College News

QE students mentor media stars of the future

Students at QE have enjoyed a fantastic opportunity to inspire Year 6 pupils at Firthmoor Primary School.  Acting as mentors, the students have gained an invaluable insight into primary education and have encouraged the pupils to have aspirations for their future careers.

Students wishing to pursue a career in teaching volunteered to be part of a new initiative aimed at nurturing and inspiring year 6 pupils to look beyond secondary school and to consider what opportunities are available to them.

Over a period of five months, the students helped to develop the young pupils’ skills in a range of areas including literacy and the creative arts.

Ann Dixon, Firthmoor Primary School headteacher, comments “Without exception, all of our Year 6 pupils thoroughly enjoyed meeting the student mentors and discussing their career aspirations. The children relished the opportunity to work together on a range of teambuilding activities whilst gaining a greater understanding of the ways in which they might pursue their dream job. The students acted as outstanding role models and ambassadors for the college.”

Following the scheme, the Firthmoor pupils then visited QE and enjoyed working in a busy A Level Media department; receiving a taste of the exciting world of academic study post GCSE. The pupils took part in a video editing and image manipulation session delivered by Media Studies Course Leader Nicola Naisbett and A Level students. The pupils used the software package Adobe Premier to create a promotional video for the mentoring scheme by editing footage they had captured. They learnt how to cut and edit a linear sequence, adding transitions, special effects and a soundtrack. Moreover, they used the software package Photoshop to edit photographs of themselves and the QE mentors including adjusting levels, desaturating, cropping and enhancing the images.

Overall, the hands -on Media session was a huge success with Firthmoor pupils enthused and leaving QE with a portfolio of new practical skills.

Laurence Job, Vice Principal at QE, says “The collaboration between QE students and Firthmoor pupils has been a huge success with all involved enjoying the experience and developing a range of very useful skills for their futures. We look forward to continuing this close link with other projects.”