ICT
ICT Department Custom Search Engine
Personnel
Mr. Jonathan Jeczalik (JJ) is the ICT Development Manager and Head of ICT. He graduated from the University of Durham with a BA Hons, in Geography. His particular interests were in spatial awareness studies, and cartography. Before studying for his PGCE in 2003, at Oxford Brookes, he was in the music business, working as a record producer and artist, programming audio samplers and sequencers. Before moving to the High School, he was Director of Strategic ICT at John Mason School, Abingdon.
News and Events
Year 8 Connected Curriculum D-Day
I am speaking to you from S3 in the maths block. This morning Mr Nicholl handed Year 8 the final note stating that unless he heard from them by registration this morning, that they were prepared at once to join him in his code breaking quest, a state of war would exist between the houses. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking was received and that consequently this year group is at war.
Tension was high as Year 8 battled ferociously with encryptions. Houses clashed as rivals attempted to gain entrance to our secret lairs where mathematicians worked furiously, solving complicated Python problems. We plotted and planned and double bluffed, reliving the dilemmas that Britain would have faced when deciding where to invade occupied France. We endeavoured to produce fully functioning radios, with some people claiming to have succeeded in hearing Hitler’s broadcasts…
As D-Day loomed, we furiously crammed our brains with the knowledge we would need for the ultimate test. The test of all the skills we had amassed on this intensive training course. We could almost hear the bombs ringing out as we tramped back inside, our brains aching. Our suffering was insignificant in comparison to what the Allies would have endured when crossing the channel, knowing full well that they might never return.
Line upon line of soldiers dressed in real RAF suits, headscarves and bomber jackets marched proudly into the Lecture theatre for a speech from our General, Chris. He was very impressed with our war efforts and told us all about what it’s like to be more involved in code breaking at a higher level of expertise.
We fought valiantly and were victorious, a state of peace has now returned to Year 8. Never was so much owed by so many to so few, so thank you to all the teachers involved for making it such a memorable day!
OHS Awarded ICT Mark
We are pleased to announce that, following an extensive external assessment, Oxford High School has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark. The award recognises the school’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. It is also evidence that we have undergone an extensive and thorough review of our use of ICT.
The lead member of staff, Dr Peter Secker, involved in ensuring the school was ready for ICT Mark assessment, commented:
“I am really pleased that the presentation of this award recognises the excellent ICT work that is taking place at Oxford High School. Applying for the award really brought into focus the ICT work that we are doing each and every day. All the girls and staff deserve credit for this achievement. We believe that ICT can be used in every aspect of learning and that it is essential our children are equipped for the modern world.”
Mr JJ Jeczalik (Head of ICT)
ICT Results Summer 2011 – 100% Distinctions
OCR Nationals in ICT
Another fantastic summer of results for the Year 11ICT group this year.
As a result of their interest and enthusiasm for the subject, they all gained Distinctions. Several pieces of work were copied by the Moderator for exemplification purposes. He commented that their work was “Some of the best I have seen, a credit to the school”. Well done!
The Department
The world is increasingly dominated by the use of Information and Communications Technology. Many aspects of our daily lives rely on ICT on a practical level. Our aim in the ICT department is to give pupils the skills and confidence to use ICT as widely as possible in their daily lives and especially to support their work in other subjects at school. Pupils also develop their problem solving abilities by learning how to apply their knowledge and understanding when developing ICT solutions to problems. Courses also enable students to develop an awareness of the wider uses of ICT at work and in the home and to consider the implications of this for society.
Facilities and Resources
The computer network infrastructure extends to every corner of the school and manages over 200 computers running the Microsoft Office 2007 Professional suite of programs including Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel, and Access as well as many subject related software packages. Safe filtered Internet access is available across the OHS network and pupils are encouraged to use this facility whenever they need it for school related work. Girls in years 10 to 13 have their own individual e-mail accounts in school. Other resources include, colour laser printers, image scanners, digital cameras, bar code readers, plotters.
There are two main ICT rooms. The smaller one houses 20 PCs and is mainly used for ICT lessons. The larger one houses 28 PCs and is in constant use by other departments for class lessons requiring ICT facilities and for private study work during break, lunchtimes, before and after school. The other ICT room but may also be booked. This provision ensures that all girls work on their own machine and have regular access to the ICT equipment. Additionally there are networked computers in most classrooms and two further suites of computers in the Library and Science areas. The ICT resources are constantly in use at all times of the day.
New developments include the roll out of MyPlace, which allows girls to access the school network from home. This is currently being used for year 11 coursework.
Curriculum
Year 7
The year 7 course aims to give girls a good grounding in ICT skills using the major applications software packages (word-processing, presentation graphics and spreadsheets) as well as learning to carry out advanced Internet searches efficiently and safely. The course concentrates on helping girls to master the main features of each program to support their work in other subjects as well as encouraging good working habits and an awareness of health and safety when using ICT resources. In the main sessions are led by the girls themselves, helping to promote truly independent learning. Project work enables each girl independently and individually to challenge herself and extend her own knowledge and expertise according to her previous experience at Junior school. IT Extra club runs to help pupils with limited previous experience to catch up.
Years 8 & 9
In years 8 and 9, girls continue with the bespoke ICT Programme of study. Greater emphasis is placed on internet safety and ipsative study. Girls tend to work in groups solve an IT issue, then present their findings to the whole group. They are encouraged to consider the design aspects of their work, referring to the acronym PARC – Proximity Alignment Repetition and Proximity – the basic constructs of great design. General topics include the following:
- Folder/File structures
- Shortcuts
- Spreadsheets
- Databases
- Presentations
- Back-ups
For more in-depth information, please go to the OCR Site. (PDF)
Year 10
We have now switched to the OCR Nationals in ICT for year 10 upwards. This is a GCSE equivalent course, that ensures that girls acquire essential MS Office skills, and prepares them for their post school life. In year 10 we concentrate on Unit 1, which covers the essentials of good practice in ICT.
Resources are provided by www.atain.co.uk
Year 11
The current cohort is the first to complete the OCR Nationals in ICT. They will be working on Units 22 or 23. The latter involves the analysis of commercially produced TV adverts, and then the creation and editing of their own adverts to a specific audience and topic. Unit 22 is very similar in concept, except that in this instance girls are working with audio adverts.
Computers are all part of the OHS LAN and the wider GDST network. We have two main teaching rooms, with fixed clients, printers and projectors.
Classrooms across the three sites benefit from interactive whiteboards and internet connectivity. As part of the development of ICT in the school, laptops are also available in various faculties, the library and the 6th Form Common Room.
