Welcome to the Myton Digital Photography website - here you will find information about GCSE and A Level Photography at Myton School as well as many student friendly resources and project ideas.
Guide to buying a camera for students
GCSE Photography (ocr)
GCSE Photography is a very popular option subject at Year 9 and can be continued through to Year 11 where students work towards their OCR award. The course consists of the following:
Year 9 - a broad foundation year covering all aspects of DSLR camera use, basic compositional techniques, introduction to Adobe Photoshop and an extended project in the last term where students learn a variety of image manipulation techniques to create photographic illusions
Year 10 - this year consists of 2 main projects which run until Easter, after which students choose their own coursework theme and develop their own personal project. A unit based on Portraits in September gives them a strong grounding in using artists as sources of inspiration as well as developing their use of Photoshop and other non-digital image manipulation techniques. In January, Year 10 students work on a Mock Exam project where they develop an independent body of practical work based on a starting point theme set by the Exam Board, culminating in a 5 hour day in the Photography room to complete their final image editing.
Year 11 - students in Year 11 continue working on their coursework project, which is worth 60% of their final GCSE grade. Typically this project will consist with research into ideas and artists, photoshoots that are planned and edited to show strong ideas and skills and a final outcome that "completes" the work. In January, students are issued with their exam paper from OCR where they will have to choose one starting point word from the list to complete an independent body of work - this is worth the remaining 40% of their grade. Whilst the theme will be different to their coursework, the broad structure is expected to be the same in terms of amount and type of work being made.
A Level Photography has re-established itself as a popular choice for our KS5 students and is offered to both those who wish to follow on from GCSE and also students coming from a GCSE Art or Media background. Non-specialist applications may be considered on submission of a portfolio of photographic work. The course consists of the following:
Year 12 offers students the opportunity to revisit previous techniques such as light painting, sun prints and studio portraits as well as learn new processes such as darkroom printing, abstraction techniques and on-location shooting. Teacher led workshops are aimed to equip and inspire students who then develop their ideas in more personal and skillful ways independently. From around February half term onwards, Year 12 students start to choose an area of photography or theme they want to investigate in more depth and start work on their A Level Portfolio (worth 60% of their final grade in Year 13).
In Year 13, students continue working on their Personal Investigation, adding a 1000-3000 word written study to their practical/sketchbook work as well. A second body of work is started in February when the Exam Board issue the starting points for the Extended Set Task (worth 40% of their grade) - a separate project which culminates with a 15 hour times slot (spaced over 3 school days) to develop and produce a final response.
The site is regularly updated to reflect the nature of the course and will hopefully provide inspiration and ideas to explore throughout your projects. I hope you enjoy the course and look forward to helping you create some fantastic and thought provoking images. Enjoy and good luck!