Highbury Grove School

(Answer Sheet) English Language Insert for Paper 2F and 2H
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Ξ ICT

In our new school we have some excellent ICT facilities, from the space we work in to the hardware and software we have at our disposal. Students and teachers enjoying working in our exciting new space and getting to know our way around the latest software updates.

ICT is an exciting field to work and study in; part of the excitement comes from the rapid rate of development of the technology. In just a few years we have moved from a single dial up internet connection in the library to fast broadband cabled network in every room and wireless throughout the school grounds. We are already in discussions about the next move forward.


With the new facilities students across the curriculum have greater access to ICT facilities and this has brought greater enthusiasm and increasing sophistication in the use of the technology available to them. Students start the ICT curriculum itself in Year 8. All groups in Years 8 and 9 follow the OCR Nationals level 2 course in ICT, which is cross matched with the National Curriculum levels for ICT. This is the same course we continue in Year 10 and 11 (as part of the options pathways) and has ensured continuing success for students and staff over the last few years. The course is worth 4 A-C GCSEs once students have completed the 7 units required. The current complete set of units is as follows:

Unit 1 Skills for Business (Office suite - Word, Power Point, Excel, Publisher and Access)
Unit 2 Webpage creation (Adobe Dreamweaver)
Unit 3 Digital imaging – plan and produce computer graphics (Adobe Fireworks)
Unit 4 Design and produce multimedia products (PowerPoint)
Unit 7 Databases – design and use (Microsoft Access)
Unit 20 Creating animation for the WWW using ICT (Adobe Flash)
Unit 21 Creating computer graphics (Adobe Fireworks)

In Year 8 and 9 it is expected that students will complete Unit 1 (a compulsory unit) and some will also complete Unit 21 – these 2 units together represent the equivalent of one A-C GCSE.

In Key Stage 4, depending on the pathway chosen, most students go on to complete up to the 7 complete units.

Over the last three years students consistently achieve 100% A – C at GCSE equivalents – with most ICT students achieving 4 GCSE equivalents.

The package as a whole represents an excellent foundation in the use and application of ICT software in a range of contexts. Each year we develop our own support materials, as units change and software updates, and review our choice of units. OCR continues to add to the available units including topics such as video and online games creation.

At Key Stage 5 we also offer the Applied ICT A level and, given continued success at Key Stage 4, we intend to offer OCR Nationals at level 3. We believe it will give our students the best access to further education and the world of work in a full range specialities, from business and project management, through to website design and computer graphics and animation.

As part of the school’s extended school policy we offer our students continued and ongoing support. We allow students to drop in after school to complete their course work and include supported course work catch up as part of our enrichment programme. We also provide sessions on Saturday, through our KS5 coordinator, and regularly contribute to the holiday programmes. Our students know that they can come to any ICT teacher for help: we all have a detailed knowledge of the software and curriculum requirements for the courses we offer. This support is provided on a foundation of detailed, differentiated and user friendly booklets designed around the OCR units we deliver.

Online Access
In recent years the ICT department has worked hard across the school to ensure that all teachers, students and their parents have easy online access to the school’s curriculum and other areas of school life. Through the school’s Managed Learning Environment (MLE), www.islington-mle.com, all teachers and students have access to a variety of tools. In the coming months we expect to roll this service out to parents.

Students (and their parents) can access details of their timetable, attendance and achievement across all their subject areas. As a matter of security, it should be clear that students can only access their own details (passwords and usernames have to be memorised and kept safe at all times). The MLE also has links to students’ email and Fronter (the school’s Virtual Learning Environment, VLE).

In ICT we encourage students to use their email as part of the curriculum and are happy to respond to difficulties they have with the work set. It is also an effective route for parents to contact their children’s teachers.

Through Fronter students can check on the work they are supposed to be doing and pick up messages from their different teachers. Different curriculum areas put information on there which students can download and copy to their own computers. Parents, through their students, can access these materials and support their children with their learning.

