IB Middle Years Programme

MYP Design

The computer science strand at St Leonards, Years 8 and 9, taught through the MYP design cycle

The timetable calls this Design; the content is computer science. Across Years 8 and 9 it carries the MYP Design course while building the programming and computational-thinking foundations that feed into GCSE Computer Science (OCR J277) in Years 10 and 11. Each year is anchored by one substantial design project, and lessons run for roughly 52 minutes a week.

Design is assessed against four criteria, each marked out of 8, that follow the MYP design cycle: investigate a problem, develop ideas for a solution, create that solution, then evaluate it.

The four MYP Design criteria

A — Inquiring and analysing. Investigating the problem, researching existing solutions, and writing a clear design brief.
B — Developing ideas. Writing a design specification, generating and presenting feasible ideas, and planning how to make them.
C — Creating the solution. Following a plan to build the product or program, and documenting changes along the way.
D — Evaluating. Testing the solution against the specification, judging its success, and proposing improvements.

The two years

Year 8 · Main unit Robotics & Control Physical computing with the BBC micro:bit and TPBot robots, built across a thirteen-unit progression from first making to a final independent project. Students code, build, and evaluate robots against real control challenges. Enter → Year 9 · Main unit Interactive Animations & Games Designing, coding, and evaluating an interactive card or game in Game Lab, the browser environment from code.org. Students build coding skills week by week while running an interactive-card project through the full design cycle, then close the year with a short introduction to computer science and AI. Enter →

Both years are inherited intact from the previous teacher, Robert MacGregor. Year 8 Robotics is built on the BBC micro:bit Educational Foundation's teaching materials; Year 9 Animations & Games is built on code.org's Game Lab course. St Leonards' task-specific criteria and weighting are confirmed with the department before first assessment.