Please watch the video below to view some of the more frequently asked questions about these subjects, then scroll down to the forum below to submit any of your own questions.
Thank you for watching. If your question was not covered in the video, then please use the "add comment" button below to ask one of our teachers for help. Staff will be live on the forum from 9am to 12pm on Saturday 17th October and will then be checking for questions throughout the weekend (although response times will not be as quick). The forum will close at 4pm on Monday 19th October, after which you can email any questions to admissions@kesbath.com
For General Enquiries: The forum below is intended for subject-specific questions. If your query is more general, then please post it on the Admissions and General Enquiries forum and one of our admissions team or senior teachers will get back to you.
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Comments
Hello, I am Mrs James, Head of ICT & Computing, and I am looking forward to answering your questions today.
Posted by DB:Cloud:DB:SIMSemp:9627, 17/10/2020 at 09:00
Hi... what kind of programming do you cover in year 9 onwards?
Posted by GuestK539, 17/10/2020 at 10:42
We offer Computing as one of the pre-GCSE options in Year 9 . This allows pupils who are thinking of taking GSCE Computer Science a taster of different programming languages (HTML, CSS, Visual Basic & Javascript currently - they have already covered Python in Year 8) and other computing concepts, which serve as a good introduction to the GCSE subject. They can then decide if they want to take it further in Year 10 and 11.
Posted by DB:Cloud:DB:SIMSemp:9627, 17/10/2020 at 11:14
Good morning. My name is Gary Butterworth, Head of Economics and Business Studies. Welcome to the KES, Bath Open Day. I'll be here until 12 to answer any questions that you might have about the Economics and Business Understanding course we run in Year 9.
Posted by Mr G Butterworth, 17/10/2020 at 09:02
Good to hear that pupils learn about economics and business understanding in Y9, is this compulsory and what does it consist of? It is only in Y9?
Posted by GuestK504, 17/10/2020 at 10:41
Hi, the Year 9 course is now a core part of the Year 9 curriculum. We moved to it being so 4 years ago. It is only compulsory in Year 9 as we don't teach lower down the school. Going forward, we currently offer an optional GCSE in Business Studies and then A levels in both Economics and Business Studies. The Year 9 course is a balanced provision of some business and some economics modules. It is designed that way to offer students the chance to experience both before making any decisions at GCSE and A level. We have some A level Economists who chose not to study GCSE Business studies but came back to us at A level to study Economics on the strength of what they had a taste of in Year 9. So the course covers - marketing, market research, business planning and financial planning in term 1. All this filters into the planning, costing, marketing and production of a product which could be sold at the KES Christmas Fair in December. Here students get to keep a percentage of profits made with a small contribution each year going to the school charity. Term 2 focuses on some basic economics - how people moved from a hand to mouth subsistence economy to the global economy we live in today. We look at ideas of specialization, the division of labour, mechanisation, markets and how they function and the importance of money in facilitating transactions. In addition we look at Merit and Demerit goods with a focus upon nudge and behaviour economics which are increasingly becoming a part of the A level specifications. As well as the facts and theories this gives students a chance to work on the skills of forming balanced arguments, assessing two sides of a story and forming opinions which can be argued over with their peers in worry free, safe environment. Term 3 looks at Business Ethics. We look at high profile cases in the fashion and car industries and set up a mock "day in the life of the marketing department" in any one of these companies, with new live breaking news every 10 minutes which needs to be responded to. The final section is about personal finance. Here we tie in with some of the PSHE work which is done about finance and we try to offer an understanding of the things that we take for granted such as credit and debit cards, bank accounts and interest etc. Hope that helps.
Posted by Mr G Butterworth, 17/10/2020 at 11:25
Good Morning, I am Mrs Roy Head of Design and Technology. I look forward to answering any questions you have about Design and Technology.
Posted by Mrs M Roy, 17/10/2020 at 09:05
What comes under Design and Technology - do they do textiles? Food tech? How does that work in Year 7 please?
