Ideologies: Prelim Task

Ideologies are a body of idea or set of beliefs behind different media texts. It is important to be able to clearly identify/differentiate between different ideological components. When producing my own newsletter, I will need to research and consider what ideologies I want to portray/represent, which can be displayed through my use of font choice, images and also the choice of colour scheme, that all relate back to appealing to my target audience of parents.

The main ideology I wanted to convey in my newsletter was that Deyes is an established school, with traditional values. To do this, after evaluating different newsletters, I have decided that I should use professional looking photographs of areas of the school that look traditional. The main area that shows this and an image that I will most probably use, is the front of the school with it's red brick and ivy covered walls which not only makes the school look established and traditional, but it is the main entrance to the school which plays an important role in representing the school, as it is where visitors will enter. Also, by using a mature colour scheme and fonts, this will show that Deyes is a professional establishment.

The next ideology that I wanted to portray was that Deyes cares about it's pupils by going above and beyond to showcase their talents and encourage motivation, to allow them to fulfil the best school experience as possible. To get this ideology across in my newsletter, I will organise shoots with teachers allowing me to take images of pupils enjoying their lessons, and focus on the students' achievements and success' in all aspects of school life. Also photographs such as students holding their exam results or just simply displaying them in the newsletter amongst text, or showing stage productions that have been held for parents and visitors to showcase their talents, all hold the ideology that the school cares for it's pupils. These photographs will also be taken as professional as possible catering for my target audience and showcase that student success is the main focus of the newsletter.

An ideology that I think is quite important to portray about Deyes, is that it is community of pupils that work together to achieve success. In the past, I know that some parents have been worried about sending their children to a school campus that has ages varying from 12-18, afraid sometimes of bad influences. I think it is important to show the parents, my target audience, that Deyes students are available at any time for help to all years. To do this I may include/feature an image of a sixth former helping out a year 7 student for example to represent the school's sense of community. This may encourage parents to send their son/daughter to Deyes or reassure parents that already have children within the school that it is a friendly and close environment.