Daily Mass Live Stream
As befits an unapologetically Catholic school, the RE Department at The London Oratory School is situated at ‘the heart of the heart’ and the core of the curriculum. All pupils engage in an enriched diet of Catholic catechesis and evangelisation, fitting them not only for the challenges of growing in faith in the modern world, but also in an understanding of the rich intellectual and spiritual treasury to which they are the heirs.
A level Computer Science will introduce pupils to the internal workings of the Central Processing Unit (CPU), the exchange of data and will also look at software development, data types and legal and ethical issues. It is expected that learners will draw on this underpinning content when studying computational thinking, developing programming techniques and devising their own programming approach in the Programming project component.
Pupils will be expected to apply the criteria stated in the specification in different contexts including and future uses of the technologies.
OCRA Level Computer Science H446 Specification
The course is split into three main areas:
Covers the characteristics of contemporary processors input, output and storage devices, software and software development, exchanging data, data types, data structures and algorithms, as well as legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues.
Component 02; Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming
Covers elements of computational thinking, problem solving and programming, algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms
At A level pupils will choose their own computing problem that will contribute to their final grade. Pupils can choose a project that interests them because they will be spending months researching similar solutions to their chosen problem, designing the solution, developing the solution and then evaluating the success of their project.
The first paper could contain questions about the following elements:
· The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
· Software and software development
· Exchanging data
· Data types, data structures and algorithms
· Legal, moral, cultural and ethical issues
40%
(140 marks)
2 ½ hr exam.
The second paper could contain questions about the following elements:
· Problem-solving and programming. At A level pupil move from procedural programming to object-oriented programming.
· Algorithms to solve problems and standard algorithms including bubble sort, insertion sort, merge sort, quick sort,Dijkstra’s shortest path algorithm, A* algorithm, binary search and linear search.
· Elements of computational thinking including thinking abstractly, thinking ahead, thinking procedurally, thinking logically and thinking concurrently.
40%
(140 marks)
2 ½ hr exam.
This is a practical unit. Pupils will follow a systematic approach to problem solving, consistent with the skills required for software development. Developing computer programming code which has been designed, written, tested and refined by the pupil. Pupils will produce original reports outlining this development.
The programming project will account for 20% of the final assessment and is 80 marks.
Awarding Body: OCR
Specification: GCSE Computer Science H446
