Information and Communication Technology Department

ICT in school is taught as a subject in its own right but is also used by every other subject as a learning resource.
Our aim is to use lessons in the lower school to equip every pupil with a set of skills that they can use in other subject areas and everyday life.
As well as teaching to pupils in the lower school ICT is also offered as an 'A' level where pupils improve their practical skills and also learn about how IT has changed and shaped the modern world.

ICT Staff
Peter Rankin
Peter enjoys using IT in his spare time and tries to pass on IT skills to pupils that will benefit them not only in the school environment but also as part of the life long learning process. He enjoys digital photography and manipulating images with Photoshop in his spare time and is becoming an amateur film maker.

Tim Fulford - Assistant head
Tim is also a teacher of design and technology so is fluent with CAD/CAM software and technologies. As part of the thinking skills curriculum Tim has introduced mind mapping software.  As part of the senior management team he is also responsible for the strategic use of IT within the school. He is a keen digital photographer and regularly exhibits in school art shows.

Steven Wright - IT Manager
Steven has totally rebuilt and upgraded the school IT network in the last few years. He has worked closely with HP to reduce the school's carbon footprint whilst maintaining a first class IT resource. He and his team are proud of bringing a twenty first century IT network and resource to the school.

ICT resources
There are two dedicated IT suites in the school each with modern PCs capable of holding a class so that each pupil has their own terminal. As well as IT lessons the rooms are in constant use with other subjects often booking lessons in them.
There are also other computers and laptops around the school in class rooms, laboratories and the library for pupil use.
In all there are over 200 computers in the school, with various subject areas having their own IT resources. Many departments have PCs and laptops for student use and every department has at least one data projector and interactive white board.
The school has a number of networked colour laser printers around the school site for student use which print A4 and A3, we also have a large format printer which the art students often use capable of printing A0.
The school has its own intranet for learning with many departments having online resources for their pupils. All pupils and staff have their own e-mail account that can be accessed any where in the world. Students have access to IT resources outside of lesson time for completing prep and for our boarders to keep in contact with friends and family back home. The school has a wireless enabled network which allows pupils with their own laptops to access the internet and other school IT resources. The internet connection the school provides has a content filter and won't allow any inappropriate material to be displayed. 

IT Curriculum
The school room curriculum is designed to give students a 'toolbox' of IT skills for use in other lessons and as a life skill.

Lower schoolroom (year7)
Word Processing / Desktop Publishing – pupils learn how to create large documents which will help them with coursework. We look at automating many processes such as contents pages. They think about audience style and appropriateness.
Presentation Software – Again thinking about style and audience student learn how to produce effective presentations. Skills which are used by many departments, such as geography when implementing mini projects.
Mind Mapping Software – as part of the thinking skills curriculum students learn how to mind map and transfer these skills to a computer.
Photoshop – digital art is blossoming in the art department and students learn the rudimentary skills of working with layers.
Digital film making – with the growth of internet video sites such as youtube creating your own digital films is becoming a much more common event. Students take these skills and often use them in their own time or create short films in other subjects.

A Level ICT (OCR)
College I
Unit 1 Information and systems
Topics covered in this unit: data, information, knowledge and processing; software and hardware components of an information system; characteristics of standard applications software and application areas; spreadsheet concepts; relational database concepts; applications software used for presentation and communication of data; the role and impact of ICT - legal, moral and social issues.

Unit 2 Coursework Tasks
Candidates have the opportunity to explore design, software development, testing and documentation.

College II
Unit 3 Applications and Implementation
In this unit candidates gain an understanding of the systems cycle; designing computer-based information systems; networks and communication; applications of ICT; implementing computer-based information systems and implications of ICT.

Unit 4 ICT project
Candidates explore definition, investigation and analysis; design; software development, testing and implementation; documentation and evaluation through a client-driven project.