ICT at key stage 3

The following guidance may be helpful for teachers who want to review or create their own scheme of work.

Evaluating a scheme of work

When evaluating a scheme of work it may be helpful to consider how far the department's schemes of work and units:

• provide long- and medium-term plans that are clearly linked to the programme of study and level descriptions;
• provide a secure basis from which teachers can plan lessons to meet the needs of all pupils in a class;
• link teaching activities to the learning they are intended to promote;
• identify what pupils are expected to learn, both within a unit and by the end of the specified period and how pupils' learning may be assessed;
• provide opportunities to develop literacy, mathematics and ICT and, where appropriate, links with other subjects and curriculum areas;
• give indications of the time needed to teach each unit;
• encourage good practice in teaching;
• allow for some flexibility when used;
• identify the type and use of key resources and make use of a resource range appropriate to the age and ability of the pupils;
• identify key ideas of the subject so that concepts are built up in an organised, systematic and rigorous way;
• inspire pupils and motivate them to continue studying ICT;
• set out what is taught and key activities consistent with an agreed timetable allocation for ICT for each year for each teaching group.

Developing a scheme of work

When developing a scheme of work, teachers may find it helpful to consider:

• the balance between knowledge, skills and understanding;
• how content may best be sequenced;
• how to check pupilsi progress;
• links to the wider curriculum;
• the resources available;
• the aims and purposes of ICT at key stage 3 and the subject's contribution to the whole school curriculum;
• ways in which pupils make progress in ICT.

The quality of a scheme of work for ICT can be evaluated by the extent to which it enables teaching and learning to:

• prepare pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world in which work and other activities are increasingly transformed by access to varied and developing technology;
• make available a wide range of ICT tools and resources that are varied and up to date;
• provide opportunities for pupils to use ICT tools to find, explore, exchange and present information responsibly, creatively and with discrimination;
• recognise that pupils have their own experiences and knowledge of the world; provide pupils with experiences outside the classroom and with experience of using ICT in other subjects;
• provide opportunities for pupils to develop initiative and independent learning;
• enable pupils to work with and communicate with others;
• enable pupils to enjoy learning ICT and be motivated by it.