We’re piloting the Rockhaq school music reviews blog with colleges in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. We have Music, Media Studies and English students from our pilot colleges who are studying a range of courses from BTEC Diplomas and Certificates to A/S and A Levels.

One of our pilot schools is South Nottingham College, who are using Rockhaq in lessons to fulfil their curriculum objectives with various students, including their BTEC Creative Media Production pupils. There are two more groups of Music and Sports Journalism pupils using Rockhaq at South Nottingham College.

What are the BTEC Creative Media Production students gaining from using Rockhaq blogs inside and outside of lessons? Rockhaq has been embedded into the Edexcel BTEC Creative Media Production teaching curriculum, specifically as part of the Social Action and Community Media Production unit. We’re trying several features and ideas out, including:

  • Highlighting how Rockhaq operates as a school music journalism community by allowing Creative Media Production students to actively contribute to the production process
  • Allowing Creative Media Production students to experience an industry career path and show how the music and media industries are connected – PR, Marketing etc
  • Motivating Creative Media Production students to write music reviews and comments to develop and broaden their literacy and communication skills
  • Encouraging Creative Media Production students to use social media channels constructively to spread reviews, build their own readership and develop digital journalism skills
  • Showing Creative Media Production students how they can use their Rockhaq blog profile to easily share their work with universities, employers, colleges and parents

How Rockhaq helps Creative Media Production students

Yvonne Walker, BTEC media coordinator at South Nottingham College, said: “Rockhaq has given our Creative Media Production students an invaluable opportunity to practise their critical writing skills and distribute them among their peers.

“For many of them, this is the first step towards professional journalism and they see it as a vital step on the road for their future careers.”

Listen up!

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