Computer Science

By the end of Year 13, students will have developed their programming abilities to the point where they can complete their own business-like software project for their NEA. Utilising all the skills learned across KS3, KS4 and KS5, they will be able to confidently describe their solution along with industry standard testing and evaluation. They will then be able to discuss their project with an examiner They will be building upon their Year 12 studies of hardware and software into the realm of CPU architecture. Students will be analysing network structures of threats and potential vulnerabilities to systems. Breaking down networks to the operating and utility systems used across a multitude of devices and setups. They will be able to investigate the physical structures of Logic gates and how Boolean algebra allows for complex logically problems to be solved efficiently. Students will by the end of the year have a strong foundation in examination skills, that have been built upon throughout their KS5 journey and will show great resilience when the complete their A-Level examinations in Computer Science.

Year 12

By the end of Year 12, students will have pushed on from their GCSE studies in a multitude of fields. Beginning with strengthening their programming fundamentals, from basic sequence, selection & iteration to complex Object Orientated Programming concepts and University standard problem-solving techniques. They will be able to identify and build abstract Data structures, such as lists, queues, stacks and hash tables. Students will build upon their knowledge on how data is represented by computers. Moving from the GCSE observation only style to investigative techniques into binary arithmetic, data compression and the ability to program representation of images and sound. They will begin their studies of regular languages for the first time, ensuring that they are able to pass data through Finite State Machines of various types, and build their own systems. Students will begin their coursework element utilising all of the taught skills throughout the year, producing a detailed business-like programming project over the course of the two years of study. They will develop a project proposal by, analysing existing systems, designing their own system using industry standard notation, building their technical solution with explanations for the techniques used, rigorous testing of all their success criteria and evaluating with their end user in mind. By the end of the year, students will have developed the majority of their coursework and be fully prepared for any AS standard examination.

By the end of Year 12, students will have pushed on from their GCSE studies in a multitude of fields. Beginning with strengthening their programming fundamentals, from basic sequence, selection & iteration to complex Object Orientated Programming concepts and University standard problem-solving techniques. They will be able to identify and build abstract Data structures, such as lists, queues, stacks and hash tables. Students will build upon their knowledge on how data is represented by computers. Moving from the GCSE observation only style to investigative techniques into binary arithmetic, data compression and the ability to program representation of images and sound. They will begin their studies of regular languages for the first time, ensuring that they are able to pass data through Finite State Machines of various types, and build their own systems. Students will begin their coursework element utilising all of the taught skills throughout the year, producing a detailed business-like programming project over the course of the two years of study. They will develop a project proposal by, analysing existing systems, designing their own system using industry standard notation, building their technical solution with explanations for the techniques used, rigorous testing of all their success criteria and evaluating with their end user in mind. By the end of the year, students will have developed the majority of their coursework and be fully prepared for any AS standard examination.

By the end of Year 10, students will have built upon the KS3 curriculum and will be increasingly confident in providing reasoned problem-solving solution to many given scenarios. They will be able to accurately understand the purpose a multitude of computer components and describe how changes can affect a computers performance. They will be able to break down data structures used in computing into their binary components. Understanding how computers work with binary values, how images and sound are stored digitally, and how data can be manipulated and compressed. Students will also be confident in analysing and defining multiple network structures. From constructing network topologies to identifying the physical hardware required and providing reasoned arguments at to what improvements can be made in a given scenario. Students will be providing complex essay-like arguments to a range of ethical, cultural and legal impacts that have occurred due to new technologies or potential future technological breakthroughs. This will develop over the course of their KS4 course as their ability to utilise contextual indicative comments will progress as the course reaches its completion. Throughout the year students will be developing their algorithmic thinking, they will be confident in utilising sorting and searching algorithms along with the interpretation and analysis of given pseudocode. This will be in addition to consistently continuing their development as programmers, students will have completed a series of challenges ranging in difficulty from GCSE to A-Level standard. Year 10 students will have made significant progress in the Computer Science GCSE and will demonstrate a resilient approach towards success in their examinations.

By the end of Year 9, students will be using advanced programming techniques that have been built upon throughout Years 7 & 8. They will be implementing these skills along with their continued use of the pillars of computational thinking to complete a software development scenario. They will be able to rationalise their programming design considerations into a strong argument as if they were working in a business. They will be able to write design reports based on the key factors of software development; analysis, design, technical solution, testing and evaluation. They will be able to produce a work utilising computer based design, beginning with Flash Animations and pushing towards Computer Aided Design pieces. Year 9 students will be able to understand and describe what takes place in a modern computer network. Identifying the hardware used, network design, protocols and being able to recognise the threats, security implications and budgetary decisions that come with a range of real life networks. They will begin to develop a strong understanding of Boolean Logic and the use of Logic gates in computer hardware. They will use Boolean Logic to interpret and solve mathematical problems, simplification routines and truth tables. By the end of Year 9, students will have a strong foundation in programming and the software development process, they will also have the contextual knowledge of Computer Systems and the Digital world to be successful learning at Computer Science GCSE, as well as having developed their resilience and independence.

By the end of Year 8, students will build upon the platform provided in Year 7 to investigate key areas of Computer Science in the real world. They will be able to continue their development of their Python Programming abilities, through use of advanced techniques, allowing for scenario driven problem solving. They will be able to investigate different cryptographic techniques used throughout history to encrypt and decrypt messages/data. They will take text encrypt and decrypt using these techniques and will be able to decrypt new data using heuristic and computational techniques. They will be able to recognise and mitigate the threats of cybercrime and provide reasoned procedures to implement higher quality security to a variety of scenarios. They will have begun to develop some of their GCSE skills in providing reasoned arguments for ethical, cultural and legal dilemmas. They will be able to develop the basic structure for a website using the HTML structure. By the end of Year 8 students will have developed a strong foundation in one programming language (Python), and a basic foundation for another (Java, VB.net, C, C# etc).

By the end of Year 7, students will be able to utilise the Digital World effectively, efficiently and safely. Students will cover the fundamentals of a Virtual Environment, understanding key search parameters, recognising the potential of Cyber-abuse and how the rules of online media apply to all. They will be able to identify the basic components of a modern Personal Computer, understanding the role each component has and how it affects the performance of the device. They will be able to understand the four pillars of Computer Science. This will begin their curriculum journey, that will continue through to Year 13 and beyond, in the process of Computational Thinking. They will cover throughout the year the ability to develop their problem solving skills and how to represent them at several stages of software development. These include, algorithms, flowcharts, pseudocode and the teaching of their first High-Level Programming language Python. Our ambition for our year 7 students if for them to feel confident and positive about their progress in their first year of Computer Science. Providing them with a strong platform to which all other subjects within Computer Science are based to support their learning journey throughout their time at Ravens Wood School.