Monday 31 December 2012

Autumn Term Media Studies Trips 2012

This year we have been on two Media Studies trips in one term!!! Both organised by Mr. Edwards.

First, on November 7th we (Mr. Edwards, the 6th Form Media students and myself) spent the morning at Epic Studios in Norwich.  We were taken on a tour.  Then the students had a presentation about going into Media as a career choice.  The students also got to put together a documentary programme.







The second trip was to the OCR Media Student Conference in London, which we have been to before.  As usual, there were a range of speakers from the exam board and various parts of the industry, and like the Epic Studios trip, it included a section about how to get into the business after 6th Form and university.



Monday 13 August 2012

Book Review


I have recently read ‘The Radleys’ by Matt Haig and here are my thoughts on it.

It is the story of a family who seem like everyone else, but are in fact vampires…

The text is punctuated by extracts from ‘The Abstainer’s Handbook’ - a fictional manual written by vampires to help other vampires who do not want to drink blood. The Radley family are abstainers and want to ‘do your bit for society and ignore those dark desires inside you’; this and the arrival of the black sheep of the family, Uncle Will, are the main catalysts for trouble. As a tale of vampires trying to fit in with humans, it is not particularly original, however, it is an amusing critique of middle-class village life.  I think it is best suited to young people aged 14 - 16.

Would I read it again? Probably not, but it was quite an enjoyable read.

Friday 20 July 2012

Enrichment Week 2012


During Enrichment Week this year, I was involved in two activities: Communications Day and the Wymondham Life Filming Project.  The English Department was running several other activities (such as Genre Day and the Readathon with Year 7),  but I was not involved with them.

Communications Day was devised for the whole of Year 10 and its aim was to get one of the GCSE English Speaking and Listening CATS (controlled assessments) completed.

The first part of the day was spent doing team building activities which were supposed to help students practise skills they would need after lunch when they were formally assessed.  After an introduction in the Chapel, everyone was put into groups of about 20.  The groups (supervised by one teacher) then moved from room to room every 10 minutes in a carousel.  Each room had a different activity.

After morning break, everyone went back to the Chapel where the afternoon assessment was introduced - a Balloon Debate.  Mrs. Arnold lead this part of the day which included a demonstration. Five teachers 'in role' played five 'students'; I was the Band 4/D Grade candidate.



The students were then given some time to practise and prepare for the assessment which was due to begin at about 2.15pm.  My group really got into what we were doing and I had a rewarding day.

The rest of the week I was part of the small group who were based in the Studio in the International Centre.  Most of the students were from Year 12 and were Media students, so I knew them well.  The filming project's aim was to produce a short film about what was happening at Wymondham College during Enrichment Week as a record of events, but also to be put on the school's website.

Although I did not take part in Genre Day or the Readathon the Monday, I have done so in the past.  I did, however, take some photos of what the English Department were up to without me (see below).








Monday 7 May 2012

Bridal Shower


My friend and colleague, Miss Vincini, is getting married and on Saturday she has a 'Bridal Shower' which was organised for her by her sisters.  It was actually afternoon tea at her parent's house.  Her wedding is in the summer holiday and I will be attending that event as well.  My baby sister is getting married this year so I will be busy over the next few months.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

English Department Christmas Do


This year the English Department decided to go for a meal together to The Mulberry in Attleborough.  Unfortunately, not everyone could come, but most of us were there.  It was a lovely meal and very cheap.  Mrs. McCullem was able to come despite being on maternity leave.  The mulled wine provided by the restaurant was a particularly good feature of the event...  I was not driving so I had two glasses!

Wednesday 9 November 2011

My Car and TV Drama



I asked Year 12 Media to make mini-TV Dramas and this is what happened to my car!  One group was making a Sci Fi film and so they turned my car into a space ship... without me knowing!

Media Studies 6th Form Conference



On Friday I went with Mr Edwards and some of Year 12 to a Media Conference run by the English and Media Centre in London.  Mr Edwards did a lot of driving, which was not very nice for him, but the day as a whole was really beneficial.  Hopefully, we can go again next year.