Curriculum - Options - KS4 & 5

Option Course
 
If you choose to do ICT as an option you will gain 2 GCSE’s and study the following units. This is an exciting opportunity to develop and enhance existing student skills and to give them the opportunity to explore the creative side of ICT.
 
In addition to units 1 and 4 on the Core ICT page you will complete units 2,5 & 7
 
Unit 2 – Website Design
In this unit we will design and create a website for a company, using Serif Web Plus. The website will include a number of different pictures, pages, links and information. You will also plan a number of different navigation bars and buttons which can be featured on your website.
 
Unit 5 - Desktop Publishing
In this unit we will create a full colour 8 page brochure combining text and graphics (including charts from a spreadsheet). Students will learn how create a house style, and use various advanced desktop publishing techniques. They will also write stories for the brochure and take photos to go with them.
 
Unit 7 – Database Design
In this unit you will design and manage a relational database for a client. You will demonstrate how to enter information, search for information, make a forms and reports and a user interface to make the database as user friendly as possible.


Key Stage 5
In Key Stage 5 we offer the OCR Nationals Level 3 course. This course will give the student the opportunity to achieve one A-Level equivalent. It is 100% coursework based and as such there is no exam in this subject. However students need to be aware that there is no AS Level it is a two year course and if they wanted to drop it after a year they would not achieve any grade.
 
6 Units of Work over 2 years
1.       Working collaboratively
2.       Digital Business Communications
3.       Problem Solving
4.       Creating a Digital Showcase
5.       Advanced Spreadsheets – (Under Review)
6.       Producing a Business Plan – (Under Review)
Note: Units 1 – 4 are compulsory, you cannot pass the course without them
 
Unit 1 – Digital Business Communication
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of communication in a business context. They will also demonstrate how ICT can be used to support and enhance business communication”
 
Topics include:
·         Use of communication technology in business and aids/barriers to effective communication
·         Using styles in document creation
·         Effective use of email in a business context
·         Document/computer security in the workplace
·         Use of standard ways of working to work safely, keep information secure, and manage personal information.
 
Unit 2 – Collaborative Working
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of collaborative working to produce a final product. Groups work together in a professional manner to produce a pull-out for a technology magazine
Candidates will show that they understand how to:
  • Plan a project
  • Understand Collaborative working methods
    • Wikis, Blogs, Content Management Systems, eMail, Video Conferencing
  • How search engines (e.g. Google) work
  • Collaborative editing
    • Tracking changes, inserting comments
 
Unit 3 – Problem Solving
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of techniques available for the analysis and presentation of numerical data.
Candidates will show that they understand how to:
  • Defining a statistical problem
  • Design and carry out a data collection activity and use spreadsheet software to store the data
  • Use spreadsheet software for data analysis
  • Create suitable graphs/charts
  • Present the results of the study in a professional report
 
Unit 4 – Creating a Digital Showcase
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of the process and practice of developing an interactive multimedia product to showcase an event or situation.
Candidates will show that they understand how to:
  • Specify requirements
  • Design a solution
  • Create and edit multimedia elements
  • Optimise multimedia elements for use in the target environment
  • Author an interactive multimedia product
  • Test and review a preliminary version in order to produce the final product
 
Unit 5 – Advanced Spreadsheets 
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of designing and using spreadsheets to process numerical data.
Candidates will demonstrate that they can:
  • Design spreadsheets
  • Create a spreadsheet, according to the design using advanced spreadsheet functions
  • Use a spreadsheet to process numerical data and present required information
  • Produce user documentation and technical information
  • Understand and implement spreadsheet testing
  • Evaluate the spreadsheet
Unit 29 - Producing a Business Plan – (Under Review)
By completing this unit candidates will develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of the purpose, content and production of a business plan. They will begin by presenting a business idea and progress to producing a professional business plan. In so doing candidates will be expected to make use of ICT tools.
 
Candidates will show that they understand:
  • How to identify and present an initial business idea
  • Existing business plan templates and how to compare and select a suitable template
  • How to design and create a spreadsheet to support a financial plan
  • The compilation and production of a professional business plan