July 06, 2007

Student Voice Winners

Congratulations to the team who put together our winning entry for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust Student Voice competition. This includes JLT/Faculty Board members...
  • Alex Baldwin
  • Yuserah El Sockary
  • Shaheen Mindhola (pictured below)
  • Jourdan Powis
  • Navjot Sawhney
...and the expert media team...
  • Jatinder Kailey
  • Jaskeerat Sehra
Together they produced a highly professional ten minute DVD showcasing some of the outstanding Student Voice work we do here at Greenford.

After being shortlisted from amongst entries from across the UK, the team had to go to Central London to deliver their presentation to a panel of judges...and they obviously impressed them!

The prize is a trip to Beijing, China, in September, to present the video again, but this time at an international conference for headteachers and leading educationalists, after which we hope to post the video up here for all of you to see.

May 07, 2007

Media Productions DVD

After many months of true dedication, the Year 12 Media Practical Productions are finally complete. And if you really can't believe what you're hearing then take a look alongside this posting to see page one of the menu screen of the finalized DVD...copies of which will be going to the examiner at the end of the week and to each Year 12 student, too.

AS students made more films, trailers and documentaries than ever before...a total of seventeen appear, reflecting all the extra work that Mr Babu and the media mentors - Jatinder, Jaskeerat, Ramneet and Bushara - had to put in, so well done and thanks to them.

But, crucially, the commitment amongst the Year 12s was higher than ever this year...work was undertaken with real passion and professionalism so that there's every reason to assume that we'll be awarding record numbers of top grades for their achievements. You can see for yourselves how focussed they were by checking out some of their Med 3 blogs in the side bar on the Year 12 Macguffin site.

Watch out, too, for the next Media Awards Evening (scheduled for when we move into the new school building) where you'll be able to see the very best ones on the big screen.

March 24, 2007

Leadership Training Weekend

Do you have excellent media production skills?

Fancy spending the weekend where the Queen will be?

Do you want to be involved in an exciting project that will really put our school on the map?

On the weekend of the 21st-22nd of April, the twelve members of the Junior Leadership Team are going on a training weekend at Windsor Castle, accompanied by the SLT and other teachers. We are hoping there will be a number of VIP speakers at this event who will share their experiences of life at the top. And you?


We also need four Media Studies students (from either Year 12 or 13) who will attend all weekend and film the whole event. If you are selected you will then be expected to edit the footage in June/July (after your exams) to create a promo video of the event that we can show to other schools at national conferences and post up online.


Everything will be paid for and it really will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

If you want to be part of the team then please email me this weekend with a brief outline (200 words maximum) of why you want to take part and what practical skills and personal qualities make you suitable.

For security purposes you also need to include the following: date of birth, nationality, home address, home telephone number, passport number, because if you are selected we will need to send this info to the castle on Monday morning. For those who aren't selected, I will delete this information. You will know on Monday who has been chosen. Good luck!!

March 16, 2007

More Self Evaluation

For Year 12s and 13s: To be completed by your first lesson next week (commencing Monday 19-03)...

Write an evaluation on your blogs (Module 3 for Year 12s, Module 5 for Year 13s) of your progress on the Media course since Christmas.

a. Comment on each of the following, giving yourself a grade with an explanation outlining why:

(Grading should be 1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

  • Attainment
  • Effort
  • Punctuality
  • Submission and quality of homework
  • Ability to work independently
  • Quality of writing
  • Organisation of Media folder
  • Oral contributions in class
  • Quality of coursework
  • Standard of Module 3 blog (Year 12s only)
  • Standard of Module 5 blog (Year 13s only)
  • Standard of Module 6 blog (Year 13s only)


b. Make a list of three targets/areas for improvement to be achieved before study leave.

March 03, 2007

Meet the Media Mentors

Congratulations to our four newly appointed Year 13 Media Mentors who were successful after a tough interview last week in front of a full panel comprising: Macguffin, Munro, Babu and also two Year 12 representatives - Rohini and Sonia (who, themselves, did a superb job and receive commendations for their efforts).

They will, between them, be covering the Media Suites every day between 8-9am and 3.30-5.30pm where their core tasks will be...
  • Providing support to AS students with the use of Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Offering feedback to students about the quality of their practical work
Even if a group isn't editing at school they can come in at the above times and show their work in progress to them (on DVD, for instance) and they will appraise it and give advice.

They will also be checking Year 12 blogs to keep an eye on progress, and contributing to their own Media Mentors' Blog each week which will give written feedback about the groups they've worked with.


So, without any further ado, let us introduce them...

Bushara

Hours:
Thursday pm, Friday am

Year 12 Coursework Blog: Teenage Daze

Year 12 Practical Production

Year 13 Coursework Blog: What do representations of women from the past suggest about them and how do the representations of females in ‘Sex and the City’ differ?

Year 13 Issues & Debates Blog






Jaskeerat

Hours:
Monday pm, Wednesday pm

Year 12 Coursework Blog: The Guilt

Year 12 Practical Production


Year 13 Coursework Blog: How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?


Year 13 Issues & Debates Blog









Jatinder

Hours:
Monday am, Tuesday am, Friday pm

Year 12 Coursework Blog: The Guilt

Year 12 Practical Production

Year 13 Coursework Blog: Is the “auteur theory” any longer significant in contemporary Hollywood, with a focus on Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’ and his oeuvre?


Year 13 Issues & Debates Blog







Ramneet

Hours:
Tuesday pm, Wednesday am, Thursday am

Year 12 Coursework Blog: Take it to the Floor

Year 12 Practical Production

Year 13 Coursework Blog: How has the stereotype of black males been reinforced or subverted in films such as “Get Rich Or Die Trying”?


Year 13 Issues & Debates Blog