Computing is now a cornerstone of everyday life, from entertainment to business. There is very little that computing does not impact. So here at Guilsborough Academy we prepare students with the computational thinking skills and the application of those skills to help them understand the impact of computers in their lives. We also want to give them the skills to apply towards what ever the next big breakthrough in computing will be.

 

Think about these questions to help you identify/articulate your intent

[Heather Fearn] said that, according to Ofsted’s new framework, “good intent" has the following four features:

• a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils;
• a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced;
• a curriculum that is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities;
• a curriculum that is broad and balanced for all pupils.

(Article from TES 1^st July 2019)

Questions for discussion

• What are the objectives for your curriculum? What do you want pupils to be able to know and do by the time they leave? 
• How does your curriculum plan set out the sequence and structure of how it is going to be implemented?
• Why is it shaped the way it is? What values have guided your decisions about the curriculum you have in place? How does your curriculum reflect your school's context?
• To what extent have you made these objectives clear? Does everybody know them?
• How does your curriculum reflect national policy (for example, British values and PSHE)?
• How does it cater for disadvantaged and minority groups? Make sure these pupils aren't 'shut out' of pursuing subjects they wish to study because of too sharp a focus on exam results
• 

Core values? Attributes of our students- known and desired?

We aspire to be our best and to do our best for others

To ensure high quality outcomes for all students, irrespective of their personal circumstance.

To maintain a broad and balanced curriculum for all key stages which includes ample opportunity for stretching our students.

To overtly celebrate the successes of our alumni, creating positive role models to raise the aspirations of all students.

To create bespoke packages of intervention to ensure all students are able to strive to reach their potential.

To deliver a robust curriculum whereby an increasing number of students access the EBACC.

 

We respect ourselves and others

To teach our students to respect one another’s beliefs and opinions. To create a safe society within schools which allows all students to flourish emotionally as well as academically.

To develop students’ understanding of wider issues they or their peers may face in life.

To provide opportunities for all of students to immerse themselves in their local communities and be ambassadors for our academy we can all be proud of.

Our learning knows no limits

To constantly strive to improve the experience of everyone at Guilsborough.

To constantly review the curriculum offer for our students to ensure it continues to improve.

To respect the value of learning outside of the classroom, providing a rich range of experiences for all students.

To ensure all students follow an appropriate programme of study centred on their individual needs.

To maintain that all stakeholders are learners who strive to constantly improve.

To develop a life-long love of learning

We are global citizens ready for the 21st Century

To prepare all students for an ever changing world of work by developing the skills they need to adapt to technological advances.

To ensure we never miss an opportunity to improve the literacy and numeracy of our students.

To allow our students to experience first-hand interaction with employers throughout their time at Guilsborough.

Prompts

The Framework of our intent

Our curriculum aims are to develop…

The aim of our curriculum is to enrich students with a range of skills to be successful in life, beyond school. Students must leave us with the confidence to access a whole range of knowledge and applications.

The curriculum is designed to build challenge as student’s progress through the school, and with a view of giving students access to whichever pathway they choose to take beyond school.

Here are some of the key features you can expect from the ICT/CS department

We actively promote innovation – both in the teaching and learners thinking – and we strive to build independent learners and critical thinkers.  Computational thinking is a core tenet of most lessons, and we encourage pupils to go beyond the task to push against the limits of their knowledge.

To do this, we ensure that…

Topics are generally divided into projects. All projects aim to take students through the process of learning, developing, applying and evaluating.

Assessment is always focused on improvement. We actively encourage different pathways within our courses and the curriculum area as to ensure the needs of all learners are met.

The single aspirational point to conclude

Quite simply, we want to be known for preparing pupils for whatever the future holds and helping them learn the skills to make them life long learners.

Put simply, we believe that all pupils should be prepared with a digital foundation for the future.

“All parts should go together without forcing.  You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you.  Therefore, if you can’t get them together again, there must be a reason.  By all means, do not use a hammer.”
— IBM Manual, 1925

“If you think you are worth what you know, you are very wrong.  Your knowledge today does not have much value beyond a couple of years.  Your value is what you can learn and how easily you can adapt to the changes this profession brings so often.”
— Jose M. Aguilar

 

Guilsborough Academy Vision	How we embed this
We aspire to be our best and to do our best for others	Setting challenging work in lessons that aim to show students how to achieve their goals, and how to set newer challenging ones.
We respect ourselves and others	Making sure all students have a voice in the lesson and making sure that a culture of respect is embedded into the classroom.
Our learning knows no limits	Having open ended activities and making sure pupils know where to go to if they want to learn more about a topic after we have completed our lesson content.
We are global citizens ready for the 21st Century	Teach pupils how to communicate effectively with others and show pupils how IT and Computer Science skills can be used around the world.

What is Computing like at Guilsborough?

Please watch our short video to see what studying Computing at Guilsborough is like.

Can you let me know where you got the robots from? I want to get one to keep learning how to program it

Scratch is really good fun, I liked making my own game.

The spreadsheet work was hard, but I did learn a lot and saw what it could help me with.

Where will Computing take me past Year 11?

SIXTH FORM

We do not currently offer KS5 courses in Computing however, many courses studied in Sixth Form require the important skills learnt throughout KS3 and KS4. Find out more about which subjects you would like to study in Sixth Form and their content by visiting our Sixth Form page 

CAREERS

With the ever-changing advances in technology, ICT and computer science has many applications in careers; from careers which require knowledge of basic computing skills to those requiring more specific knowledge. Programmers are in high demand and salaries are very generous for Computer Science graduates. The logical thinking skills are highly sought after in many managerial jobs and the data handling skills are highly desired in the banking sector. Programmers in the banking sector have fantastic career opportunities.

If you are more interested in the networking side, network administration and architecture might be for you. Cyber Security professionals are also in high demand.

Please visit out Careers Guidance page for more information 

Useful resources to support learning in Computing

These resources are useful for students to help consolidate knowledge learnt in lessons and to aid revision ;