Key Stage 4 - Information Communication Technology

THE OCR NATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN ICT

LEVEL 2

At Key Stage 4 all pupils follow a vocational ICT course examined by OCR. This gives the students the opportunity of achieving an equivalent of up to four GCSE’s (A* -C) by the end of Year 11.

The course is a Level 2 OCR National Certificate in ICT and is an exam-free alternative to GCSEs, taking a more engaging, practical approach to learning and assessment. It is worth 4 GCSEs.

 

It is an Industry-relevant qualification geared to key sector requirements, and is increasingly popular with schools and colleges; suiting a range of learning styles. A large array of software skills are taught using a wide range of industry standard software packages from MS Office (Word-processing, Spreadsheet use, Database creation and use, and using email) to graphic/web design using the Macromedia suite. 

 

The course allows for a wide range of teaching styles and ongoing assessment with regular pupil feedback and grading motivates pupils to do well.

 

WHAT WILL MY CHILD LEARN IN ICT?

 

In Year 9 students start the course by studying the following units;

 

·         Unit 1             (ICT Skills for Business)

·         Unit 20           (Creating animation for the WWW using ICT)

 

Passing this will gain students the equivalent of 1 GCSE. It should be noted that Unit 1 is a mandatory unit and therefore must be passed.

 

In Year 10 students continue working on the following units;

 

·         Unit 4             (Design and produce Multimedia products)

·         Unit 21           (Creating Computer graphics)

·         Unit 7             (Databases – design and use)

·         Unit 23           (Creating Video)

Passing all these additional units will gain students the equivalent of 3 GCSEs

 

In Year 11 students will conclude the course by completing

 

·         Unit 6             (Spreadsheets – Design & Use)

·         Unit 21           (Creating Sound)

Passing all these last two additional units will gain students the equivalent of 4 GCSEs

 

HOW IS MY CHILD ASSESSED?

 

For each individual unit a student can achieve a Distinction, Merit or Pass which is equivalent to an A, B or C respectively at GCSE.

 

Students must pass every unit to gain an overall PASS which is equivalent to a grade C at GCSE.

 

Overall qualification assessment works on a points system with more points awarded for Merits and Distinctions. Higher grades are reached by getting more units passed at higher grades. Basically the more high grades students get the more points they earn. If they score enough points they can get a Merit or Distinction for the overall qualification.  

 

WHAT IF MY CHILD HAS BEEN ABSENT?

 

Attendance in lesson is vital for students to succeed and if lessons or work is not completed or remains outstanding catching up become very hard and there is a chance that a student can fail. At lunchtimes, and after school, clubs are widely available for students who are behind. It is strongly advised that these are used.

 

 

SUMMARY

Overall the course offers our students skills that are not only practical and applicable to the real world but are highly favoured by employers. The course excites all the pupils and really tests them whilst remaining very much achievable.