ICT

The ICT facilities at Ockbrook School consist of 2 ICT Rooms and networked computers with interactive whiteboards in every department.  There are also computers available in our newly fitted library, where Sixth Form students can work if they wish to.  All of the computers have broadband internet access and students and staff have their own school email address.  The network is accessible from outside of school, enabling pupils and staff to continue to work at home.  Our network was upgraded in summer 2009, with many of the computers in the senior department being replaced with newer machines.

The main ICT Room is used for teaching specialist ICT lessons, from Year 7 up to Year 13; this room has 25 networked computers and an interactive whiteboard.  The second ICT Room, with 20 networked computers, is used by other subject areas, to bring classes into for research and study involving ICT facilities.

We have a range of software covering communication software, presentation software, spreadsheets and databases, as well as graphics and web publishing software.  In addition there is specialist software for specific subject areas such as Science, Music, RS, History and Modern Languages.

All pupils study ICT at KS3 and KS4, with pupils opting for either the GCSE Short Course or the GCSE Full Course at Year 10, where we currently follow the OCR ICTA specification, until the new GCSE comes into place in 2010.

After GCSE, pupils can then choose to study ICT at AS Level and A2 Level, where we follow the OCR specification H117.

Exam results in recent years are as follows:

2009:
GCSE Full Course 100% A to B grade with 90% A* or A grades
GCSE Short Course 94% A to C grades with 47% A* or A grades
A Level 100% A to C grades

2008:
GCSE Full Course 100% A to C grade with 80% A* or A grades
GCSE Short Course 94% A to C grades with 50% A* or A grades
A Level 100% A to C grades

2007:
GCSE Full Course 100% A to C grade with 75% A* or A grades
GCSE Short Course 100% A to C grades with 65% A* or A grades
A Level 100% A to C grades

Sixth Form

There are computers available in the library which Sixth Form students may use for their studies if they wish to, during study periods.  In addition, Sixth Form students can use the computers in the second ICT room when they are not being used for another lesson.  Sixth Form students are able to bring in their own laptops which they can use to connect to the wireless network.  This enables them to use ICT facilities in their study periods to continue with their A Level studies.

There is an option to study ICT at AS and A2 Level, where we follow the OCR specification H117.  We have consistently achieved excellent results at A2 Level, including 100% A to C grades in 2007, 2008 and 2009.