KS3 Computing · Apprentice

Year 7

What a computer is, how it stores things as 0s and 1s, how networks join computers together, spreadsheets, algorithms and staying safe and legal online.

Units, term by term

One unit each half term. Open a lesson to study it, try it and check yourself.

Autumn 1

Digital Citizen

Logging in, strong passwords, footprints, email manners, bullying, fact or fake. Also the first week of 'what a computer is'.

What you will know by the end

A strong password is long and unusual, not clever.
Everything posted leaves a footprint that can be copied.
Report to a trusted adult or the DSL; screenshots are evidence.
A reliable source: who wrote it, when, and do others agree (lateral reading).
The laws: Computer Misuse Act, Data Protection Act, copyright.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 19: Digital life, law and ethics
- Explain a digital footprint, keep accounts private, and know the steps when something online feels wrong.
- Spot the red flags in a phishing message, and check whether information online is trustworthy.
- Name the three UK laws (Computer Misuse Act, Data Protection Act, Copyright Act), what each one covers, and the Spanish equivalents.
- Choose and read a Creative Commons licence.
- Argue both sides of an ethical question: AI, surveillance, the digital divide, the environment and wellbeing.
Topic 1: What a computer is
- Sort any device into input, process, output or storage, and follow one real example through all four.
- Explain why computers use electricity, and why they use only two states (0 and 1), not ten.
- Describe a transistor as a switch, and show how two switches can make a decision.
- Tell hardware from software, and embedded computers from general-purpose ones.
- Explain the stored-program idea, place the big inventions on a timeline, and say why an LED needs a resistor.

Digital footprint: The trail of everything you do online.
Phishing: Fake messages that trick people into giving details.
Computer Misuse Act: UK law (1990) that makes hacking and spreading malware crimes.
Data Protection Act: UK law (2018), with UK GDPR, controlling how personal data is used.
Copyright: Automatic legal protection for original creative work.
Open source: Software whose code anyone can see, change and share.
Ethics: AI that is biased because its training data was. Cameras that keep us safe and also watch us. The digital divide: who is left out when everything moves online. Screen time and sleep. Practise arguing both sides.
Input / output: Anything that gets information into the computer. Keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, microphone, camera, a temperature sensor.
Process: The computer follows instructions to change that information. Add two numbers. Move a character. Sort a list. The CPU does this.
Transistor: An electronic switch with no moving parts.
Hardware: The physical parts of a computer.
Software: Programs: instructions that tell hardware what to do.
Embedded system: A small computer built into a device for one job.

End-of-unit challenge: A scenario quiz, then fix a risky fake social-media profile and explain each change.

Homework: Study page 19, steps 1 to 4, and the quiz.

Extra challenge: Write the family's five rules for the home Wi-Fi.

Arcade: this unit

Autumn 2

Networks

From semaphore to packets: what a protocol is, why computers use binary, LANs and WANs, IP addresses, DNS, internet versus web.

What you will know by the end

A protocol is an agreed set of rules so two machines can talk.
A bit is one on/off signal; eight make a byte.
LAN in one building, WAN across the world; a router joins networks.
Every device has an IP address; data travels in packets that may take different routes.
DNS turns a name into an address. The web is one service that runs on the internet.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 15: Networks and the internet
- Say why we connect computers, and tell a LAN from a WAN, and the internet from the web.
- Name the hardware in a home or school network and say what each box does.
- Explain IP and MAC addresses, and why an IPv4 part stops at 255.
- Follow a DNS lookup and a packet's journey, step by step.
- Use protocols, layers, bandwidth and latency correctly, and work out download times by hand.
Topic 2: Bits and bytes
- Say what a bit is, and why one bit is one yes/no answer.
- Work out how many patterns n bits make, and the biggest number they hold.
- Explain why a byte is 8 bits, and climb up and down the units ladder (KB, MB, GB…).
- Never mix up Mbps (internet speed, bits) and MB (file size, bytes) again.

LAN / WAN: Local Area Network: a network over a small area.
Router: Connects different networks and forwards packets.
IP address: A device's address on a network. IPv4 = 4 bytes.
MAC address: Fixed unique ID of a network card. 48 bits in hex.
DNS: Domain Name System: turns website names into IP addresses.
Packet: A small numbered chunk of data sent across a network.
Protocol: A set of agreed rules for communication.
Bandwidth / latency: How much data a connection can carry per second.
Bit: One binary digit, 0 or 1. One switch.
Byte: 8 bits. 256 possible patterns.
Nibble: 4 bits. One hex digit.

