Curriculum
Preparing children for the digital world in 3 structured levels.
Under Development
The Digital Knights curriculum is currently under development.
Parental input is actively being sought through a survey here and follow-up discussions.
The Digital Knights curriculum will structure a learning pathway for children, starting from 7-10 years old, to technologically proficient individuals at 15 who control their data, devices and digital footprint. The curriculum is designed to be taught in-person, once a week for 1 hour. Class sizes are limited to small groups (8-10), and will be taught by an experienced teacher and expert in computer science and cybersecurity.
There are 3 levels to the curriculum - Page, Squire and Knight. Each level builds upon the previous to develop the necessary skills with respect to the age and ability of the children. A secondary aim is to complement the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment's STEM Education Specification to prepare solid foundations for Junior Cycle Technology and Leaving Certificate Computer Science.
Page
A gentle and fun introduction to computational thinking, creativity and cybersecurity principles. Students learn the fundamental concepts of logic and problem-solving through a variety of games, puzzles and practical hands on experience with simple robotics. Awareness of online safety is also introduced.
Squire
Practical computing and networking fundamentals are introduced using a small Single Board Computer (Raspberry Pi). The programming language Python is used to control sensors, LEDs, and motors, and a simple website is designed, built and hosted. Students learn how computers and websites like these connect to the internet and the means through which data is sent and received. This forms the foundation for understanding data privacy and security concepts in the next stage.
Knight
The mobile phone and computer are introduced. Students are taught how to set up and use their own devices to ensure privacy and safety while accessing the internet. This includes managing their own home network and small homelab for hosting useful services (photo & document storage, passwords, media etc.) and backing up data. Cloud computing, AI and virtualization technologies extend the homelab, providing students with a solid understanding of modern computing infrastructure and security principles underpinned by cryptography.
Towards Junior and Leaving Cert
At the conclusion of Level 3, students will have the skills to enter the digital world with full control over their own devices, data and digital footprint. In addition, they will have acquired a strong foundation in digital skills and computational thinking which will feed into the Junior Cycle Technology, and Leaving Certificate Computer Science curricula.