Media Studies

The vision of the Media Studies Curriculum at Ortu Hassenbrook Academy is to prepare students for the life and challenges of modern society and to help them become active participators and creators of the society of tomorrow.

The media studies curriculum aims to develop students into critical thinkers - to foster in them the ability to analyse, critique, evaluate, surmise, and deconstruct the world around them, and to provide an understanding of the media’s power to shape both society - its attitudes and values – as well as our own identities.

The Media Studies department aspires to instil in students the capacity to take responsibility for their own choices through conscious consumption of, and engagement with, the media, and to develop an understanding of the effect of those choices, and their own identity within the current media landscape and existing hegemonies.

We also aim to help students develop creative skills so they are able to consciously employ or manipulate the codes and conventions of various media forms, platforms, and genres to construct original media products, and to prepare them for any further study of, or career aspirations in, the media industry.

KS4

The curriculum is designed to ensure students have a solid theoretical foundation. As media studies is not taught as a separate subject at KS3, it is necessary to ensure students develop an understanding of the theoretical framework and the highly specialised language that underpins the entire media curriculum before moving on to the closer study of specific media forms, platforms, and products.

Year 10:

Introduction to Form, Audience, Institutions, and Representation (FAIR);
Study of full range of Close Study Products (CSPs) outlined by the exam board.
Investigate Media products
Developing digital media production skills

Year 11:

Application of theoretical learning to develop original media product. Students are expected to be able to manipulate codes and conventions to either conform to, or subvert, existing perceptions and stereotypes through careful application of media language, and to be able to articulate their product intent, and creative choices.
Review of CSPs and active preparation for GCSE media studies examination through engagement with past papers and developing exam skills. Students are given the opportunity to acquire resilience in answering a range of different types of examination questions in all areas of their study.
During the course of year 11, students have the opportunity to sit mock examinations to practice and rehearse the examination format.

Literacy and Reading in Media Studies

Literacy is an integral element of the Media Studies curriculum. The highly specialised language required is taught through a range of strategies:

Use of vocabulary mats and glossaries
Guided writing
Sentence stems and writing scaffolds to help embed the use of specialist terminology
Regular reviews, quizzes and testing to ensure language is securely embedded into long-term
Guided reading activities
Independent reading and research based activities
Exposure to a range of texts: magazines, newspapers, television and radio scripts, websites & blogs, and a range of transactional texts, and the explicit teaching of the verbal codes and conventions of these forms