End-of-unit challenge: Draw and annotate the journey of a web-page request, then a short quiz.

Homework: Study page 15 to step 8; download-time formula with your own numbers.

Extra challenge: Find out your home router's name and what the lights mean.

Arcade: this unit

Spring 1

Spreadsheets

Cells, ranges, formulas, functions, sorting, filtering, charts, and a model of a class trip budget with what-if questions.

What you will know by the end

A formula starts with = and uses cell references, so it updates when the data changes.
Relative references move when filled down; $A$1 does not.
SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, COUNTIF: what each one answers.
A model lets you ask 'what if' without redoing the sums.
Mean, median, mode and range, and when each is the right average.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 18: Data, spreadsheets and AI
- Tell data from information, and read any cell reference like B3 or range like B2:B6.
- Write formulas with SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, COUNT, IF and COUNTIF, in English and Spanish Excel.
- Use $ to lock a reference, pick the right chart, and work out mean, median, mode and range by hand.
- Explain tables, records, fields and primary keys, and read an SQL query.
- Explain how machine learning learns from training data, and why bad data makes a biased model.

Formula: A spreadsheet calculation. Always starts with =.
Function: A subroutine that returns a value.
Record / field: One row in a database table: everything stored about one thing.
Primary key: A field whose value is unique for every record.
SQL: Structured Query Language: asks databases questions.
Machine learning: The computer finds rules itself from labelled examples.

End-of-unit challenge: Repair the broken formulas in a game-shop inventory sheet, then answer questions from it.

Homework: Study page 18 steps 1 to 5 and the SQL toy (a first look).

Extra challenge: Track a week of screen time and chart it.

Arcade: this unit

Spring 2

Scratch I: Programming essentials

Algorithms versus programs, sequence, variables, selection, iteration, and debugging with PRIMM.

What you will know by the end

An algorithm is the plan; a program is the plan written in a language the computer runs.
Sequence: one step after another. Selection: if. Iteration: repeat.
A variable is a named box that holds one value at a time.
A condition is a question with a yes/no answer.
PRIMM is Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make: read code before writing it.
Debugging is normal: predict what should happen, run it, compare, then fix one thing at a time.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 11: Algorithms
- Say what makes a set of instructions an algorithm: precise, ordered, finite.
- Use decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithmic thinking on a real problem.
- Read and write the same algorithm as a flowchart, AQA and OCR pseudocode, and Scratch blocks.
- Dry-run an algorithm with a trace table, count loop repeats, and spot the bug.
- Compare two algorithms by counting their steps.

Algorithm: Precise, ordered, finite steps to solve a problem.
Decomposition: Breaking a problem into smaller ones.
Abstraction: Ignoring detail that doesn't matter for the problem.
Sequence · selection · iteration: Steps one after another. First this, then this.
Pseudocode: Code-like writing for algorithms, without strict rules.
Trace table: Records variable values step by step to check logic.
Variable: A named place in memory that holds a value.

End-of-unit challenge: Trace and fix three buggy scripts, then extend one with a new feature.

Homework: Study page 11 to step 5; the 'Trace a loop' practice.

Extra challenge: Make a sprite that tells a joke with a 2-second pause.

Arcade: this unit

Summer 1

Scratch II: Subroutines and lists

Decomposition and My Blocks, lists for high scores and inventories, linear search, planning a game with a flowchart, then building and playtesting it.

What you will know by the end

Decomposition: break the game into parts, one block each.
A subroutine (My Block) is a named set of steps you can call again.
A list holds many values; Scratch counts from 1, Python from 0.
Linear search: look at each item in turn until you find it.
Plan on paper first; the flowchart is the plan.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 11: Algorithms
- Say what makes a set of instructions an algorithm: precise, ordered, finite.
- Use decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithmic thinking on a real problem.
- Read and write the same algorithm as a flowchart, AQA and OCR pseudocode, and Scratch blocks.
- Dry-run an algorithm with a trace table, count loop repeats, and spot the bug.
- Compare two algorithms by counting their steps.
Topic 12: Searching and sorting
- Carry out a linear search and a binary search by hand, and say when each one can be used.
- Work out the most checks a binary search can need, using halving (log₂).
- Run bubble sort, insertion sort and merge sort by hand, pass by pass.
- Compare algorithms by counting comparisons, and explain n, n² and n log n in plain words.

