ICT department - Thomas Bennett Community College

ICT at Thomas Bennett Community College

The ICT Department in Thomas Bennett Community College are extremely proud of the achievements of students recently. Over the past year they have succeeded not only in achieving fantastic grades and improving on last year, but also have been nationally recognised for the work they have created.

They have contributed with a range of ICT publications, websites, computer games, flash products, eportfolios, robotic programs and much more!

This has seen the school awarded with the ICT Mark, being invited to join the ICT Register, a part of the Leading Leaders Network and also receiving a National Excellence award for the 'Learning Experience' offered by the college. Everyone associated with the school and department are grateful for the huge amount of time and hard work that the students have dedicated to helping.

BECTA ICT Excellence Award

'Learning Experience'

The BECTA ICT Excellence runners up award for 'Learning Experience' was presented to our school in November 2009. Students at TBCC showed the range of software that we use and also showcased a range of work from Year 7 through to Year 13 to a team of judges for this national competition!

What are the BECTA Excellence Awards? - Link

We look forward to more success in the future!

Computer Games Authoring

The ICT Department at Thomas Bennett Community College have been offering a fantastic opportunity for the students over the past twelve months. The students have been playing computer games, evaluating games and designing their own using free software. Students have received a GCSE equivalent for this and this has lead to a range of students this year becoming interested in taking part.

From September 2008 we have offered the D205 'Computer Games Authoring' Unit. This is an optional unit for students to take in Year 10 or Year 11. We are very proud to have been selected to be a pilot centre for this unit!

UPDATE - In the first year of this qualification we had all students who entered passing this unit.

For this qualification the students will get opportunity to work together or individually at the start of the project looking at 'what makes a good computer game?'. They will look at a range of games and evaluate them against set criteria in a 'game reviewer' role. This allow students to play a variety of games and then to review each one. At the end of this first session the students can discuss and hopefully agree on what the main criteria is for making a new game. Its important to think about a selection of genres for games but do they have something in common? Games from all times and ages are surely totally different, arent they?

Next, is to think of a type of game that they would like to create and start to plan out how it will fit together in a Proposal. You can in this part of the course start to think how you can convince people to play your game, what makes it addictive?, what will make people return to try and do better and better each time on your game? The Proposal is a very important stage and one where you will then look at feedback from the teacher and think how you can improve your ideas. This will include the storyline, names of characters, game genre, levels, graphics used, routes through the game etc. They will create prototypes of games and then show how they have developed their game based on feedback from others. Prototyping is a very important stage of the development and you need to keep motivated as it can be frustrating to keep trying and then improving your work, but be patient as it is worth it in the long run!

Also included in the project will be a user guide, testing tables and an overall project review.

The software we use is 'Game Maker 7.0' which is a free download from the following website:-

Link to Game Maker website

See some of the great designs below:-

ICT Register

ICT Register - We can now help support schools all over the country with their use of ICT across the curriculum. We specialise in Computer Games, Using Flash, Dreamweaver and Robots. Check out our page below:-

Link to the ICT register

At TBCC we offer support to other schools on the following areas:- Computer Game Design, Control - Use of Robots, AFL in Key Stage 4, Using Flash in Key Stage 5 and E-Safety!

Sixth Form ICT

ICT in the sixth form involves students continue to develop their skills and choose their own projects using industry standard software. We've had some excellent examples of work that have been used at school and also by end users in the local community.

They have learnt valuable project planning skills, how to manage their time, design work, problem solving and creating a multimedia product for an end user.

In Flash they have used Action Script with multimedia components they have created and have learnt techniques such as creating 'Scenes' and 'Tweening'.

VLE - TBCC Moodle

ICT can be accessed from home with the use of our VLE(Virtual Learning Environment), the moodle. All of our courses have material on here and you can look through the lessons and submit any of your work to be marked through here.

In the ICT section you can find flash tutorials, examples of past work and forums to help you with your studies. The units that you cover are broken down into sections and this can be used as a reference through the year or even to look at and see what is coming up!

To log in to the moodle you can use you wsgfl username and password

Link to moodle

ICT Department - Facilities

At Thomas Bennett Community College we have a vast range of ICT facilities at our deposal in the ICT department. In each the ICT suites we have 'remote learning' that enables teachers to take control of students machines and demonstrate, show examples and even showcase their work to everyone in the class. This can be used to enthuse and motivate all students together or individually giving feedback in the class straight to their computer.

