Year 8 ICT Curriculum Plan

Pupils follow a modified version of the National Curriculum up to Year 9 at which point they are enrolled on the ECDL (European Computer Driving License) course. Many of the resources used in Years 7 and 8 are those suggested by the DfES sample teaching units. However, there are some notable exceptions which are outlined below.

The current programme of study for 2006-07 is as follows:-

* Changes are expected next year as the ECDL course becomes more established. Many pupils are expected to have completed a large part of the course by the end of Year 10. Their ICT period will then become a self-study period in which they have access to the computer lab and the support of ICT staff and will be encouraged to improve coursework in other subjects instead of pursuing further ICT qualifications.

For those requiring longer to complete ECDL it should be noted that the course was chosen in part because of its modular approach. Although the requirements of specific modules are taught explicitly in certain lessons, pupils are welcome to self study during that time provided they evidence this work and submit this for scrutiny at the end of each class.

Pupils have opportunities to complete practice tests (which take 10-15 minutes) at break, dinner and after school. Should a pupil feel ready to take a test before a class, these can also be sat at dinner break and after school (tests take approximately 45 minutes).

The textbook used on the course is How to Pass ECDL for Office XP by P. Holden and B. Munnelly.

The BCS site has syllabus and sample test papers and the course can be supported by completing practice material and quick tests from the Teach ICT site. The DfES has suggested schemes of work and also worth a look is the ICT National Curriculum.

Year 8 Scheme of Work

The Years 7 and 8 schemes of work have very similar technical requirements, with a view to preparing them for the ECDL modules to follow, however in Year 8 the conceptual demands are higher and the opportunities for the development of higher level reasoning skills are more frequent.

Year 8 will also be looking at Key Stage 3 ICT (KS3 ICT) - Data: designing structure, capturing and presenting data using lessons from the Teach-ICT website.

It is anticipated that Year 8 classes will move towards the following scheme of work over the next year.

As with the present the Year 7, Year 8 are completing work in three main areas:-

• Communicating Ideas on the WWW.
• Presenting Ideas.
• Computer modelling.

Further details are given in the sections below.

Communicating Ideas on the WWW

Understanding the issues associated with creating a website.

This topic is based on the 8^th and 9^th unitin the DFES suggested Program of Study and addresses the NationalCurriculum's Developing Ideas and Exchanging and Sharing InformationStrands.

It is based around the development of the basic skills necessary forusing MS FrontPage together with the knowledge and understandingrequired to develop a website.

Lesson 1

• Investigating source code.
• Introducing the HTML skeleton.

Lesson 2

• WWW Theory and the Internet.
• Folder hierarchy.

Lesson 3

• HTML Formatting Tags.
• Saving and displaying images using IMG SRC.

Lesson 4

• Tables and positioning in HTML.
• MiniTest of HTML Tags.

Lesson 5

• Finding and using HTML tutorial websites.

Lesson 6

• Front Page basics.
• Audit of prior Microsoft Office skills.

Lesson 7

• Tables on FrontPage.
• Merging cells to position screen items.

Lesson 8

• Internet service providers.
• Begin four pages project.

Lesson 9

• Embedded tables.
• Cell properties.
• Linking multiple pages.

Lesson 10

• Bitmapped pictures.
• GIF and JPG compression.

Lesson 11

• Complete Final Project.

Presenting Ideas

Developing and delivering presentations to an audience.

This Topic is based on the 2^nd unit in the DFES suggested Program of Study and addresses the National Curriculum's Exchanging and Sharing Information Strand.

It is based around the development of the basic skills necessary forusing MS PowerPoint together with the knowledge and understandingrequired to deliver an effective presentation.

Lesson 1

• Introduction to the module.
• Main screen elements of PowerPoint.
  (Audit of PowerPoint skills so far).

Lesson 2

• Brainstorming and the use of the Outliner Pane.
• Including the idea of concise text and bullet points.

Lesson 3

• Using the Outliner Pane to organise and prioritise content.
• Using the Task Pane to set a layout.

Lesson 4

• Pat's Poor Presentation 1 and 2. The use of images and text characteristics.
• Research for presentation including saving images and text.
• Presentation Analysis 1.

Lesson 5

• Attainment targets including skills necessary for Levels 4 and 5.
• Pat's Poor Presentation 3. The concept of contrast.
• Presentation Analysis 2.

Lesson 6

• Peer Analysis 1 and review.
• Pat's Poor Presentation 4.

Lesson 7

• Peer Analysis 2 and review.
• Selecting appropriate images.

Lesson 8

• Use of the Master Slide and transition effects.
• Key PowerPoint development issues.

Lesson 9

• Key Points Test and Final Practical Assessment.

Lesson 10

• Sound effects and animation.

Computer Modelling

Modelling systems which have mathematical functions as a base.

Lesson 1

• Basic screen elements.
• Introduction to formulae using a times table square.

Lesson 2

• Formatting cells.
• Football League Table.

Lesson 3

• Introduction to modelling.
• The concepts of variables and rules.

Lesson 4

• Investigating a model - The Biscuit Model.
• School Disco Model.

Lesson 5

• Mission control project.
• Producing graphs.

Lesson 6

• Selecting and editing cells.
• Printing in Excel.
• Attainment targets.

Lesson 7

• Inserting pictures.
• Using the Fill Handle.

Lesson 8

• McDonalds Company Model 1.
• Expenditure on agriculture.

Lesson 9

• McDonalds Company Model 2.
• Number processing - From cows to burgers.

Lesson 10

• McDonalds Company Model 3.
• Staff expenditure - Expenditure, income and profit.