Posted by Guest427, 17/10/2020 at 09:49
In year 7 you will complete three projects learning about different materials and processes. The projects are designing and making a clock using wood. An enamelling project designing and making a key fob and a computer aided design and manufacture project where you will design and make a pen. From year eight onwards you will have the opportunity for textiles projects. We do not offer Food Technology.
Posted by Mrs M Roy, 17/10/2020 at 09:59
Hello, is there a computing club at KES?
Posted by Guest702, 17/10/2020 at 10:04
In normal circumstances we offer a lunchtime Code Academy club, open to all years who are interested in coding. However this year we're having to offer these to individual year groups - starting with Year 8s. We hope to be able to expand this back to all year groups as soon as government guidelines allow. Over lockdown we used Microsoft Teams to share coding challenges, tips and tricks and pupils enjoyed sharing any programs they had written. It is a very active community!
Posted by DB:Cloud:DB:SIMSemp:9627, 17/10/2020 at 10:19
and is there a Food Tech Club at all?
Posted by Guest702, 17/10/2020 at 10:05
I am afraid we do not offer a Food Technology club. However KES offers over 100 different clubs throughout the year.
Posted by Mrs M Roy, 17/10/2020 at 10:11
What projects do you do in Year 9 Business Studies. Do we learn about stocks and shares?
Posted by Guest703, 17/10/2020 at 11:05
We don't look specifically at stocks and shares in the course, but we do offer as a co-curricular club the IFS Student Investor Challenge. With this you would need a team of 4 like minded friends and you can watch the stock market, decide where you want to invest and then invest your (pretend) £100,000 into various stocks and shares. Members of my department will help you with this if you are unsure, but a lot of is is down to you. Its quite exciting to make those trades based on your own gut feeling! As for projects, well the main project is in Term 1 - The Christmas Project. Our Term 1 course focuses on marketing, market research, business planning and financial planning.. All this filters into the planning, costing, marketing and ultimately the production of a product which could be sold at the KES Christmas Fair in December. My department look over all the entrants and choose 6 business to go forward to the Fair. Here students get a pitch at the Fair along side "real traders" and get to keep a percentage of any profits made with a small contribution each year going to the school charity. Its a real chance to get a feel for what its like to have the responsibility of running your business and selling real products to real customers. Hope that helps.
Posted by Mr G Butterworth, 17/10/2020 at 11:39
How many girls go on to study computing at GCSE and A’level and how do these numbers compare with boys taking the subject?
Posted by Guest292, 17/10/2020 at 11:12
This is something we are actively working on to improve. We do have quite a few girls taking the Computing option at Year 9 (about 10 - 15% of the classes are girls) This drops to about 1 or 2 girls per class of 10 to 15 boys in GCSE and then at A Level we tend to get 1 girl to every 7 boys. As I said this is something we are working on to improve, and programs like the CyberFirst Girls competition - which I'm proud to say that our team of year 8 girls won the national final - mean that the profile of bright computationally focussed girls is very high within KES so this should improve our numbers in the coming years.
Posted by DB:Cloud:DB:SIMSemp:9627, 17/10/2020 at 11:20
Thank you for joining us this morning and posing your questions. Please continue to add questions about ICT & Computing and I will endeavour to answer them by Monday lunchtime. Mrs James.
Posted by DB:Cloud:DB:SIMSemp:9627, 17/10/2020 at 12:00
If you have any further questions about Design and Technology please post them here and I will respond to them on Monday. Thank you Mrs Roy
Posted by Mrs M Roy, 17/10/2020 at 12:02
Hi Folks, many thanks to those of you who watched the video and asked questions. If there are any further questions that you would like to ask about the EBU course or the department outside of this live forum, please do and I will be happy to get back to you as of Monday. Best wishes, Gary Butterworth.
Posted by Mr G Butterworth, 17/10/2020 at 12:09