Computing

Here at Henlow Academy, a key focus within the Computing department is for all students to have the necessary skills, knowledge, and understanding of how to be both proficient and a responsible user of technology.
 
Online Safety and a strong knowledge of how to be a good Digital Citizenship run throughout the scheme of work at KS3 whilst learning key elements of Computer Science knowledge across several sequenced units.
 
The department is equipped with various items, from gaming controllers and robotics to programmable Micro Bit boards and Raspberry Pis.  An extremely popular unit here at Henlow is our Kodu Games Development unit.  Through this piece of software, students will learn more about the gaming industry, and how to create playable 3D games that can be multiplayer and multi-level. Characters can be controlled using both the keyboard and the gaming controllers!  Students will further develop key programming concepts such as Sequencing, Selection, and Iteration, but in a fun, visual and engaging way!
 
Students will then move on to the GCSE Computer Science course at Key Stage 4. 

This is a full GCSE which is graded from 9 to 1. On this course pupils will study how computers work, how to write programs and how data are represented and handled by applications. Pupils will have to design and write programs in the Python programming language.

Pupils will develop analytical and problem-solving skills and gain experience of meeting particular end-user requirements. The content is highly mathematical and requires a high level of logical reasoning.

Lessons will be a mix of practical (programming) and theory lessons. There will be regular exam-style practice assessments. The complete list of topics that pupils will learn are:

  • Algorithms
  • Programming
  • Data representation
  • Computer systems
  • Computer networks
  • Cyber security
  • Impacts of digital technology on society
  • Software development
We look forward to showing you more of the department when you come to visit!