This year, in addition to teaching fourth class, I have access to sixth class for half an hour each week during schooltime, and also run after-school LOGO classes for them. With fourth class, it has been possible to attemptarangeof computer activities - wordprocessing, an adventure game, use of a database etc. , all of which ran on a BBC Master Compact. Many of our computer activities run in tandem with other classwork, and the pupils work in groups, pairs, or individually at the computer.

Since sixth class had limited access to the computer, I wanted to provide them with some activities which did not require regular access to the computer. In this regard, we were greatly helped by a gift of software and a printer (both suitable for an Apple lie computer) which were no longer needed by our secondary school. The software included a package called Printshop.

For the 1992 Student Computer Fair, we decided that fourth class would exhibittheir adventure game The Wizard's Revengeand thatsixth class would display some of the work (e.g. cards for special occasions, posters for school events, etc) they had produced using Printshop.

The Wizard's Revenge was fourth class's first adventure game. It is divided into two sections, the first of which serves as an introduction to the game. We viewed this together as a class and the pupils en joyed it thoroughly. They liked the sound effects - auntie snoring, waves lapping against the shore etc. Afterwards, working in pairs, pupils were allowed to re-run this section, working in ten-minute shifts. My kitchen timer came in useful here: it relieved teacher and pupils of the need to 'clock-watch'. The option of being able to switch off the sound minimised the disruption to normal classwork.

The second part of the game takes place on an island. A map is displayed, and pupils select a location by entering co-ordinates. Four tasks must be completed and four passwords collected. Only then can the Dragon King be rescued - the object of the game. Once again, pupils worked in pairs for ten minutes at a time. It took anything from three to six such sessions to complete the game
Most pairs completed the tasks without difficulty. Some had difficulty with the task at the mountain, and on a number of occasions I had to intervene and help them out. Pupilswere critical of thetask at the lake -they found it too easy. The task involved reassembling a jumbled-up picture. Pupils quickly spotted that each piece of the picture contained a letter, and that it was possible to reassemble the picture simply by putting the pieces in alphabetical order -without having to exercise any visual discrimination.

Much off-line work took place, i.e. away from the computer. Pupils wrote stories and poems about wizards, and illustrated these with pictures. I challenged them to devise board games based on the task at the swamp, and a few pupils produced games that worked. Mathematical topics included shape recognition, co-ordinates, time, left and right orientation with 90 degree angles, and symmetry. Pupils also wrote critical assessments of the program , and they had several criticisms. In particular they found the ending rather an anti-climax. Having survived swamps, mountains, lakes, monsters, and wizards, they felt they deserved more than mere congratulations!

Both classes were keen to participate in the Student Fair, and there were plenty of volunteers - even for the less glamorous tasks of serving tea and washing up. Those that represented their classes reported back after the event, and recommended it wholeheartedly to their classmates. Samples of the work, together with the plaques awarded at the Fair are now proudly displayed in the school entrance hall, and act as an encouragement to other pupils.