At De Warenne Academy, ICT and Computing is taught with the aim of empowering young people to become good digital citizens with the skills and understanding to keep themselves safe online while learning the long-term implications of their digital footprints. We believe that all pupils deserve a computing curriculum which prepares them for the digital world they live in. Pupils at De Warenne will learn to become digitally literate; someone able to use a computer, develop their ideas and express their creativity through information technology. We teach our pupils to be logical thinkers with the knowledge and understanding to succeed in a digital world with a range of skills including computer programming, graphic design and web design. 

Pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 are taught a wide range of digital activities starting with a focus on a healthy online presence and developing an understanding of how to stay safe online. In addition to eSafety knowledge pupils will learn about the different types of graphics and how to combine these to create new and unique graphics made for different audiences. Pupils can build on these skills to develop graphics to use in websites and learn the skills needed for creating interactive platforms. In addition to the creative skills, pupils are introduced to computer science lessons where they will learn computational skills, programming, binary and binary addition, breaking down big problems into small manageable chunks (decomposition) and develop their resilience when dealing with challenging problems. 

Pupils in Year 10 and 11 study for the OCR Creative I-Media and OCR Computer Science qualifications. In iMedia they will cover themes that include graphic design, pre-production documents, web development and the creation of interactive media products. The exam unit will allow pupils to develop an understanding of how to plan and effectively execute a project. This unit also teaches young people about health and safety needs in a digital environment. In addition to this the lessons build upon the Year 7, 8 & 9 programme of study, delivering units of work designed to further deepen pupils’ understanding of the creation of digital graphics, web development and creating an interactive media product. 

Within Computer Science, this also builds on the skills pupils learned in Year 7, Year 8 & Year 9. There are two exam units in this qualification. Paper one looks at computer systems, components and the way that data is processed and executed inside a computer processor. Paper two builds on the computational thinking skills that pupils developed in Key Stage 3 and they learn to develop algorithms, write code and apply this knowledge to given scenarios.  

Every pupil is encouraged to attend enrichment. Throughout the year there are opportunities to further develop digital literacy. At KS4 we offer Creative iMedia & Computer Science sessions run by Mr Joyce and Mr Brown. At KS3 pupils are entered into a national competition called Bebras; this tests their understanding of computational thinking and allows them to gain national recognition for the skills that they have learned.