As time progresses these facilities will become increasingly available and we expect teachers, students and their parents to make full use of them. Highbury Grove is a modern school with up-to-date facilities. ICT is a very dynamic area of the curriculum and, as department, we do not want to respond to change but keep ahead of it. This is true in our knowledge of the latest courses being made available to our students, the latest software available to us to deliver the curriculum and the latest software being used on our computers. Online curriculum and wireless networking are both essential parts of this delivery and as we look into latest developments including hand held devices and social networking we encourage staff, students and their parents to make the full use of the facilities currently available.

Any queries, please contact the Head of ICT, Paul Woodroofe, on
[email protected]

http://www.islington-mle.com/

Ξ Music

Highbury Grove has been a music specialist school since September 2010. The music provision is not only very extensive, but also tailored to suit the needs and learning styles of all students.

From beginning musicians, to the most advanced A Level scholars preparing for Oxbridge and Russell Group auditions, a personalized curriculum allows students to excel and achieve their goals.
Carefully consideration has gone into the construction of three pathways that allow students to make an informed choice with their family on which is the best route for them.


Ξ What is the HGS 50% Instrumental Expansion?

Music makes a powerful contribution to our personal, social and cultural identity. As an educative tool, it can develop such aspects as memory, co-ordination, concentration, creativity and cognitive ability in general. It’s our goal as a music specialist school to enable all students at Highbury Grove to access the benefits of learning an instrument and the cross-curricular and personal skills that they promote. Whole classes in key stage 3 are taught classical instruments through the curriculum in a wider opportunities setting and we aim to half of our students on roll benefiting from this innovation in our curriculum.


Ξ Why Study Music?

Units are designed to develop confidence, ensemble empathy and critical thinking skills, as well as insight and control over the musical elements and heightened technical ability.
A study of Music encourages students to be dynamic, creative and expressive. It builds confidence and fosters independent thinking. It is one of the few educational pursuits which truly combine a student’s physical, emotional and intellectual dimensions. Students must draw on physical capabilities, much like an athlete; possess an acute awareness and understanding of the power of human emotion, much like a psychologist and understand the structure and notation of the musical language, much like a mathematician or computer scientist. Few disciplines allow students to integrate so many different aspects of self as music does and few provide as complete an array of experiences.


Ξ Music Specialist School

Based on the Venezuelan El Sisteme Project, Highbury Grove School operates a music enrichment programme like no other in the country. In years 7, 8 and 9 Students who opt to be in the Music Specialist School are given an orchestral instrument and also benefit from free one-to-one tuition, a choir rehearsal, theory of music classes, jazz improvisation sessions, orchestral sectionals and a full orchestral sectional every week. The length of these sessions varies from 4 hours in year 7, 3.5 hours in year 8 and 2.5 hours in year 9. Due to the success of the programme we will roll it out to years 10 and further to year 11 commencing the 2010/11 academic year.


Ξ Facilities and Resources

Students at Highbury Grove School benefit from:

• Two fully interactive classrooms with keyboards for every student,
• 30 iMac computers loaded with industry specific software,
• A purpose built orchestral ensemble room that seats up to 40
• 5practice rooms
• A recording studio
• A recording booth
• A large state of the art performance hall
• A team of 18 peripatetic staff who deliver instrumental tuition on any orchestral, • contemporary instrument as well as a wide variety of world instruments.


Ξ Enrichment Through Music

There are several extra-curricular enrichment opportunities available at the school including keyboard ensemble, jazz band, Turkish Suz ensemble and Harmonium ensemble. Please contact the Head of Music for more details.


http://www.highburygrove.islington.sch.uk/school-curriculum/music/

Highbury Grove School From beginning musicians, to the most advanced A Level scholars preparing for Oxbridge and Russell Group auditions, a personalized curriculum allows students to excel and achieve their goals.

Highbury Grove School