Teaching Computing at KS3

John Rutherford

£125FormatHTML resourcePublication dateJun 15ISBN978 1 84070 917 9
  • Engage students
  • Save time and money
  • Add units to any scheme of work

As departments adapt to the requirements of the Computing curriculum, the newer content presents both a challenge and an opportunity. If taught well, the programming elements can be incredibly engaging and productive – but some staff may still not feel fully confident, and the tightness of current budgets can be a source of frustration.

What is more Computing curriculum is very brief. Some teachers will thrive on the freedom it offers, but others find themselves in need of guidance, both to give students the best grounding in this new subject and to make sure that government expectations are being met.

Help is at hand

Teaching Computing at KS3 provides a set of fresh ideas that can help realise the potential of this exciting subject, providing support for staff where it is necessary for minimal expenditure.

Teaching Computing at KS3 has been written by an experienced, successful head of department now in demand as a trainer of teachers who are adjusting to the new curriculum. It is designed to provide practical help and support that can be used alongside any department’s other Computing and ICT provision.

Convenient and easy-to-use

Teaching Computing at KS3 is practical throughout and offers material for a range of ability levels, with a focus on what to teach and how to teach it. It offers a selection of digital resources including:

  • ten units of study covering visual and text-based programming, control systems, and the theory of how computers work
  • schemes of work for KS3
  • handouts to support teaching
  • two detailed workbooks to support extended projects.

By making intelligent use of engaging online resources that are available free of charge, the units of work show you how to bring the subject to life while making the best use of your budget. Each unit is self-contained, so that the material can fit into existing schemes of work. Used together, the ten units can also form the bulk of a two- or three-year Computing syllabus if required.

Wide-ranging guidance

Teaching Computing at KS3 will help you to:

  • support staff as they teach new topics
  • cover the content you need to with minimal spending on resources
  • save time on planning and lesson preparation
  • enthuse staff and students about programming and related topics.

The package includes a full site licence, so all the material can be copied and shared freely within the purchasing institution. This means that all staff and students can benefit for a single, one-off payment.

Contents

Teaching

  • Overview of Computing in the Curriculum
  • Continuity
  • Computing content
  • Teaching strategies
  • Using the study units
  • Training staff
  • Curriculum planning

Logo

Turtle Art

Introduction to Scratch

Kodu

Scratch project: Making a shooting game

Programming with Python

Introduction to control systems

Designing control systems

Hardware: How computers work

Binary and decimal data