Subject:   ICT

Number of Lessons per fortnight:   2

 Autumn term activities:

The students will start the year with a unit on web design. They will learn what makes a good website, how to plan and design a website and setup a website using of five pages using Dreamweaver adding text and images and hyperlinks. They will then Evaluate and make improvements to it.

 They will also work on developing their information seeking skills by carrying out research into current issues and debates such as animal testing and Third world debt. They will learn to recognize and select information that is reliable accurate and unbiased. They will then produce a learning aid for younger students that helps them to understand one of the issues they have researched.

 Spring term activities:

This term they will start off looking at creating a business model for a band, in order to keep track of how much money they are spending and how much they are making. They will produce charts based on their model and be able to draw conclusions and present their findings.

 Students will then do some work on public information systems and understand how sensors are used in everyday life. They will collect data automatically in a variety of ways, present and update the information and then use statistical functions of a spreadsheet to analyse data. They will also learn how to subscribe to and set up an RSS feed and use Google Earth to export data.

 Summer term activities:

Students this term will spend some time developing a computer game for a specific audience. They will work in teams to research games and design one to teach children aged between 5 and 9 years of age the importance of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables. They will create the game and then evaluate it.

 Throughout the whole of year 8 the students will have one lesson per fortnight based in a classroom.  This lesson will be used to enable the students to understand the processes behind computer systems.

 Assessment:

Students will build-up a portfolio of work, which will be assessed to monitor their progress throughout the year. The portfolio will be used to give students a National Curriculum Level at the end of the school year.

 Homework:

Students will be completing tasks using the school virtual learning environment once every 2 weeks and can be tracked by logging onto www.fronter.com/wandsworth.

 Equipment requirements/recommended texts:

The purchase of a Key Stage 3 ICT Revision Guide is highly recommended.  ICT is mainly computer based, but students will be expected to have the standard equipment required: at least a blue/black ink pen, pencil, sharpener, eraser and a ruler. A USB memory stick will also be very useful.

 Contact:   Ms Tester