Students are introduced to the fundamental skills that young people must develop in media in order to help them succeed in their school lives and beyond. Our mission is to ensure that all young people are given an equal opportunity to build not only academic proficiency but also to use media as a vehicle to develop a moral, diverse and ethical conscience.

Character

  • Begin to confidently develop a personal opinion in response to a wide range of products and forms
  • Apply a critical eye to everyday life- showing some independence and autonomy
  • Encourage tolerance through the different viewpoints, messages and representations generated by the Media

Analysis

  • Explore all four key concepts within the theoretical framework in relation to a wide range of products and forms
  • Exposure to key media literacy and specialist terminology as a means of facilitating high level analysis
  • Improve written expression and understanding of written structures

Creativity

  • Exposure to various forms of industry standard software and production techniques
  • Improve competency when applying key codes and conventions
  • Methodical consideration of potential audiences, formatting and purposes, based on a given brief.

Autumn 1:

Film Industry – Film Promotion/Posters

Autumn 2:

Television Industry – Long Form TV Drama – Sherlock Holmes

Spring 1:

Serial Drama promotion – Serial Drama Promotion/Print

Spring 2:

Magazine Industry – Magazine front covers – GQ (set text)

Summer 1:

Music Industry and promotion – Promotion of artist/Magazine

Summer 2

Music Industry and promotion – Music video – Bruno Mars

Year 10 (GCSE) Expertise

Students study how the media play a central role in contemporary society and culture, shaping our perceptions of the world through the representations, viewpoints and messages they offer. They consider the relevance and importance of media in our lives today, providing us with ways to communicate, with forms of cultural expression and the ability to participate in key aspects of society. The economic importance of the media is also explored; the media industries employ large numbers of people worldwide and operate as commercial industries on a global scale. Students study the global nature of the contemporary media, coupled with ongoing technological developments and how our interactions with the media suggest that their centrality in contemporary life can only increase.

In Year 10, students engage with their ‘set texts’ and use the skills acquired to unpick and explore the texts they will be examined on in Year 11.

Assessments interleave units already covered in order to strengthen students’ recall abilities.

Autumn 1:

Advertising/ Promotion Industry – Comparison of representation of gender in advertisements.

Texts studied; Quality Street and This Girl Can

Autumn 2:

Advertising/Film Marketing Industry – Comparison of women in the set text ‘This Girl Can’ campaign to the ‘Better For it’ campaign.

Texts studied; The Man with The Golden Gun and Spectre website.

Spring 1:

Newspaper Industry – Representation of issues in The Guardian and The Sun

Texts studied: The Sun and The Guardian 2018

Spring 2:

Video Games Industry – Study of industry issues related to the gaming industry. Interleaving assessment on Film Industry and the Spectre website.

Text studied: Fortnite

Summer 1:

Non-Examined Unit (NEA): Research on creative component. The brief is released in Spring of Year 10 and involves the creation of a media text e.g. magazine cover and double page spread, which follows a detailed brief from the exam board (EDUQAS).

Summer 2:

Continued work on NEA: Shooting of original photography, editing and other production tasks related to creation of coursework.

Year 11 (GCSE) Expertise

In Year 11, students complete the study of their final set texts and then consolidate all their learning in revision of prior units.

Autumn Term:

Completion of NEA.

Crime drama – An in depth study of the language and representation in crime drama, as well as the industry issues surrounding television as a platform. Assessed via a mini trial exam covering representation and stereotype in an extract from The Bridge and an Industry question on TV production of crime drama.

Texts studied: Luther and The Sweeney.

Spring Term:

Music Industry – Media language, representation and video as a promotional tool.

Texts: studied: Taylor Swift/ Pharrell Williams/Duran Duran.

Spring 2 and Summer Terms:

Revision of all texts studied.