King Richard III College is one of the best British Schools in Mallorca (Majorca) offering a bilingual education to all students in both Primary and Secondary School.
Computing is a vital part of each student’s life and through the British curriculum in Spain we aim to prepare pupils for living in the digital age. At our international school in Mallorca we offer opportunities for a bilingual education where pupils can:
- Develop, maintain and stimulate their curiosity, interest, knowledge and enjoyment in Computer Science at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5.
- Develop transferable skills and become aware and informed digital citizens.
At King Richard III College all secondary students have access to Computing through our discrete Computer Science lessons to ensure the broadest possible learning experience for each student.
Key Stage 3
The department uses its own innovative and engaging scheme of work for the delivery of Computer Science in Years 7, 8 and 9, which is fully compliant with the British National Curriculum framework.
Year 7, 8 and 9 students complete six different units that build on their Computer Science skills as well as learning how to stay safe online and looking at different aspects of E Safety. Students are able to apply problem solving skills in a range of settings using a variety of programs including learning block and text based programming. Students will be introduced to Scratch and Python during KS3 and develop more complex algorithms each year. Students also develop their understanding of computing hardware and networking in order to be able to become effective users of Computing. Students use a cloud based system to save their work and this also enables students and the teacher to communicate and share resources effectively.
IGCSE
At Key Stage 4 students can elect to study the Computer Science IGCSE qualification following the University of Cambridge International Examination Board’s IGCSE specification.
Students sit two papers. Paper 1 (worth 60%) focuses on the theory of Computer Science and includes binary to hex conversions, logic gates and questions surrounding computing ethics and encryption. Paper 2 focuses on algorithm design, problem solving and programming and is worth 40%. The IGCSE CS examination is designed to prepare students for A-Level study and also equip them with skills for further education or employment.
A Level
At Key Stage 5 the course that is offered to our sixth form students in Years 12 and 13 is the Advanced GCE in Computer Science 9618. This course involves the students completing two years of study with the AS being sat at the end of Year 12.
In Year 12 they cover a number of computing topics in order to become familiar with the fundamental principles of computer science and how computer programs work in a range of contexts.
In Year 13 students study topics including information representation, communication and Internet technologies, hardware, software development, and relational database modelling. As they progress, learners will develop their computational thinking and use problem solving to develop computer-based solutions using algorithms and programming languages.