This is an activity lesson I made to promote STEM / Computing / Maths. The activity involves 3 activities linking maths and computing. The first looks at potential roles involving STEM and is designed to raise awareness and aspirations for students. This is a card matchup that I printed out and cut up for students to try to match. The second looks at Boolean logic and logic circuits. The final activity involves the use of Formulae and Pythagoras in calculating damage in a video game. There is a worksheet for this activity too. It is designed to last around an hour. It was originally pitched for year 9 students, but would be suitable for 8 and 10. Comes with a powerpoint with key instructions and questions, along with 2 activity sheets.

In Computer Science there are several skills that students need to be able to do in an exam situation: Sorting Algorithms Searching Algorithms Flowcharts Basic Pseudocode Binary Conversions Hexadecimal Conversions Binary Shifts Logic Circuits Trace Tables Compression Algorithms Advanced Pseudocode This resource provides a series of progressively more difficult questions for each of the skills listed above. In addition, full answers/ modeled solutions are provided to make sure students know if they are getting it wrong or right. This booklet would be great for revision homework, or for a series of lessons focused on mastering the necessary skills to succeed in Computer Science. The questions used could also be used separately, for example in first teaching lessons, as it can be difficult to find or come up with relevant questions for some of the topics. If you have any questions, please ask.

This is a document designed as late revision for paper 2 of the GCSE Computer Science (AQA specification, but applicable to edexcel and other boards too). The revision booklet covers the following topics/questions, and should take students around 2 hours to complete the filling in blanks, with longer needed if they redraft the responses : Section 1 – Data Representation a) How do character sets work? b) How do bitmap images work? c) How do sound files work? Section 2 – Computer System a) How do hard disk drives work? b) How do solid state drives work? c) How does a CD work? d) What are the different types of memory? e) What are the main components of a CPU? f) What affects the performance of the CPU? g) What are the different types of software? Section 3 – Networks a) What are protocols? b) What is the TCP/IP model? c) What does the application layer do? d) What are the different considerations when setting up a network? e) What are the different cyber security threats, and how do you defend against them? Section 4 – Ethical, Legal and Environmental Impact a) What is meant by ethical issues in computing? b) What is meant by legal issues in computing? c) What is meant by environmental issues in computing? d) Give an example of a Computing issue that has ethical, legal and environmental impacts: For each of the main theory topics students need to know, a concise but in-depth explanation is given - but missing key information. Students must use the word bank provided to fill in the gaps and complete a full explanation of each topic. The idea would be that students then rewrite the explanation in their own words to ensure they understand it, but this is obviously optional and may not be right for your group. In designing this task, I wanted to be able to provide my students with high quality explanations, but with enough interaction and challenge to make sure students’ brains are engaged as they complete it. The filling in the blanks nature of the work means that all students can access the material, and the extension to rewrite using the bold terms enables a way to stretch even the most able of students. I think this is particularly useful as a last minute task as it will hopefully not cause cognitive overload in the same way that doing exam style questions or equivalent would in last minute revision slots. I will be using these as revision for my GCSE cohort in the sessions before their exam, but could also be used longer term or as homework tasks. It could also separated by section and used during first teaching or many other ways.

This Enhanced Learning Worksheet focuses on different types of programming languages and translators, as well as looking at use of Subroutines/functions in programming. NOTE: A free version of my Computational Thinking Enhanced Learning Worksheet is available if you would like to see the structure or how your classes get on with them first. These new Enhanced Learning Worksheet are designed to give students more opportunity to consolidate and extend their understanding of all the key topics in GCSE Computer Science. They feature a series of scaffolded questions, followed by a page of extend / challenge questions where the scaffold has been removed and/or the difficulty level ramped up. I developed these worksheets not to be another test, quiz or assessment (please see my module quizzes if you are interested in this), but instead are platforms for students to practice key skills during lessons. As such, answers are provided but not individual mark allocation. I will be using these worksheets 3 times each in the delivery of my AQA Computer Science course - first as an in-lesson worksheet, second as a spaced retrieval task a month or two later and finally as an end of year 11 revision resource.

