Media Studies

If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success

James Cameron

The Media Studies curriculum aims to educate the students on the processes of media industries. The curriculum aims to explore how the ideologies of the industries creating the media products may influence what and why they produce the content and how audiences respond to these media products, being either passively or actively.

The curriculum empowers students to become active audience who are critical of producers and the ideologies, viewpoints and messages that they put out through their media products. This curriculum also equips students with creative and practical skills that will give them an advantage in their futures.

The curriculum helps students to develop their cultural capital and develop British Values such as the rule of law, respect and tolerance, through the vast range of topics we cover.

Students of Media Studies will develop key transferable skills over the course of their study including:

Textual Analysis
Critical Analysis
The application of knowledge
Evaluation
Working to deadlines
Creativity

Media Studies can be studied at GCSE and A Level. Our GCSE Progress 8 Score for 2019 was +0.12. Our student continue to make progress every year and we ensure that they do this through imparting our passion for the subject in lessons, empowering students to think for themselves and critique and challenge theoretical ideas and arguments. In this department we go the extra mile for our students and have high expectations for all.

Want to find out more?
If you wish to find out more about Media at St George’s please feel free to contact Ms T Odumosu at T.Odumosu@stgeorgesrc.org

KS4

At GCSE we follow the OCR exam board. Students of Media will start by studying the theoretical framework of the subject which consists of media language, representation, audience and industries. Students will also cover the processes, codes and conventions to all nine media industries (newspapers and online, radio, magazines, music videos, video games, film, television and advertising). They will also be taught how to use photoshop and practice using photoshop in preparation for their coursework.

In Year 10 we will focus on the case study text from the Television and Promoting Media exam (Cuffs, The Avengers, The Lego Movie film, video game and print and UK TV advertisement campaign). The course offers plenty of scope to build cultural capital through discussion of topics like changing ideas of sexuality, gender and ethnicity in the UK which is represented through a majority of the media products studied. Students will also revise and recap knowledge learnt about media studies industries.

Students will also learn about media contexts and theories (economic, social, cultural, historical and political context and the uses and gratifications theory) which are concepts that are used to further analyse the influences of the production of media products and the varieties of responses the audiences have to these media texts.

All classes are taught all the content to a high level as we have high expectations of all our students, regardless of ability. In March, when the brief is released from the exam board, students will start the research and planning of their coursework.

In Year 11 students will continue revising the theoretical framework and the processes, codes and conventions of media industries this time focusing on the Music and News exam content (magazines, music videos, radio.) In this year students will complete their creative coursework on photoshop.

KS5

At A Level we follow the OCR exam board. In the first-year students focus on media language and representation and apply it to the magazine, advertising and music video industries and the case studies (The Big Issue magazine, Old Spice, Lucozade, Shelter advertising, Corrine Bailey Rae – Stop Where You Are and David Guetta – Titanium.) Following this they will study the news and online and long form television drama industries and case studies (The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Stranger Things and Deutschland 83). Following an in-depth study, they will then apply this to the whole theoretical framework and media contexts. Using the 16 theories studied. students will evaluate the usefulness and limitations of theory in relation to their studies.

In March, as the brief is released from the exam board students will start the research and planning of their coursework. In the second year of the A Level studies will learn the processes, codes and conventions of the film, radio and video games industries and case studies (The Jungle Book 1967 and 2016, BBC Radio 1 The Breakfast Show and Minecraft). Students will also revise the long form television industry and all the case studies that come along with this. In this year students will complete their creative coursework on photoshop.

All classes are taught all the content to a high level as we have high expectations of all our students, regardless of ability. There is also lots of scope to build cultural capital through discuss of topics like changing ideas of sexuality, gender and ethnicity in the UK which is represented through a majority of the media products studied.

Careers

Media studies will equip you with the communication and technology skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace, whether in the media industry or not. Whether you choose to pursue a career in film, television or journalism or take your skills into business, through studying this subject you will learn transferable and editing skills that will make you stand out amongst your peers.

The types of jobs you can pursue after studying Media include:

Presenter
Advertising media buyer
Copywriter
Media researcher
Broadcast journalist
Writer
Social media manager
Television/film producer
PR consultant
Web content manager
Photographer
Political adviser
Editorial assistant

Skills that studying Media provides that are highly-valued by employers include:

Planning and researching
Working in a team
Working to a deadline
Using your creativity and initiative to solve problems
Being able to use Adobe editing software such as Photoshop