We’re really lucky at St Christopher’s to have fantastic ICT facilities. There are three ICT labs – one is specially designed with lower benches and chairs to fit our younger pupils in KS1. Each lab has enough PCs for one per child in the class and these are all connected to the internet for teacher directed websites. We have a portable class set of laptops that can be used in class to help our learning, and in certain areas of the school these can even connect wirelessly to the school’s internet. We also use the laptops with our child friendly set of digital cameras for making our own films, animations and saving photographs. – We even have our own film studio which we use for drama work and for combining drama and ICT. You never know, we may be inspiring the next Stephen Spielberg!
Our teachers are all skilled users of ICT and are always happy to learn more. Each classroom has an Interactive Whiteboard. We also have Activote sets, where pupils can answer questions from the board using a wireless handset. This either displays the results or saves them for the teacher to use for assessment.
Each year group follows the Learning objectives from the National Curriculum, with unit topics from the QCA, this ensures we keep inline with current practice from the UK. We have adapted these units to fit in with our other curriculum topics, so that our learning is cross curricular and interesting.
Year 3
In Year 3, we use ICT to support our classroom subjects while also learning and developing our skills in the following areas:
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Using keyboard home keys and manipulating text.
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Exploring simulations
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Combining text and graphics
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Introduction to databases
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Roamers
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manipulating sound
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email
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digital cameras
Year 4
In Year 4, we use ICT to support other subjects, while also learning and developing our skills in the following areas:
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Keyboard - qwerty keys
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E-mail, Internet, Digital Camera/light
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Writing for different audiences
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Developing images using repeating patterns
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Branching databases
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Collecting and presenting information: questionnaires and pie charts
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Modelling effects on screen
Year 5
In Year 5, we use ICT to support our classroom work, while also learning and developing our skills in the following areas:
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Using keyboard - all keys
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Text & graphics
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E-mail, Digital Camera
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Introduction to spreadsheets
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Graphical modelling
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Controlling devices
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Monitoring environmental conditions and changes
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Analysing data and asking questions: using complex searches
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Evaluating information, checking accuracy and questioning plausibility
Year 6
In Year 6, in addition to using ICT to support our classroom work, we learn the following skills:-