Algorithm: Precise, ordered, finite steps to solve a problem.
Decomposition: Breaking a problem into smaller ones.
Abstraction: Ignoring detail that doesn't matter for the problem.
Sequence · selection · iteration: Steps one after another. First this, then this.
Pseudocode: Code-like writing for algorithms, without strict rules.
Trace table: Records variable values step by step to check logic.
Variable: A named place in memory that holds a value.
Linear search: Check every item in turn.
Binary search: Search a sorted list by halving it each step.
Bubble sort: Swap neighbours until a whole pass makes no swaps.
Insertion sort: Slide each item into its place in the sorted part.
Merge sort: Split into single items, then merge back in order.

End-of-unit challenge: Demo the game and explain one algorithm in it, using the correct words.

Homework: Study page 12 steps 1 to 3 (searching).

Extra challenge: Add a high-score list that survives a restart.

Arcade: this unit

Summer 2

Raid: Code for a Cause

Copyright and Creative Commons, image editing and file formats, designing for an audience, then the guild Raid: a poster and a Scratch mini-game for a cause.

What you will know by the end

Copyright is automatic; Creative Commons says what you may do; credit with title, author, source, licence.
Bitmap (pixels) versus vector (shapes). JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics, GIF for simple animation.
Design for an audience: layout, two colours, one font family, contrast.
A project needs a success list, a log and a test by someone else.

Syllabus and key words

Topic 19: Digital life, law and ethics
- Explain a digital footprint, keep accounts private, and know the steps when something online feels wrong.
- Spot the red flags in a phishing message, and check whether information online is trustworthy.
- Name the three UK laws (Computer Misuse Act, Data Protection Act, Copyright Act), what each one covers, and the Spanish equivalents.
- Choose and read a Creative Commons licence.
- Argue both sides of an ethical question: AI, surveillance, the digital divide, the environment and wellbeing.
Topic 5: Representing images
- Explain how a bitmap image is a grid of pixels, stored row by row as binary.
- Use colour depth: work out how many colours d bits give, and how many bits n colours need.
- Read RGB and hex colour codes like #FF8000.
- Calculate an image's file size by hand, in bits, bytes, KB and MB, and explain the quality–size trade-off.
Topic 11: Algorithms
- Say what makes a set of instructions an algorithm: precise, ordered, finite.
- Use decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction and algorithmic thinking on a real problem.
- Read and write the same algorithm as a flowchart, AQA and OCR pseudocode, and Scratch blocks.
- Dry-run an algorithm with a trace table, count loop repeats, and spot the bug.
- Compare two algorithms by counting their steps.

Digital footprint: The trail of everything you do online.
Phishing: Fake messages that trick people into giving details.
Computer Misuse Act: UK law (1990) that makes hacking and spreading malware crimes.
Data Protection Act: UK law (2018), with UK GDPR, controlling how personal data is used.
Copyright: Automatic legal protection for original creative work.
Open source: Software whose code anyone can see, change and share.
Ethics: AI that is biased because its training data was. Cameras that keep us safe and also watch us. The digital divide: who is left out when everything moves online. Screen time and sleep. Practise arguing both sides.
Pixel: The smallest single-colour dot of an image.
Bitmap: An image stored as a grid of pixels.
Resolution: Number of pixels: width × height.
Colour depth: Bits per pixel. Sets how many colours are possible.
Metadata: Data about data, like an image's width and height.
Vector: An image stored as shapes and instructions.
Algorithm: Precise, ordered, finite steps to solve a problem.
Decomposition: Breaking a problem into smaller ones.
Abstraction: Ignoring detail that doesn't matter for the problem.
Sequence · selection · iteration: Steps one after another. First this, then this.
Pseudocode: Code-like writing for algorithms, without strict rules.
Trace table: Records variable values step by step to check logic.
Variable: A named place in memory that holds a value.

End-of-unit challenge: Annual Raid: guild presentation scored with the shared rubric (content, design, code, teamwork) and peer review.

Homework: Study page 5 steps 1 to 4.

Extra challenge: Post the poster at home with the credit line on it.

Arcade: this unit

Topics, in teaching order

Year 7 hub: this year's formulas and Tinkercad builds.

Topic 1 · Year 7

What a computer is

A computer takes information in, follows instructions to change it, and gives a result out. It does all of this with billions of tiny on/off switches.

Topic 2 · Year 7

Bits and bytes

A bit is one switch: 0 or 1. A byte is 8 bits. Every file is measured by counting these.

Topic 19 · Year 7

Digital life, law and ethics

Using technology well means staying safe, knowing the laws about computers and data, and asking who technology helps and who it harms.

Topic 15 · Year 7

Networks and the internet

A network is computers connected to share data. The internet is a network of networks. Data travels in small packets, following rules called protocols.

Topic 18 · Year 7