Year 9 Digital TechnologiesUnits 1 and 2
COURSE HUB

Term 1 – Python Foundations 🐍

This term, we have been learning the basics of programming using Python. We started with the foundations, built up our skills step by step, and used the Pet Services Program to practise writing better and more capable code over time.

Now that the assessment has been submitted, this page is your main hub for lessons, revision, reference material, and your next coding steps.

CURRENT FOCUS

📍 Where to next?

Over the next few lessons, you have two good options. You can either keep improving the project you built for your assessment, or head to the mini projects page and try something new and fun.

🚀 Continue your assessment project
If your assessment idea still has potential, keep building it. Add features, improve validation, reorganise code into functions, or clean up the output.
🎮 Try a mini project
Pick from a set of small Python challenges designed to keep you coding and experimenting after the assessment.
▶ ⏱️ How This Term Works
  • Lessons build gradually
  • Code is reused and improved
  • Mistakes are expected and useful
  • Understanding matters more than speed
  • If you finish your lesson activities, keep improving your assessment project or move on to the mini projects page.
▶ 🧰 Tools & Setup
  • Install Thonny
  • Code files submitted through QLearn
  • Help available in class and online

📘 Lessons – Python Foundations

Lessons introduced new ideas step by step. Each week built on the one before it.

Week 1 – Getting Started
Week 2 – Writing Code from Zero
Week 5 – Assessment handout
Week 6 – Reusing code without retyping code - Functions
Week 7 – Making and reading lists + Assessment
Week 8 – Assessment
Week 9 – Post-assessment coding challenges
Week 10 – Final week of Term 1

👉 Core Python learning content lives here:
Explorer: The Python Basics Hub

🎮 Mini Projects

Looking for something new to build? Head to the mini projects page for four short coding challenges you can work on over the next few lessons.

▶ 🧠 Learning to think like a programmer

Learning to code is about learning how to think, not just how to type. This hub supports the way programmers approach problems and build understanding over time.

  • Breaking problems into smaller steps
  • Reading code before writing code
  • Predicting what code will do
  • Debugging as a normal part of learning
▶ 📚 Python Reference Wiki

This is a reference space you can return to at any time. This section exists to support you when you are stuck or unsure.

  • Variables
  • Input and output
  • Operators
  • if / else statements
  • Loops
  • Strings
  • Lists & tuples
  • Dictionaries and sets
  • Functions
  • Files
  • Imports
  • Debugging common errors and fixes
▶ 📝 Assessment resources

The assessment for term 1 has now concluded, but these resources are still here if you need to refer back to them. Your assessment results will be released by 8:30 am on Monday, the 30th of March.

🤝 Expectations & Norms

  • Read your code twice and make sure you run it to check for errors before submitting it.
  • Read the error message and try to fix it yourself before asking for help.
  • Ask questions when stuck.
  • Help others debug.
  • Everyone starts at a different point, so remember to be kind when providing feedback.
Page last updated: 30 March 2026