ICT at KS 4

1. ICT at KS 4 Defining Future Support at KS4 Schools Consultation Finstall Centre 26th February 2004

2. IT at Key Stage 4 What are schools required to do? • Follow the National Curriculum for IT at KS4 for all students • Report progress to parents for IT as discrete subject ie. Not as part of another subject

3. IT at Key Stage 4 How can this be done? • Accreditation for all students • National Curriculum integrated within other subjects • Mixture some student follow exam route, rest follow across the curriculum

4. IT at Key Stage 4 Different accreditation routes • The following qualifications' specifications meet the requirements of the key stage 4 programme of study: • Key skill in IT at levels 1 and 2 • GNVQ (part 1 no longer available) • GCSE and GCSE Short Course in ICT • GCSE in Applied ICT (Double Award). • Entry level certificates • QCA

5. IT at Key Stage 4 Comments on different exam choices- Key Skills • Preferred route of QCA • For portfolio work material from other subjects can be used e.g. GCSE History Coursework • Issues, assessment, access to students, preparation for written exam

6. IT at Key Stage 4 Comments on different exam choices- GNVQ, Applied ICT for all • On-line courses can be effective together with teacher input • Sheer quantity of coursework • low ability pupils difficulty in pulling coursework together

7. IT at Key Stage 4 Comment on delivery of programme of study through other subjects • whole school issue, requires careful planning, staff commitment • requires SMT firm support • Issues - how to report student’s progress to parents, making it all happen

8. IT at Key Stage 4 Comments on a mixed approach for example option subject for some students, remainder either an qualification or through subjects • option fine • non-option issues-reporting to parents, making it happen

9. Extracts from Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 “ICT in Secondary Schools” Published February 2004

10. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools

11. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools Features of good teaching at Key Stage 4 include: ·a clear understanding of the course requirements ·shared learning objectives so that pupils know where their learning is leading and can gauge their progress ·questioning which builds upon pupils’ prior learning and makes them think ·tasks and resources available to pupils on the school’s network, so that objectives are clear and time is used efficiently.

12. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools • Selection and take-up of courses • Take-up of examination courses in ICT has steadily increased • More pupils make progress beyond their attainment at the end of Y9 • GCSE short and full ICT courses : entries for have risen steadily • Full-award GNVQ : sharp rise in numbers • Double GCSE : schools have been slow to move from the GNVQ Part 1 to the new award, but there are signs of increasing take-up.

13. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools GNVQ “Some schools declare openly that this is to improve their position in league tables. It has to be questioned whether there is always parity between these multiple awards and achievement in separate subjects which yields only the same point score.”

14. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools • Entry of students • Schools vary in their approach to ICT examination work • Some enter all pupils for one or more of the courses • Others retain a variety of courses as options • Some introduced an accredited course in Y9 where they feel pupils are able to tackle the work. By and large this increases the school’s ability to ensure progression for higher attainers, but there is a danger of discontinuity for average and lower-attaining pupils who benefit from the diversity of ICT experience that Key Stage 3 can offer up to Year 9.

15. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools Y9 entry “Some Schools introduced an accredited course in Y9 where they feel pupils are able to tackle the work. By and large this increases the school’s ability to ensure progression for higher attainers, but there is a danger of discontinuity for average and lower-attaining pupils who benefit from the diversity of ICT experience that Key Stage 3 can offer up to Year 9.”

16. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools • There is a need for a wider range of ICT routes • Average and lower-attaining pupils often struggle with aspects of the GCSE and GNVQ courses • Solely skills-based courses provide too little challenge and are unlikely to provide good continuity with Key Stage 3 as work there develops

17. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools Key Skills Although the Key Skills approach is rarely taken up, often because of a perceived lack of acknowledgement of this qualification, it can provide far more beneficial experiences for pupils for whom GCSE or GNVQ are less appropriate. This needs very thorough planning and works best where schools continue to provide an element of discrete teaching combined with increasingly complex subject contexts that will move pupils forward.

18. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools Double GCSE The double GCSE award in applied ICT has generally extended opportunities for vocational work. The curriculum time allocated to such courses, however, is often inadequate, especially where work should be focused on vocational contexts. There is a need for more effective local networking so that visiting speakers can get into schools and firms can host visits and work placements without being swamped with requests.

19. Ofsted Subject report 2002/03 – ICT in Secondary Schools Vocational work Vocational work offers pupils the opportunities to develop their ICT capability further while also learning and experiencing something of how businesses and other organisations make use of ICT. This combination can be very effective in motivating pupils to achieve.