“Of all the inventions of humans, the computer is going to rank near or at the top as history unfolds and we look back. It is the most awesome tool that we have ever invented…What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of the bicycle for our minds.”
Steve Jobs, Co-Founder of Apple
In today’s modern, technology dependant society, ICT (Computer Science and Digital Information Technology) plays an incredibly important role in everyone’s day-to-day lives.
The aims of the ICT Department
We believe that ICT can change and enhance the learning process:
- by facilitating the development of independent learning skills for later life;
- by helping the acquisition of information skills that will be an essential part of life in an ‘information rich’ society;
- to develop the wider use of computing across all subject areas;
- to ensure pupils and teachers have access to ICT through classroom-based computers, computer suites or clusters and equipment shared in a department;
- to provide a safe and secure environment for pupils to develop their use of ICT.
The ICT Curriculum
The intent of the ICT curriculum at Belmont is an academic discipline with its own body of knowledge that is designed to enable pupils to become independent learners, evaluators and potentially designers of new technologies. In studying computer science, pupils gain not only knowledge but also a unique way of thinking about and solving problems using computational thinking. It will give pupils an understanding of the digital world in a deeper way, which will allow them to adapt more quickly to the consequences of technological change, develop new technologies themselves, or even to work in jobs that have not yet been invented.
In Digital Information Technology, we study how we communicate with modern technologies and the importance of cyber security. We need to ensure we are responsible users of Information Technology and understand both legal and ethical issues when working with both personal data and computer systems.
The core of ICT in Years 7 - 9 is computer science, in which pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work, and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Implemented within this curriculum is a digital information technology band that enables students to distinguish between the subject Computer Science and Information Technology.
Within the ICT department at Belmont School we strive to have a positive impact on students which enables them to progress further and develop their skills at college, university, and apprenticeships, or start a chosen career in employment within the computing sector.
Trips
The department organises a number of field trips throughout the year, for all year groups.
Extra-Curricular
Students can use their computing skills across the school curriculum in all subjects. There is the opportunity for programming clubs and other relevant extra-curricular activities that utilise the programming skills acquired through the ICT curriculum.