ICT and Business Studies

 

The ICT/Business Department at Stockport has had an enviable reputation for many years with regard to standards and examination results.  We always welcome new ideas that will further enhance the work of the department.  The team consists of an AST for ICT with specific responsibility for OCR at KS4 and 5, and an ICT/Business Teacher.  The department is serviced by an ICT Systems Manager, backed up by 3 ICT technicians and we are a happy team, supportive of one another and other colleagues in the school.

All students have one discrete lesson of ICT a week throughout KS3 and KS4.  In Year 7 and 8, students currently follow the KS3 National Strategy and in Year 9 students are completing the OCR Nationals in ICT.  In KS4, all students have one lesson of Core ICT per week where they are following the OCR Nationals in ICT course with the expectation that they will achieve a Level 2 GCSE ICT qualification by the time they leave in Year 11.  We offer this course as a Double Option to students who have opted to study ICT and achieve up to 4 GCSE's.  In KS5 we offer ICT courses in both Year 12 and 13.  This September we will be delivering the OCR level 3 qualification.

The ICT/Business Department is involved in the development of ICT skills across the curriculum and most departments in the school have access to their own or shared facilities.  There are a number of Promethean Interactive Whiteboards throughout the school as well as one in each of the three ICT suites.  All teaching staff, and many support staff are equipped with laptop computers and registration is through SIMS Lesson Monitor.

Departmental priorities at the moment are to further develop the KS3 National Strategy and New Curriculum and to establish links with KS2.  We also intend to further develop our work with the Gifted and Talented cohort.  We are contributors to the Year 7 "STAR" (now into Year 8) initiative, which seeks to develop independent learning skills and thinking skills in students at year 7 & 8.  The students use software on the network to discover their preferred learning styles and how to compensate, by practising other styles of learning.  During half-termly, cross curricular learning modules in the project, the development of the skills to access information and use ICT in the presentation of work will be a vital ingredient.