Media Studies

Name of Head of Department

Mr T Newman, PGCE, BA (Hons), NPQML+, NPQSL

Statement of Intent

Media Studies empowers critical thinkers, active citizens, and future creators by giving students the tools to decode the world around them. It explores how messages are constructed, how identities are represented, and how audiences are shaped by the media they consume—challenging young people to reflect upon society and their place within it.

Media Studies at DHSG inspires a passion for the power of communication. It encourages students to question, critique, and create. Our dynamic and ambitious curriculum builds on early digital literacy and cultural awareness established in lower school. Students grow into confident analysts and creators, exploring how meaning is constructed through camera work, editing, layout, sound, performance, and audience positioning across a range of media forms. They are introduced to influential theorists such as Barthes, Hall, Van Zoonen, and Levi-Strauss to deepen their understanding of representation, narrative, and ideology. As creators, students apply these ideas through the NEA component, taking on the role of editor, designer, writer, and producer as they respond to real-world briefs and deliver professional-standard work.

With a balanced emphasis on both process and product, Media Studies promotes deep academic enquiry alongside practical experimentation. Students engage in process media: developing ideas, storyboarding, scripting, and editing while problem-solving collaboratively. They also complete refined productions—magazine covers, short films, and podcasts—demonstrating both technical fluency and conceptual vision.

We believe Media Studies enriches students’ lives far beyond the classroom. It helps them navigate a rapidly changing digital world with confidence and discernment. By visiting media exhibitions, engaging with real-world campaigns, and studying contemporary issues through media forms, students build the cultural capital to interpret, influence, and shape the future.

Contribution to the School Curriculum

As a modern and interdisciplinary subject, Media Studies bridges learning across Drama, English, Art, History, Politics, Sociology, Psychology, and Computer Science. Students explore media through a range of lenses—textual analysis, historical context, theoretical frameworks, and hands-on creative production—making it a deeply integrated subject that reflects and supports wider curricular learning.

Media Studies develops unique cognitive skills by combining logical analysis with visual storytelling, critical theory with digital creativity. It trains students to decode messages, consider diverse perspectives, and reflect on representation, bias, and ideology—all while strengthening their ability to communicate purposefully, both in writing and through multimedia production. Whether evaluating a film sequence, designing a magazine layout, or scripting a podcast, students learn how to combine evidence, intent, and design in meaningful ways.

Importantly, Media Studies empowers students with 'soft skills' such as confidence, critical questioning, creative vision, and digital fluency—making them articulate, self-aware communicators prepared for interviews, university, or employment. As our students learn to understand and shape the messages that influence society, they position themselves not only as consumers of culture, but as active participants and future leaders within it.

Curriculum Programmes of Study

Year	Cycle	Content
Year 9	Cycle 1	Magazine Analysis Media Language, Representation, Audience Theory, Semiotics (Barthes), Binary Opposites (Levi-Strauss), Connotation and Denotation, Typography and Layout, Masthead / Coverlines, Target Audience Profiling, Direct Address, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Component 1 Section A-style questions. Photoshop & InDesign (Practical Skills) Layers & Composition (Photoshop), Typography & Brand Identity, Colour Theory, Digital Layout (InDesign), Image Editing and Exporting, Visual Hierarchy, Audience Encoding, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Mock NEA visual brief task
	Cycle 2	TV Episode Analysis Narrative Structure (Todorov), Character Theory (Propp), Binary Opposites (Levi-Strauss), Mise-en-scène, Cinematography, Sound and Editing, Genre Conventions, Audience Response (Hall), Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Component 2 TV Section A practice. Premiere Pro & Filming Skills Camera Angles & Movement, Shot Types, Storyboarding, Continuity Editing, Sound Design, Visual Composition, Directing and Framing, Export Settings and Formats, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Practical filming task (video sequence)
	Cycle 3	Radio / Podcast Analysis Conventions of Radio/Podcasts, Voice, Music, Effects (Audio Language), Target Audience Address, Regulatory Bodies (Ofcom), Scheduling & Distribution, Representation in Audio Media, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Component 1 Section B practice Audition (Podcast Practical) Audio Editing (Adobe Audition), Layering Voice, FX, Music, Scriptwriting, Foley and Multitrack Mixing, Exporting and File Types, Creative Purpose & Message, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Mini NEA-style podcast creation
Year 10	Cycle 1	Component 1 – Exploring the Media Print Media Set Texts (Pride, GQ, Quality Street), Representation Theory (Hall, Van Zoonen, Gilroy), Media Language Application, Audience Demographics (Young & Rubicam), Online & Offline Product Comparison, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Extended writing (Paper 1 Q1, 2a, 2b) TV and Music Video Genre and Narrative (TV Crime Drama), Representation Across Mediums, Technical Codes (Editing, Camerawork, Sound), Comparative Analysis, Audience Reception (Stuart Hall), Intertextuality in Music Video, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Component 2 past questions
	Cycle 2	Component 3 – NEA: Pre-Production Brief Selection & Interpretation, Target Audience Research, Flatplans, Moodboards, Style Guides, Typography and Colour Theory, Photography Techniques, Adobe Photoshop/InDesign Skills, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Drafting Stage Component 3 – NEA: Development & Production Branding & Layout Design, Cover and Contents Page, Textual Anchoring and Headlines, Consistency and House Style, Creative Log (Response to Brief), Peer Feedback and Revisions, Constructive Criticism, Analysis and Evaluation, Assessment: Final Submission of Product + 20% Log
	Cycle 3	Component 3 – Final Submission Final Adjustments and Peer Review, Compliance with Assessment Criteria, Log Completion and Editing, Mock Marking and Self-Evaluation, Assessment: 30% NEA Component 3 Exam Skills – Writing & Structuring Understanding Command Words, AO1 vs AO2 Focused Tasks, Timed Practice Essays, Model Answer Deconstruction, Mark Scheme Familiarisation, Peer and Self-Assessment, Assessment: Full Paper 1 and 2 Mock
Year 11	Cycle 1	NEA & Component 2 Consolidation Recap: NEA Evaluation & Reflection, Set Product Analysis: Trigger Point, Extended Scene Analysis, Mise-en-scène, Narrative and Representation, TV Industry and Regulation (Ofcom), Assessment: Final refinement + Component 2 short response questions Live Texts & Writing for the Exam Set Text Deep Dive: Quality Street, This Girl Can, The Guardian, The Sun, Representation in News/Advertising, Historical and Social Contexts, Writing Structures for Q1, Q2a, Q2b, Evaluation of Live Media Experiences, Assessment: Full Paper 1 timed mock
	Cycle 2	Exam Preparation Review All Set Texts and Theories, Timed Essays & Planning, Targeted Revision Clinics, Breakdown of Marking Criteria, Final Exam Strategies (Planning, Structuring, Checking), Multiple Assessments: Paper 1 & Paper 2 final mock exams
	Cycle 3	Final Preparation

Middle Years Exam and Specification Information

Students are assessed by 3 components.

Component 1: Exploring the Media 40% (written exam)
Component 2: Understanding Media Forms and Products 30% (written exam)
Component 3: Creating Media Products Non-exam assessment: internally assessed and externally moderated by WJEC Eduqas 30% of qualification 60 marks (Non-Exam Assessment)

Full details of the specification and assessment criteria can be found on the Eduqas website GCSE Media Studies.

Extra-curricular activities

Media Minded is a lunchtime club for all Media Studies students to work on industry-standard programmes outside of lessons. They can create their own productions using Adobe software, be it a poster, magazine, short film, podcast or radio play, as well as watching films and TV series to decode the real meaning behind the media.

Devonport High School For Girls