Computer Science

ENTRY LEVEL CERTIFICATE

Aims and Objectives

OCR’s Entry Level Certificate in Computer Science will encourage learners to:

understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of Computer Science, including problem solving, logic, algorithms, and programming
analyse problems in computational terms, and have exposure to practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems
learn about, discuss and evaluate both new and unfamiliar technologies
become responsible, confident and creative users of Computer Science and related technologies
understand the components that make up digital systems, and how they communicate with one another and with other systems
understand the impacts of digital technology to the individual and to wider society.

Entry Level Certificate in Computer Science R354 Specification

Computer Science is taught at KS3 only.

In addition to following the OCR Entry Level Computer Science specification, pupils are taught how to use technology safely, respectfully, responsibly and securely, including protecting their online identity and privacy; recognising inappropriate and/or unreliable content, contact and conduct and reporting concerns.

Furthermore, pupils are provided with opportunities to create, re-use, revise and re-purpose digital artefacts for a given audience e.g., spreadsheet modelling, database development etc./

Key Stage 3

In Key Stage 3 (Years 7 & 8)

Pupils should be taught to:

design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems
understand several key algorithms that reflect computational thinking [for example, ones for sorting and searching]; use logical reasoning to compare the utility of alternative algorithms for the same problem
use two or more programming languages, at least one of which is textual, to solve a variety of computational problems; make appropriate use of data structures [for example, lists, tables or arrays]; design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions
understand simple Boolean logic [for example, AND, OR and NOT] and some of its uses in circuits and programming; understand how numbers can be represented in binary, and be able to carry out simple operations on binary numbers [for example, binary addition, and conversion between binary and decimal]
understand the hardware and software components that make up computer systems, and how they communicate with one another and with other systems
understand how instructions are stored and executed within a computer system; understand how data of various types (including text, sounds and pictures) can be represented and manipulated digitally, in the form of binary digits
undertake creative projects that involve selecting, using, and combining multiple applications, preferably across a range of devices, to achieve challenging goals, including collecting and analysing data and meeting the needs of known users
create, re-use, revise and re-purpose digital artefacts for a given audience, with attention to trustworthiness, design and usability
understand a range of ways to use technology safely, respectfully, responsibly and securely, including protecting their online identity and privacy; recognise inappropriate content, contact and conduct and know how to report concerns.

Year 7 Overview for the year 2019/20
Module	Topic	No of Weeks	Progression Pathway mapped to NC
1	E-safety, Security, Social Media and Ethics	7	Digital Literacy
2	History of Computers and Foundations of Computing	8	Computing
3	Introduction to Programming	6	Computing
4	Data Handling and Searching	6	Information Technology
5	How the web works	2	Digital Literacy
6	Web page creation from ground up	5	Computing

Year 8 Overview for the year 2019/20
Module	Topic	No of Weeks	National Curriculum Key Area
1	E-safety Revisited0	7	Digital Literacy
2	Operating Systems	8	Computing
3	Modelling and Simulation	6	Information Technology
4	Binary and Instruction set Design	6	Computing
5	Programming using selection statements and Boolean expressions	5	Computing
6	Connecting to the internet	3	Computing