Wednesday 25 February 2015

Creating a CV and application letter

TASK: Over the course of two lessons you will:
  1. create a CV
  2. select a job to apply for from the vacancies provided (below)
  3. write a formal letter of application for this post
  4. email the CV and letter to me (other teachers will use Showbie) at david.burrowes@ilkleygs.ngfl.ac.uk, with the email subject 'class Surname Initial CV-letter' (eg 10Y/Cz1C Simpson H CV-letter)
STEPS:
LESSON ONE/HOMEWORK: CREATE A CV
  1. As a class we will discuss what we think a 'C.V.' is and what purpose/function it serves.
  2. In small groups (4-5), brainstorm and list what you think should feature in a good CV. What information should you provide?
  3. Compare your list to the example you can see below.
  4. Update your list with a clear heading: What I Should Include in My CV
  5. (If there is time) Make a start on your CV. Complete this for homework for the next lesson.
  6. Before the end of the 1st of these 2 lessons, read through the  list of vacancies below and pick one. You will be asked to declare which you have picked before the lesson ends, and in the next lesson you will be developing your letter of application for this job.
LESSON TWO: CREATE + EMAIL A LETTER OF APPLICATION
  1. Any reminders/planner comments about the CV homework will be issued
  2. As a class we will discuss what you think should go into a good letter of application and what you think should be avoided!
  3. Look at the exemplars provided (below) and make a fresh list of What I Need To Include in My Letter
  4. Start on this letter, and email it if completed by the end of the lesson (if not, email it within one week)

KEY DOCUMENTS
To stop this post from slowing down the loading of the blog, you need to click on 'read more' below to see the rest of the post, including the documents you'll need

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You should be able to download and save these documents, but you can also read them directly from the blog. You can go fullscreen, and also zoom in or out.

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Sunifesto and your 'minifesto'

It is not often a source that we will use, given its use of topless models, and generally questionable values on issues of race, gender and sexuality, but today we shall look at a very specific feature in The S*n, the UK's biggest-selling paper and one that once boasted after a general election, It Was the Sun Wot Won It.

Owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who operates a global media empire, the paper took the unusual step of beating the political parties to the punch and issuing its own 'manifesto' (details of what it would do, the policies it would follow, if elected to government).

Your quickfire challenge will be to:

  1. Scan through the 'Sunifesto' below
  2. Pick one or more policies that you strongly dis/agree with
  3. Come up with your own wording for a policy/policies
  4. Prepare a short summary of WHY this should be supported (look for newspaper articles on this policy area, find quotes, points, statistics...)
  5. If you can, think of one argument AGAINST (maybe using the same research) and state why this should not put people off
  6. Pick two UK national daily newspapers, and come up with a headline for each of them if they were writing about your 'minifesto' ideas. Tabloid headlines can be short and informal, featuring a pun or play on words, broadsheet headlines might more formal and longer. There would be a difference between the left-wing papers (Mirror, Guardian) and the right-wing papers (all the rest, bar the Indie/i, which is 'centrist' or fairly neutral). The S*n is very right-wing, its Sunifesto is classic right-wing thinking.
You can find more information and background on this post, written for A-Level Media students, but the Sunifesto is copied in below (just click read more or on the title of this post).