Computing News October 2022

ComSci Updates

It has been a hectic start to the new school year over in the Computing Department; we’re really relishing the year ahead. The 2022/23 academic year started by welcoming our newest member of the (expanding) department Mr King, who brings a wealth of experience with him. In particular, he is a Java expert which will allow us to grow the department’s skills set and support a wider range of A Level programming projects and students wanting to learn an alternative programming Language.

2021/22 Results

The 2021/22 academic year culminated in a bumper crop of results at both A Level and GCSE; in what were the biggest student cohorts in recent times. We were able to achieve a staggering 11 A* Grades at A Level (out of a cohort of 37) and 100% 9 – 4 level at GCSE. It goes without saying that these results are a reflection of both the students’ and computing teachers’ hard work, passion and dedication to the subject. Well done everyone!

Subject Support

The results of 2021/22 does however pile the pressure on our current crop of GCSE and A Level students; especially those in Year 11 and Upper Sixth. To that end, the department has launched several lunch time support clubs that the students can attend to gain additional guidance from the Computing Teachers:

• Monday (lunch time): T4 – General support club (focused on theory, examination technique and programming skills) with Dr. Hedges and Mr Adcock.
   
•  Wednesday (lunch time): T4 – Python Programming support with Mrs Pakaoglu and Mr King.

Computing Extra Curriculum Clubs

We are excited to announce a new range of extra curriculum clubs and with even more in the pipeline too. If you enjoy your computing lessons and are passionate about the subject, why not come along to one of the following clubs:

• Computing Society (ComSoc): Every Tuesday lunch time in TCL; come along for subject based discussions, debates, programming classes, hackathons, competitions and more. The society is run by our fabulous A Level students.
   
• Year 7 Python Programming Club: Every Wednesday lunch time in TCL; if you’re in Year 7 and want to get ahead of the game and start to learn Python programming, before you study it in your computing lessons, then why not come along?! The club is run by Pratim and Navaneeth, two of our amazing Year 9 students.
   
• PA Raspberry Pi Competition Club: Our annual, national competition where students are asked to solve a problem working in teams using a Raspberry Pi. This year the focus is on sustainability and the environment. Students from all year groups can enter; so why not get yourself into a team and head to TCL on Monday lunch time.

Year 9 BIMA Day

Finally, a date for all Computing Year 9 students’ (excluding those that study PRE, who have a trip that day!) diary. We will be taking our brilliant Year 9 computing students off timetable for the day to engage in the BIMA Digital Day. Students will be working in small teacher set groups, to launch a new company/app/product that solves a real world problem. Students will be working with industry experts and be expected to “pitch” their idea to the judges at the end of the day.

That’s it for now! Remember to keep coding!

All the best from the Computing Department