BTEC candidates acquire skills that allow them to go onto an apprenticeship, employment or Level 3 study.
Exam Board: EDEXCEL
Intent
At Stepney we offer ‘Pearson BTEC Level 2 in IT Support’. This course has been offered to post-16 students that are retaking their GCSE English and Maths, and essentially preparing them for level 3 education courses related to the IT sector. It also allows post-16 learners to continue their education through applied learning as the focus is on the holistic development of the practical, interpersonal, and thinking skills required to be able to succeed in employment and higher education.
The course is taught by three staff members, contributing a wealth of experience in both subject teaching and within the field of IT. This reinforces the teaching with relevant examples that can be used to develop students practical and understanding of theoretical concepts.
We provide students the skills and knowledge to become a successful IT practitioner that will understand legislations, security, new emerging technology, and how they may have an impact on the world they live in.
Implementation
The units in BTEC IT Support are taught simultaneously and are taught over 10 lessons a week by different teachers. Level 3 students, however, have 12 lessons and are taught by several teachers with specific skills and knowledge in relation to the specialised unit. This breakdown allows pupils to have a clear structure between the variety of units/concepts.
As this course is IT related, naturally we would use digital technology to support students learning. Microsoft Teams provided students with resources to aid their learning online as well as communicating with their teachers if they require further clarification on a concept.
This platform has also been great to give feedback to students to improve their learning and even allows students to peer assess each other. This develops their critical thinking and optimising their work.
Before starting an assignment, we encourage collaborative learning where pupils attempt a similar task to the assignment and try to solve the problem together. This approach helps lower ability students to feel more confident in the assignment as well as helping the other abilities to refine or deal with any misconception.
Impact
Students have three Assessment Points (AP) throughout the academic year. Not only do these APs prepare students for the exam units, but it also allows us to measure the impact of the course.
We have consistently retained our numbers yearly and most apply to our level 3 courses here at Stepney Green. As this course provides the vocational experience of IT, students also build the necessary skills to gain an IT related Apprenticeship.
We are proud to see BTEC IT L2 students achieve 100% pass rate in the last 4 years, and following their career path in IT. This is a testimony to the valuable and engaging course delivery of the content, providing the students the experience and application to the real world.