This Enhanced Learning Worksheet focuses on understanding the binary and hexadecimal number systems, as well as converting between binary, denary and hexadecimal. NOTE: A free version of my Computational Thinking Enhanced Learning Worksheet is available if you would like to see the structure or how your classes get on with them first. These new Enhanced Learning Worksheet are designed to give students more opportunity to consolidate and extend their understanding of all the key topics in GCSE Computer Science. They feature a series of scaffolded questions, followed by a page of extend / challenge questions where the scaffold has been removed and/or the difficulty level ramped up. I developed these worksheets not to be another test, quiz or assessment (please see my module quizzes if you are interested in this), but instead are platforms for students to practice key skills during lessons. As such, answers are provided but not individual mark allocation. I will be using these worksheets 3 times each in the delivery of my AQA Computer Science course - first as an in-lesson worksheet, second as a spaced retrieval task a month or two later and finally as an end of year 11 revision resource.

This is a full mock/practice paper 1 for the new specification GCSE Computer Science. It is based on the AQA 8520 style of exams and heavily influenced by the AQA specimen and includes a full exam board level mark scheme. Also suitable for assessing OCR and other exam boards. Currently, there are very few full practices papers online so I decided to make this one. A huge amount of time was invested to make sure it covers the full specification of the new GCSE, so you can actually assess what is necessary. It uses the same proportions of topics and assessment points at the AQA specimen paper so you can accurately attain what your students know or need to work on. Paper 2 will also be available soon. Hope it helps! Toby Watkins

This is a GCSE level assessment of Computational Thinking and Basic Programming. It includes a range of questions designed to test students initial understanding of key computing concepts. List of topics: Computational Thinking Concepts Algorithms Flowcharts Boolean Logic Searching Algorithms Sorting Algorithms Programming Fundamentals Data Types and Structures Selection Iteration Functions and Procedures Maths in Programming I use this as an initial assessment after 2 modules (around 2 months of teaching). Includes a mark scheme to help with marking. Hope it is helpful. Toby Watkins

This is a programming project assessment designed to assess students' programming skills and help them prepare for their paper 1 assessments and controlled assessments. I use this as an assessed piece to help inform working grades, but can also be delivered as an individual, paired or group project. Full python solution provided for the main parts.

This is a GCSE level assessment of all main topics in the GCSE specification. It is designed as a summary of all topics covered by the end of year 10, but would also be useful as an additional examination resource for year 11. The assessment includes a full mark scheme, along with a manifest detailing topics covered. Here is a brief summary of topics: Computational Thinking Concepts Algorithms Flowcharts Boolean Logic Searching Algorithms Sorting Algorithms Programming Fundamentals Data Types and Structures Selection Iteration Functions and Procedures Maths in Programming Data Representation Converting Binary Numbers Converting Hexadecimal Numbers Units of Data and Character Sets Representing Images Representing Sound Compression The Computer System Computer System Memory and Storage The CPU Types of Software Development and Testing Software Development Cycle Types of Errors Testing Networks Types of Networks Topologies Protocols and Security Hope it is helpful. Toby Watkins

This is a collection of 4 mixed topic homework tasks for late stage GCSE Computer Science students. The questions span a variety of topics, and 2 of them focus predominantly on perhaps the weakest area in exams - high mark exam questions. There is also an extra support HW great for letting all students access the bigger exam style questions. These can also be useful for in class work to develop exam skills. Thanks, Toby Watkins

This is a module summary quiz on the topic of Advanced Programming. Includes questions on data structures, subroutines and understanding code. The assessment features a range of question types and includes full worked solutions and answers. I print these 2 to a page and use them as a low stakes quiz at the end of a module. I will also be reusing them as a revision resource for my year 11s. These module quizzes are linked to the Knowledge Organisers I have also made and are available on TES. Most of the content is featured on the similarly named organiser, but would still be more than suitable without the use of the organisers. Any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks, Toby Watkins

A knowledge organiser for the GCSE Computer Science topic of Python Programming. Contains a bank of relevant keywords along with examples of programming and key knowledge. This should be a great summary of basic python programming on a single sheet. There will be an advanced python organiser available soon. These are great for student revision, or as teaching aids for staff to be aware of the breadth of the module. Thanks, Toby Watkins

This is an activity lesson I made to promote STEM / Computing / Maths. The activity involves 3 festive themed activites with links to STEM/Computing/Maths. In the first, students look at flowcharts to represent the workflow at the northpole. In the second, students write basic code to navigate a grid and in the final activity students use binary strings to construct Christmas bitmap images. It is designed to last around an hour. It was originally pitched for year 7 students, but would be suitable for 8 and 9. Comes with a powerpoint with key instructions and questions, along with a worksheet for the final activity.

