ICT KS3
ICT in Key stage 3 - Year 9
GCSE Business and Communication Systems
Subject Leader: Mr C Kilby
What do students do in year 9 ICT?
Since September 2011, all year 9 students undertake a series of lessons based on the GCSE Business and Communications Systems syllabus. This is taught as an alternative to the standard KS3 syllabus which is normally delivered to year 9 students. This gives the opportunity to some students to undertake the full examination and gain an accredited GCSE at the end of year 9.
Working alongside the Business Studies department, students get 2 hours a fortnight of ICT and 2 hours a fortnight of Business studies.
Course overview
The course is broken down into 3 units. All students undertake the controlled assessment in November. Those students that make good progress over the year will be entered for the full GCSE and undertake a further 2 exams in June.
Unit 8 – ICT Systems in Business (Paper Ref 413008)
This unit introduces candidates to the importance of business and communication systems which contribute to the success of a business, in achieving its objectives. In particular, candidates will consider how ICT systems affect the way people work and how they can potentially improve communication both internally and externally. Candidates will be encouraged to consider not only the benefits of ICT in the workplace, but also the potential risks relating to the health and safety of staff and the security of data.
Unit 9 – Using ICT in Business (Paper Ref 413009)
This unit introduces candidates to a range of software applications used to support each function of a business. It helps candidates to understand how a business can use software to capture, store, retrieve and analyse data so as to meet its requirements.
Unit 10 – Investigating ICT in Business (Paper Ref 413010)
This unit is a controlled assessment and assesses the subject content in Unit 9 Using ICT in Business. The work must be each candidate’s own individual response, produced under controlled conditions.
Progression
In year 10 students who opt for ICT undertake the BTEC First in IT. This builds on much of the work completed in year 9 and offers a 2 GCSE qualification.
Skills to be gained
Students will cover topics such as business documents, advertising, marketing, financial & accounting, computer hardware & software, image editing, website production, databases, computer networking and more. Building up a wide range of ICT skills for GCSE and allowing them to specialise in a particular field in sixth form.
Extra Curricular
All students have the chance to join a number of extra-curricular activities on offer from the ICT department. These are offered under the banner of ‘ICT Projects’. A number of projects are run in many different areas of ICT.
ICT Projects are run with small groups of students, where they can work together, under the guidance of a member of staff, to develop their skills in a particular area.
Students that take part in extracurricular activities have the opportunity to build on skills learnt in class and to improve their coursework.
