DCF Cymru Digital competence for Wales

Cover Lessons

Cover lesson ideas linking to the DCF, for a range of subjects, both offline and digital.

Clear

Algorithm for a Recipe

Year 8 · Design Technology · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Problem-solving and modelling

Pupils decompose a Welsh cakes recipe into inputs, processes and outputs, write it as a numbered algorithm with real quantities, and draw a flowchart using terminator, input/output, process and decision shapes with at least one loop. No cooking and no computers.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Algorithm for a Stage Change

Year 8 · Drama · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Problem-solving and modelling

Pupils plan a 90-second scene change as an algorithm, scheduling four crew in parallel tracks and building in an IF for the problem that might occur and a REPEAT for the repeated jobs. A partner then dry-runs the algorithm step by step and records where it breaks.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Ergonomics in the Workplace

Year 8 · IT · Beginner

DCF: Citizenship → Health and well-being

Pupils inspect a described home workstation against real HSE display screen equipment guidance, list six faults with the body part each one puts at risk, and design an A4 safety poster for the ICT room. Paper-based; no computers needed.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Digital Budgeting for a Trip

Year 8 · Maths · Beginner

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Pupils build a spreadsheet budget for a Year 8 trip to Cardiff from a real cost list, using formulae rather than typed totals. They produce the grand total, the money left against a 900 pound budget, a cost per pupil, and a short written recommendation to the head of year.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Stop-Motion Animation Planning

Year 8 · PE · Beginner

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content

Pupils plan an 18-second stop-motion animation that teaches one PE skill: six shots storyboarded at 12 frames per second, with the frame count for every shot, the photograph count for shooting on twos, and a shoot plan in minutes. Pen and paper only.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Tracking Heart Rate Data

Year 8 · PE · Beginner

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Pupils take one resting pulse reading, then work through one pupil's week of resting, post-exercise and one-minute recovery heart rates: a recovery figure for each day, four averages, a three-line graph, and a percentage of estimated maximum heart rate. Pupils stay seated throughout.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Digital Poster Design: Online Safety

Year 8 · PSE / Well-being · Beginner

DCF: Producing → Creating digital content

Pupils design a one-page online safety poster for Key Stage 2 readers, choosing a headline of six words or fewer and planning the layout as a thumbnail before building anything. A partner then checks it from two metres away and the design is corrected.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Healthy Habits Tracker

Year 8 · PSE / Well-being · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Pupils build a spreadsheet from one week of well-being readings and write real SUM, AVERAGE, COUNTIF and IF formulae, then add a conditional formatting rule at the sixty-minute activity guideline. They finish with one conclusion the data supports and one it does not.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Phishing Email Analysis

Year 8 · PSE / Well-being · Beginner

DCF: Citizenship → Online behaviour and online bullying

Pupils highlight the warning signs in three printed fake emails and one genuine one, then complete a drill on reading the domain after the @ rather than trusting the sender's display name. They finish by writing a report to the school IT helpdesk.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper
  • Highlighters

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Safe Social Media Scenarios

Year 8 · PSE / Well-being · Beginner

DCF: Citizenship → Online behaviour and online bullying

Pupils work through six invented scenarios and decide the order of the five moves: screenshot the evidence, do not retaliate, report in the app, tell a trusted adult, block. They then write a five-line advice card a Year 7 pupil could actually follow.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Data Visualisation: Climate Change Trends

Year 8 · Science · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Pupils turn a real NASA and NOAA climate dataset covering 1990 to 2023 into a properly labelled chart, on graph paper or in a spreadsheet. They then write an interpretation that quotes the values, works out the change per decade and identifies the one anomalous year.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Structuring a Database

Year 9 · Computer Science · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Problem-solving and modelling

Given a real, messy single-sheet record of school Chromebook loans, pupils diagnose four problems it causes and redesign it as related tables. They name every field, choose the narrowest data type, pick a primary key that never changes, link the tables with foreign keys and test the design against the questions the school office actually asks.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Debating Online Rights: Paper-Based Arguments

Year 9 · English · Intermediate

DCF: Citizenship → Digital rights, licensing and ownership

Pupils read two opposing perspectives on who should control personal data online and write a structured argument defending one of them. The finished piece runs to four paragraphs and must name at least one real digital right, such as erasure under UK GDPR.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Pen and paper

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Shakespeare on Social Media

Year 9 · English · Intermediate

DCF: Producing → Creating digital content

Pupils turn Romeo and Juliet, Act 3 Scene 1 into a six-post feed on an invented in-world platform, each post quoting or closely rewriting a line of the scene. They then add a community note that fact-checks the least accurate post using evidence from the text.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example

Visualising Data with Maps

Year 9 · Geography · Intermediate

DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy

Pupils plot sixteen real USGS earthquakes onto a printed latitude and longitude grid using circles sized by magnitude, add a title and key, then describe the pattern and account for the three events that lie away from the Pacific rim.

Resources required

Tools required

  • Computer/Laptop

Software / weblinks

See a completed example