Connecting the Learning Society

ICT impacts on all our daily lives, whether in work or play.  It is a key driving force in the world of work and education and therefore an essential subject for students who want to succeed in that world. 

Our Approach

As an ICT specialist college, sponsored by Microsoft, we try to ensure that all  students leave our College with a recognised qualification in IT.  In order to achieve this, we put in extra time and resources into the KS3 ICT curriculum and all students follow a modern syllabi chosen because they have currency in the workplace, both now and in the future.

We adopt a problem solving approach to teaching that involves setting and solving ‘real world’ problems that have IT solutions that stimulate creativity and develop IT skills using industry standard software and techniques

Key Stage 3 & 4

Unlike other subject areas, The ICT curriculum is not divided into the Key Stages, but is a progression across all years. In Year 7 students concentrate on building basic skills through a series of projects that develop expertise in the major software applications:

• Wordprocessing
• Spreadsheets
• Databases and
• Graphics

From Year 8 onwards, students work on The Diploma in Digital Applications  (DiDA) suite of courses.  This is a modular course that can eventually lead to the award of 1, 2, 3 or even 4 GCSE equivalent grades at A*-C.  Students build up these modules as they proceed through to Year 11.  There are four possible awards:

AiDA   -  Award in Digital Applications              -  1  GCSE
CiDA   -  Certificate in Digital Applications        -  2  GCSEs
CiDA+ -  CertificatePlus in Digital Apps            -  3  GCSEs
DiDA   -  Full  Diploma in Digitals Applications  -  4  GCSEs

The IT Diploma

Students with a particular aptitude or strong interest in IT can opt for the new IT Higher Diploma, a two year course worth seven GCSEs.

The College was one of the first schools in the UK to introduce the IT Diploma course, open to all students in Lewisham.  The Diploma combines the specific ICT skills needed to achieve excellence in the workplace as well as functional skills in other areas. The course is delivered through a mix of case studies, expert skills workshops and study visits to high end ICT businesses – local, national and international. 

In the first year of the course, trips included visits to:

• Microsoft Headquarters
• GE Healthcare
• IBM UK Headquarters
• Cambridge University
• 2 weeks IT specialist work experience

Resources

All lessons are taught by specialist ICT staff in state-of-the-art IT suites, using the latest industry-standard software applications.

The Department has an extensive library of audio and video case studies which are used to support teaching and learning.

Diploma lessons also include presentations from external speakers who are experts in their fields.