Introduction

Microsoft PowerPoint is a program for building presentations — a sequence of slides you show to an audience.

At Northgate Academy, staff use PowerPoint for assemblies, parent evenings, and the annual Open Day. You will build the deck that welcomes families on Saturday 14 March 2026.

PowerPoint saves everything in one file: NorthgateOpenDay.pptx. That file holds every slide, theme, transition, animation, and speaker note.

This course walks you from a blank presentation to a rehearsed Open Day show with PDF handouts.

James Okonkwo (School Administrator) needs a polished on-screen welcome for families on Saturday 14 March 2026. Dr. Helen Marsh (Principal) presents it in the Main Hall while parents tour the campus.

You will build NorthgateOpenDay.pptx step by step — the same deck staff use on the day. Work in real PowerPoint when you can; paths in these lessons match Home, Insert, Design, and Slide Show on the Ribbon.

PowerPoint groups commands on tabs across the top of the window. You will use these paths often on Open Day:

James Okonkwo thinks in tab names: Insert → Pictures for the sports photo, Slide Show → Rehearse Timings before the hall rehearsal.

You will build NorthgateOpenDay.pptx step by step:

• 1Open PowerPoint and learn the main window.
• 2Create a blank presentation and add slides with layouts.
• 3Type titles, bullets, and numbered steps.
• 4Apply a theme and edit the Slide Master with the school logo.
• 5Insert photos, icons, a chart, and a table.
• 6Add transitions and animations.
• 7Write speaker notes, rehearse timing, and present with Presenter View.
• 8Export a PDF handout for parents.

All three courses use the same fictional school so you can see how Word, Excel, and PowerPoint work together on one real-world project.

On Saturday 14 March 2026, the deck runs at fixed moments:

• 10:00–14:00 — doors open; lobby screen may loop welcome slides
• Main Hall talk — Dr. Helen Marsh presents slides 1–7 with Presenter View
• Campus tours — tour schedule slide matches real departures from Main Hall
• After the talk — volunteers hand out PDF handouts (3 slides per page)

Your file must be saved as NorthgateOpenDay.pptx before Saturday 14 March 2026 so IT can copy it to the hall laptop.

You need Microsoft PowerPoint on Windows or Mac (2016, 2019, or Microsoft 365). These pages work in a browser, but the click paths match real PowerPoint on your computer.

Click paths in these lessons match desktop PowerPoint. Browser previews cannot save a real .pptx file — open Microsoft PowerPoint on your PC or Mac and build NorthgateOpenDay alongside each lesson.

Save often with Ctrl+S (Windows) or Cmd+S (Mac). Keep File → Info open once a week during the project; if the file size jumps above 20 MB, compress pictures on the sports slide before you email the deck.

Every lesson is one page of short sections. Each section explains what a feature is, why the school needs it for Open Day, and exact Ribbon steps you follow in PowerPoint.

Near the end of a lesson you will often get a short Try this check. Answer from what you have just read.

Work on a real NorthgateOpenDay.pptx file when you can. The sidebar lists every lesson in the order the Open Day deck is built.

Example — One slide in the deck: A slide is one screen or page inside NorthgateOpenDay.pptx. Slides play in order during Slide Show. A theme styles all slides; speaker notes attach to a slide but stay off the projector unless you mirror them by mistake.