Our computer ratio in school is for one computer for every 2 students. The ICT suites have a minimum of 27 networked machines in each room(aswell as stand alone machines for game making and creating products).

We also have a suite of Lego robots and range of multimedia - USB sound and video recorders, ditial blue video recorders, speakers, headphones etc.

'New Learning' - software used at TBCC

In the ICT department we encourage the students to choose from a range of software to create solutions to open-ended scenarios. This enables the students to develop their creative and problem-solving skills. Some of the software we use is listed below:-

Microsoft Office
Adobe Web Standard CS3
Adobe Paintshop Pro Elements
Gamemaker 7.0
Gamestudeio Lite
Windows Moviemaker
Audacity
Dance Ejay
Techsoft Design Tools 2D Design V2
Coral Paintshop Pro
Stop Motion Pro V5
LEGO Minstorms
Openmind
Open Project
Advanced GIF animator
Quick Screen Recorder

The 'Learning Experience' at TBCC

During your time at TBCC you will cover a range of topics and get the opportunity to try out a variety of different software. Our main aim is to give you experience of multimedia software packages throughout all of your units and then using this knowledge, choose the most suitable solution for a scenario based on what you know and what you would like to try. We believe ICT should be about trying new ideas and constantly experiencing how technology can be used to motivate and inspire you in your learning.

Robots in Year 7, 8 and 9

When you first arrive at TBCC you will get the opportunity to use our robots when you are covering the 'Control' unit. The robots we currently use are Lego Mindstorms and you can see a few pictures of these below.

Animation in Year 9

You will have the opportunity to work either in class or outside of school on a range of animation challenges. You will use a range of software for 2D or 3D animation tasks that could end up being submitted for in school or national competitions. Students favoured using stop motion animation this Year!

Dreamweaver Websites in Year 9 - 13

When creating a website or an eportfolio of your work you will use Dreamweaver. This will be used to create a professional look to your content, to link all of your evidence and most importantly to showcase your work!

Flash Products in Year 11, 12 and 13

We have created some exciting flash animations and products for a range of end users over the past 12 months. These are showcased either through our moodle or played on the ICT screen in the main corridor showing a range of scenes, tweening, actionscript and multimedia!

ICT Progress at Thomas Bennett Community College

ICT Mark – June 2008

The ICT Mark is the third level of the Next Generation Learning Charter. (Level one being Committed to ICT, and level two being Recognised for ICT). The 'Next Generation learning charter' is a government campaign initiated by BECTA. We aim to use technology to create a more exciting, rewarding and successful experience for learners of all ages and abilities.

Pilot centre for Computer Games Unit – September 2008

We were successful in applying to be an Edexcel 'pilot centre' to run the D205 'Computer Games Authoring Unit' for the DIDA qualification. The students can choose this as an extra unit to their compulsory unit(1 GCSE) to recieve a equivalent to 2 GCSEs for this CIDA(Certificate in Digital Applications) award.

Invited to join the ICT Register – October 2009

The ICT Register is a unique resource of innovative practice about all aspects of learning with technology and it is freely available for schools around the world. It is operated by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in partnership with BECTA.

ICT Excellence Awards – Runners ups – November 2009

This is a National Award that recognises the commitment of using ICT to raise the progress at our college. We received this award for the use of industry standard software, which motivates pupils, shows an awareness of and need for a vocational curriculum.

Invited to join BECTA's Leading Leaders Network– December 2009

BECTA invite schools to share their leadership, commitment and use of ICTwith other schools.

UPDATE - Schools visited TBCC in January and March 2010.

Hong Kong Visit - May 2010

During May 2010, we had 18 visitors from Hong Kong focusing our ICT facilities, our students and their fantastic work. During the morning we showcased our Robot challenge/ video link with St Pauls(Burgess Hill), our Flash products, Dreamweaver and Eportfolios that we have created. This included giving examples of the opportunities that we offer using ICT and the impact that it has made on progress at our school. Our students explained how the new technology is used in our learning at TBCC by demonstrating their knowledge and unstanding across a range of challenges and activities.

We look forward to more successful visits in the future!