Hyde Clarendon Sixth Form College

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History Department

Together with the Media Studies department, we decided to implement a joint project and make a short film evaluating the 1559 Elizabethan Religious Settlement. It was decided that the format would be a Party Political Broadcast by supporters of the Settlement representing the Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, and opponents of the Settlement representing the Pope.

In conjunction with Media students, the AS History students learnt how to use story boards, write scripts and design a filming schedule. Hopefully they also began to realise the amount of time and effort that is required to make a short film. After hours of preparation, the filming commenced with the History students being supervised by AS and vocational Media students.

I believe that this was a very worthwhile project. Not only did it introduce students to the new skills they required to make the film, it also helped develop their evaluative skills. In terms of spreading the popularity of studying History to other students, I hope the enthusiasm of the film makers during this project for alternative approaches, such as the use of visual images, will improve the perception of the subject for some non-History students.

One of the most exciting initiatives we have run is the Creative Writing Masterclasses for Year 10 pupils from our local feeder schools. There were separate sessions for the Gifted and Talented and Widening Participation cohorts, aimed at both stretching and challenging, and raising aspirations. The classes started with a framework which the pupils use to produce their own short piece of scripted drama: questions such as Who, Where, When, Why, and What help focus their attention on the basic elements of all dramatic narrative. Our own AS and A2 students then help them develop their scripts, after which Our Year 1 and 2 Performing Arts students rehearse and then perform them.

The project is beneficial in a number of ways:  it helps move the pupils’ understanding of drama ‘from page to stage’;  it is an effective way of raising the profile both of the College and English and Drama as subjects;  and the role of our own students as writing mentors helps broaden their own experience of the Creative Writing process that they all have to complete in the coursework element of their AS and A2 courses.

Hyde Clarendon Sixth Form College is located in Hyde, Cheshire, and offers a mixture of A level and vocational qualifications.  It has an impressive track record of high academic standards and a wide range of student activities.