from others to inform the process
• Be able to showcase achievements
• Be able to review games and suggest improvements
• Be able to use ICT efficiently and safely.

Clubs

The ICT rooms are open every lunchtime to allow the students to complete any homework or coursework.

There are plans to have a new computer games programming club and an animation club in the near future.