ICT Department

Yavneh College believes in the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to enhance and enrich the learning process. We embrace the idea of e-learning and recognise the potential of this powerful medium to motivate pupils to become more independent in their learning.

Yavneh College embraces ICT throughout the curriculum and through a structured programme of discrete lessons which are intended to fulfil, extend and exemplify the objectives of the national curriculum and ICT strategy.

Proficiency in ICT is an essential skill to empower learners to become accomplished competitors in the fields of further education and employment. Our specialist status emphasises our commitment to the appropriate use of ICT within real-life contexts.
The ICT department is led by an experienced full-time subject specialist and further staffed by experienced teachers all bringing a wealth of ICT knowledge to the school.

Curriculum

Key Stage 3

All pupils follow an extended version of the KS3 National Strategy for ICT.
Topics studied include:

  • Information Literacy
  • Word Processing
  • Problem-Solving Techniques
  • Presenting Information
  • Creating Publications for print and online viewing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Web Design
  • Basic Programming
  • Databases
  • Non-Linear Movie Editing
  • Image Manipulation and Editing
  • Animation
  • Sound editing

Pupils have two 1-hour ICT lessons per fortnight. They are assessed regularly through teacher assessment and are awarded a National Curriculum level at the end of Year 9.

GCSE

The ICT department offers two GCSE's:

GCSE ICT

Pupils may elect to study an option GCSE in ICT – OCR Specification

This course comprises the following units:
Year 10

  • Unit B061: - ‘ICT in Today’s World’ (exam) Written or computer based paper
  • Unit B062: - ‘Practical Applications in ICT’ (controlled assessment)

Year 11

  • Unit B063: - ‘ICT in Context’ (exam)
  • Unit B064: (controlled assessment)
    • ‘Creative Use of ICT’ - Candidates solve a problem by creating and developing a multimedia solution with appropriate creative elements

OR

Unit B065: (controlled assessment)

    • ‘Coding a Solution’ - Candidates identify a potential coded solution to a problem and solve using basic programming techniques

Pupils receive 6 x 1 hour lessons per fortnight

Sixth Form

The department offers OCR A-Level ICT.

This course is designed to extend students’ computational knowledge, applications skills and problem-solving abilities through a wide range of taught skills and practical tasks.

Year 12

Student will study the following components:

AS Unit G061: Information, Systems and Applications
AS Unit G062: Structured ICT Tasks (coursework-based)

Year 13

Student will study the following components:

A2 Unit G063: ICT Systems, Applications and Implications
A2 Unit G064: ICT Project (coursework-based)

For more details, please go to:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/ict_tec/ict/index.html

Facilities

Yavneh College offers state-of-the-art ICT facilities. These include:

  • New purpose-built industry standard network
  • Blanket Wi-Fi coverage throughout the campus
  • Powerful desktop PCs
  • Microsoft Xp + Office 2007 as standard
  • Many subject specific applications
  • Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Web Standard
  • Digital cameras
  • Scanners
  • 30 Digital ‘Flipcam’ camcorders
  • Colour laser printers
  • Over 200 Wi-Fi laptops in banks for use in classrooms
  • 40 Wi-Fi laptops in banks in the Learning Resource Centre
  • State- of-the-art PC, Visualiser and audio setup in each teaching room
  • Four dedicated ICT suites with 30 pupil networked desktop PCs.  
  •  Remote access to pupils’ work and Moodle-based learning platform

Enrichment

The department provides several activities as part of the school’s Enrichment Programme. These presently comprise:  Animation Club, Creative Computing, Movie Making, Computer Programming and Broadcasting.

Animation Club

Pupils begin to learn the secrets of Wallace and Gromit, The Simpsons, and Mickey Mouse in Animation Club.
Pupils begin by creating a digital ‘flip-book’ type animation in a web animation package and then move into using PowerPoint to put their drawing and animation skills to test. Then pupils are taught the basics of Adobe Flash to create realistic and fluid animations for the web.

Creative Computing

Pupils learn about the creative side of computing in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5. They are taught skills in photo editing, graphics creation, layering, filters, etc.  After manipulating several images, pupils create a montage-type image using layering techniques. Good examples may be lucky enough to be showcased on the website.

Movie Making

Pupils learn about the art of creating movie sequences in Movie Maker and Abobe Premiere Elements. They begin by generating ideas, creating a storyboard and shooting their own footage. They then learn how to combine movies with images and sound, using numerous effects and transitions to create a professional looking result.

Computer Programming

Pupils learn more about the construction of the programs that make them work, and start off by using a simple program called Scratch, which allows a visual interface to be controlled by programming code.

Broadcasting

Pupils learn how to formulate and conduct interviews, create podcasts, edit videos and précis their articles. Their work can then be displayed on the newly launched Radio Yavneh website.