NOTE: I currently have a full, free version of this resource available (including the answers) I would recommend getting that for free then seeing if you like enough to buy the others in the series! This Enhanced Learning Worksheet focuses on Computational Thinking, specifically Computational Thinking Concepts and representing algorithms using Flowcharts. These new Enhanced Learning Worksheet are designed to give students more opportunity to consolidate and extend their understanding of all the key topics in GCSE Computer Science. They feature a series of scaffolded questions, followed by a page of extend / challenge questions where the scaffold has been removed and/or the difficulty level ramped up. I developed these worksheets not to be another test, quiz or assessment (please see my module quizzes if you are interested in this), but instead are platforms for students to practice key skills during lessons. As such, answers are provided but not individual mark allocation. I will be using these worksheets 3 times each in the delivery of my AQA Computer Science course - first as an in-lesson worksheet, second as a spaced retrieval task a month or two later and finally as an end of year 11 revision resource.

This Enhanced Learning Worksheet focuses on Boolean Logic, with questions on logic gates, logic circuits, sorting algorithms and searching algorithms. These new Enhanced Learning Worksheet are designed to give students more opportunity to consolidate and extend their understanding of all the key topics in GCSE Computer Science. They feature a series of scaffolded questions, followed by a page of extend / challenge questions where the scaffold has been removed and/or the difficulty level ramped up. I developed these worksheets not to be another test, quiz or assessment (please see my module quizzes if you are interested in this), but instead are platforms for students to practice key skills during lessons. As such, answers are provided but not individual mark allocation. I will be using these worksheets 3 times each in the delivery of my AQA Computer Science course - first as an in-lesson worksheet, second as a spaced retrieval task a month or two later and finally as an end of year 11 revision resource.

For the Computational Thinking/Boolean Logic topic, the 2 identified target topics are: Boolean Logic Gates Searching and Sorting Algorithms Other topics available in alternative resource listings. Here is another painstakingly put together resource which I use for revision of key topics, but could also be used for an accessible homework task or even first teaching. For each of the key topics, I picked out the 2 main areas students find difficult. I then created a focused revision page (essentially a knowledge organiser for the target topic), along with a set of questions covering key facts and knowledge + exam style questions. I also included the answers and mark scheme where appropriate. I have done them in powerpoint format so that they can be displayed to the class, share with students digitally or print out as booklets (I tend to duplicate each slide and print 2 to a page to get A5 booklets, but A4 would also work and give more room for writing). The main purpose is to boost understanding of some of the most difficult topics with a well designed revision page and set of questions to consolidate. I will also be printing out all of the question pages separately and issuing nearer exam time to make sure everything has stuck. Hope this is a helpful resource and let me know if you have any questions or comments.

This Enhanced Learning Worksheet focuses on character sets and compression algorithms, including run length encoding and huffman compression. NOTE: A free version of my Computational Thinking Enhanced Learning Worksheet is available if you would like to see the structure or how your classes get on with them first. These new Enhanced Learning Worksheet are designed to give students more opportunity to consolidate and extend their understanding of all the key topics in GCSE Computer Science. They feature a series of scaffolded questions, followed by a page of extend / challenge questions where the scaffold has been removed and/or the difficulty level ramped up. I developed these worksheets not to be another test, quiz or assessment (please see my module quizzes if you are interested in this), but instead are platforms for students to practice key skills during lessons. As such, answers are provided but not individual mark allocation. I will be using these worksheets 3 times each in the delivery of my AQA Computer Science course - first as an in-lesson worksheet, second as a spaced retrieval task a month or two later and finally as an end of year 11 revision resource.