ICT

Computers and Information Technology have become an integral part of our day to day lives. With this is mind it is vital that our children become not only comfortable, but also confident in their use and understanding of ICT.

We hope that our pupils enjoy using ICT and can apply their skills to tackle relevant and worthwhile problems. We aim to expose our pupils to the many different uses of ICT, going beyond the traditional "office" type usage, to look at the moral, social and economic applications of ICT in society today.

Resources

ICT is a fast moving environment with advances in technology being anounced on an almost daily basis. With this in mind, we are continuously looking at the resources available for the children to use and upgrading them whenever possible to ensure that our pupils have access to the latest equipment and software wherever possible.

Software

The software available on the network is tailored to meet the requirements of the different age groups in the Prep School. Children have access to database, spreadsheet, word processing and desktop publishing applications, starting from simple layout programmes in year 4 and moving on to high specification versions in years 7 and 8.

In addition to these officed based programs, we have a number of specialised programs which cover a variety of different applications such as animation, graphic design, webdesign and computer aided design (CAD).

Command and control is an important strand of ICT and the children are taught about the use of flowcharts using programs such as Coco and Flowol3. They are introduced to simple programming using MSW Logo and later on using the more advanced Lego NXT robots. As their experience increases, they go on to design and execute programs using these models.

The software used at all ages is evaluated on a regular basis and then updated when necessary.

Hardware

The ICT department consists of two suites, each containing 24 networked computers which are used in conjunction with data projectors in order to facilitate the childrens' learning. All the computers have broadband access to the Internet and we have filters in place to monitor and control the content accessed. Staff are also always present in the ICT room whenever the children are using it.

We also have an extensive range of peripheral equipment to use with these computers, including class sets of digital cameras, video cameras, graphics tablets, robotics hardware,  scanners and laser printers (black and white and colour). Each child has opportunities to use this equipment at some stage in their course.

Classrooms

In order to ensure that the children can access ICT in other parts of the curriculum, we have  interactive whiteboards located in every classroom within the school. Each of these whiteboards is fully networked, thus ensuring that the children experience continuity in the type of software they are exposed to.