Issue No. 006, 9th December 2011 - The Alice Smith School

For internal circulation only 9 th December 2011
of the week
ICT - Start here, go anywhere!
By Stewart Edmonds, Head of ICT - Secondary Campus
Information and Communication Technology has changed the way we live, work, play and learn. When I was at
school, all the music I bought was on vinyl LPs – my parent‟s had a couple of 78s stashed away that they
couldn‟t play anymore. Then along came cassettes and the Walkman, then CDs and Discman and now with
MP3s, I have my entire music collection in my back pocket. Videos are being replaced by DVDs just in time for
them to be replaced by Blue Ray and when was the last time you put film into a camera?
At the Secondary Campus too, there has been a quantum leap in the ICT facilities. The 1 st floor of the newly
opened Steve Warry Centre houses two purpose built ICT suites and a central office for the ICT teaching staff.
The new ICT suites provide a wonderfully conducive environment for the teaching of ICT. There are separate
spaces for students to gather for a traditional lesson, carry out some desk work or to break up into groups and a
separate space to delve into working on a computer. The new ICT suites are bright and breezy, with lots of
natural light, no shortage of windows here (pun intended).
The curriculum too has evolved, first with the A-level, then the GCSE and now the Key Stage 3 curriculum.
At every level emerging technology and the Internet is the focus, as is the need to use ICT in context. This year
the Key Stage 3 ICT curriculum will take on a cross curricular focus, moving towards greater integration and
adoption of ICT skills in all subjects. The ICT department will continue to develop the student‟s ability to use
applications but now there will be an emphasis on applying this knowledge within another subject area with a
relevant context. For example, the Year 7 students develop audio manipulation skills in ICT then use this
knowledge to create podcasts to showcase their use of a foreign language. Year 8 students explored the
concepts and skills of web design and have created a Maths revision site.
Not only does this contextualise the learning, it gives it relevance and value to the student and brings ICT to life.
Students engaging in the various facilities at the new Steve Warry Centre
KLASS Times I page 8