A Taste of the Diploma

As the end of the academic year is fast approaching, more school teachers and tutors are gearing up to offer the Diploma to Year 10 and 12 pupils in September. Many schools across England have decided to offer taster sessions to students across their consortium, to allow young people to see for themselves the learning experience the Diploma provides.

Emily Bell, an English and Media Studies teacher at Bitterne Park School, Southampton, was involved in hosting two successful taster sessions offered by her school in February this year.
"We have five institutions in the Southampton Consortium who will be delivering the Diploma in Creative and Media to young people in the area in September," comments Emily. "Throughout February and March we hosted two Diploma taster days for Year nine pupils within the consortium. The aim was to give them a sneak preview of the Diploma's unique work-based and hands-on learning in advance of choosing their options."

The first session tasked students with developing a branding campaign for a product of their choice. Different mediums could be used to communicate the brand including film, dance, art, costume, music and media. Students were then joined by local employer, Sue Thomas from the Lee Peck Group media agency, to give them some insight into brands and the branding process.
"The focus was on team work, working to deadlines (like the real world) and looking to see if the pupils had the kind of skills needed to work in the style of the Diploma," comments Emily.
The second Diploma taster session in March was used for pupil feedback and project evaluation, and involved the use of clips from the BBC's The Apprentice to help each group evaluate their work and position it within the wider context of the business world.

Emily is very positive about the effect that the Diploma taster sessions have had on the participants: "The two sessions proved invaluable to the students who took part and as a result, many of them were much more open to considering it as an option for September this year."

There is a range of professional development support and resources available for staff to help them teach the Diploma and advise students on the right courses.