TEACHERS worried about their pupils’ GCSE results should spare a thought for a plucky group who will have an extra reason to fret.
Eight staff members at Great Torrington community school, north Devon, are taking a GCSE in media studies with their students.
This includes the English department, the head of information and communications technology and two teaching assistants.
Their course will take just over a year, finishing next summer. The first coursework project has been handed in, to relief all round.
Gill Clayton, head of English, said: “It’s been pretty much A*s across the board, thank goodness.”
Although Ms Clayton joked about the adults’ competitiveness, she said the project had a serious purpose. Studying gave teachers the chance to understand media studies better, which would help pupils. She said: “It’s one way of getting to know the course really well.”
The first coursework project centred on pop music, involving the case study of an artist and the analysing and designing of a CD cover. Staff choices included Elvis and Madonna, but one adult might have proved more contemporary by opting for that icon of disaffected youth, Marilyn Manson.