I.C.T.

At Alder we have invested heavily in ICT, with all classrooms having an interactive whiteboard and 4 soon to be 5 ICT suites and feel it is a distinctive feature and a real strength of the school. This was confirmed by our OFSTED report, which stated that our modern resources along with staff enthusiasm and expertise had helped all students to become capable users of information and communication technology. Both the ICT department and cross-curricular ICT going on across all other departments is rated as very good. The school is developing a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that students can log in to to access interactive resources(questionnaires, activities, competitions, video clips, tests, wikis, and quizzes) produced by our own teachers to support and structure the schemes of work the students follow. Students can then upload their own work for marking online. At KS4 a forum is available through the VLE so students can contact their teacher from home so they can receive support outside school and ICT club hours.
   
   
  ICT Resources
  VLE
   
   
  KS3 At key stage 3 all pupils are set according to ability and work is differentiated to cater for this. All pupils are completing units of week that follow the requirements of the National ICT Strategy. These units help to develop capability in ICT where students can gain skills in the industry standard software we have bought and can choose when and how to use them to solve problems for specific purposes and audiences. In year 7 students undertake an induction unit and then complete units of work based around the National Strategy. In Year 8 students also begin activities to support them through the KS3 online test that determines their end of key stage level. In Year 9, after the students have completed the KS3 online test students begin work on a unit from the ICT key stage 4 course. All lessons are structured and available online through the school website and are supported by additional activities through the VLE.

KS4

BTEC Students can opt in Year 9 for either a BTEC Certificate in ICT or a BTEC Diploma in ICT. The Certificate is equivalent to two GCSEs grades and is a single option course and the Diploma is equivalent to four GCSE Grades. The units undertaken are as shown below:

Certificate and Diploma

  • Using ICT to Present Information
  • Website Design
  • Spreadsheets
  • Databases

Additional Units for Diploma only

  • Introduction To Computer Systems
  • Customising Business Applications
  • Graphics
  

 

ECDL

Pupils who do not opt for ICT in Year 9 will be offered the opportunity to complete the European Computer Driving License this is a European wide qualification unit is tested online and each unit is accredited individually. The units undertaken are as shown below:

  • Concepts of Information Technology.
  • Using the Computer and Managing Files.
  • Word Processing - classroom and homework tasks.
  • Spreadsheets - collate, sort and chart data.
  • Database - school data handling.
  • Presentations - electronic displays and printouts.
  • Information and Communication - efficient Internet and email use.

If students then pass an over-arching online theory exam as well they can be awarded an equivalent grade B GCSE grade.

Oracle

As art of our Gifted and Talented programme we are able to offer the Oracle Academy qualification to targeted Year 10 Students.

Oracle is the worlds leading database company and is used by the worlds major online companies to store, manage and retrieve information that is the core of their business. Both Amazon and Google use Oracle. Oracle is the second most profitable software company in the world, behind Microsoft. Jobs in this field are very well paid! The qualification the students undertake can lead towards an A Level equivalent grade and gain UCAS points to help entry to university. Students gain an insight into how major businesses operate and learn programming techniques for SQL and P/SQL which are database programming languages.