“Media Studies at Bishop Luffa is a thriving and contemporary subject where we encourage learners to understand and engage with the world around them. We appreciate and value the importance of media texts and contexts in our lives and the lives of others”.
| Teacher in charge of Media Studies | Mr G Evans |
| Teacher of Media Studies | Mr J Saunders |
We offer students the opportunity to study GCSE Media Studies in Years 10 and 11, and A'Level Media Studies in Years 12 and 13. Further details about the A'Level course are available on the Sixth Form website.
Vision
Our department shares the school’s vision - Life in all its fullness - in the way we prepare students to be fully informed and aware of societal and cultural issues and so that they engage with the media around them with confidence and consideration. This can lead to a full and rich life in which they are mindful of the way messages, lifestyles and ideologies are mediated to audience expectations. We want our students to think for themselves, while being empathetic to the values of others. With us, students’ skills and interests are valued, nurtured and often integral to the modern, relevant products we study and make.
Media Studies Learning Journey
This is a visual representation of how students' knowledge and skills develop through the Media Studies curriculum.
(click on the image below to view a larger version)
Why study Media Studies at GCSE?
You are already a Media Studies expert! You are surrounded by and interact with the media every day whether it’s through watching and making films, blogging, reading a magazine or newspaper, or putting your opinions out there via Twitter and Facebook or a You Tube channel. The media shapes all aspects of our world from entertainment, communication and culture through to politics and society. It is therefore vital that you understand how Institutions and producers get their messages to audiences and how media can impact your life.
You will explore every stage of a media product’s journey through the four Media Studies Key Concepts: Media Language looks at how products are constructed through images, editing and use of text. Media Representations looks at how people, places and ideas are portrayed through these products. Media Industries focusses on the companies and producers behind the media and Media Audiences takes account of who consumes media.
Alongside this will be invigorating theory and activity lessons which will enable you to engage with a range of contemporary, relevant media texts. In your lessons and your free time, you will have exclusive access the department’s Apple Mac edit suite, our camera equipment and our fully equipped media classroom. You will produce a range of practical productions in your first year without the pressure of formal assessment – this way you can practise and hone your filming and editing skills before your final assessment in Year 11.
Classroom-based lessons will push all of your learning buttons through a variety of delivery methods – textual analysis of film clips, IT desktop publishing and Photoshop sessions, location shooting, storyboarding, team work, case studies to name just a few! This is an essential subject for anyone interested in starting a business, working in the media industry, or the media department of any modern organisation.
GCSE Assessment
The coursework element (30% of GCSE) will test your practical skills in response to a thematic brief which changes each year. Many students opt for the famous Music Video option, but there are a variety of platforms and disciplines available to you so you can utilise your creative strengths.
There will also be two exam papers (worth a total of 70% of the qualification) which between them test your knowledge and understanding of the four Key Concepts of Media Studies - Media Language, Audiences, Industries and Representations. The papers contain a range of multiple choice, short and long form answers which will enable you to display both broad and in depth responses.