6th Form Virtual Library

The virtual library is full of extra resources such as tutorials, podcasts, books, articles and videos. They cover each of the topics in the A Level, as well as some that are just really interesting. If you have a spare period or want to find out more about something then use this library to help you.

So that you have an idea of the knowledge you need to start the course and we can see how much you know you will be completing the transition booklet below over your first two weeks here.

The work will be set formally using the Satchel:One app but below you can see an outline of what you will be expected to do and by when. Remember that the 6th Form homework policy is that you should complete 300 minutes of homework per fortnight per subject.

If you do not have the desktop version of PowerPoint at home then you should upload this file to the online version of PowerPoint that you have as part of your school account. Go to https://www.office.com and log in with your school email and password and then upload the file there. You can then edit the file on any device with a web browser, including your phone.

Section	12A Due Date	12D Due Date
3 – Independent research	07/09/23	07/09/23
4 – What is “computational thinking”?	11/09/23	11/09/23
5 – Key terms	13/09/23	14/09/23
6 – An introduction to the basics of programming	15/09/23	18/09/23
7 – Critical thinking	19/09/23	19/09/23
8 – Applying technical knowledge in context	21/09/23	21/09/23
9 – Systems architecture	25/09/23	25/09/23
10 – Memory	27/09/23	28/09/23
11 – Storage	29/09/23	02/10/23
12 – Networks	03/10/23	03/10/23
13 – System software	05/10/23	05/10/23
14 – Computational logic	09/10/23	09/10/23
15/16 – Binary	11/10/23	12/10/23
17 – Linear search programming	13/10/23	13/10/23

Podcasts

• The Infinite Monkey Cage – Mostly focuses on the other sciences but there are episodes dedicated to CS and the people they talk to are worth looking at too.
• Cortex – Two guys talking about tech and how to work efficiently
• More or Less – All about statistics and making sense of them
• Darknet Diaries – Looks at cybercrime and interviews criminals and victims
• What’s your problem – Engineers talk about the future and how they’re trying to solve the problems we face
• TWiT – This Week in Tech – Talks about up and coming tech products and news
• Software Engineering Radio – As the name suggests
• This Developer’s Life – What are the hurdles you’ll face as a programmer in the world of work
• The Changelog – Conversations with hackers, leaders and innovators

Youtube

• Techquickie – Short videos on tech history or weird facts
• Introversion Software – The CEO and lead developer of an indie game studio talk through their games and how they made them and are updating.
• Computerphile – Videos on all aspects of computers and how they work
• Noclip – Documentaries on how video games have been developed, talking to the actual developers.

Websites

• Hacker News – https://news.ycombinator.com/ – Similar to Reddit but focused on tech news
• StackOverFlow – https://stackoverflow.com/ – For any errors or issues with code

Books

• https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-tech-books-to-gift/ – Any of these books are a great read

Python Object Oriented Programming (OOP) – For Beginners

Object Oriented Programming or OOP for short, is how many programs are made in the real world. This system uses inheritance and objects to make your programming more efficient and easier to understand. This video explains how to do this in Python.