"Stewards Academy" School Prospectus




This school prospectus front cover is based upon "Stewards Academy", and I incorporated a variety of elements within it that would make it recognisable as a prospectus for a school/academy. The images that I took had to be suitable for the school prospectus front cover, as if published, the prospectus would immediately have to have images included upon it that would make the academy a welcoming and suitable place for the children that may want to go there. One of the target audiences would presumably be the parents of these children, and therefore they may look out for certain facilities and a certain sense of atmosphere gained from the pictures, that would be suitable for their child. I feel I have included this within my prospectus front cover, as I have made sure that the many facilities which would aid a parent's child during their education are visible within the images, and the positioning of the people within the photographs seem as though a working atmosphere has been established.

I produced a plan for the content of the pictures in order to make sure that the parents and children saw the school as suitable and somewhere that they'd enjoy attending. The main picture is an establishing shot of a sitting area located within the academy, and this would attract parents and children, as it seems tidy and somewhere where the children can sit. Because it isn't a sitting area that can be found in every school/academy, parents may be attracted to the front page of the prospectus, and consequently may want to visit the school or research into this specific area. On first glance, this sitting area may appeal to them as it seems like a unique place that must have been designed by someone within or connected to the academy, and if researching into this specific section of the academy, this assumption will be confirmed as it was designed by someone connected to the academy. Therefore, it makes the academy different to other academies that are available for them to attend. This justifies why the main image is of this unique sitting area, and will make the parents and children more intrigued to pick up the prospectus, as this exact sitting area won't be found in any other academy/school nearby if it has been designed by a pupil or someone connected to the academy.

The second image at the bottom left hand corner is a point of view shot of the school library within the academy. This image can attract parents and children as a library is where a variety of facilities can be found. It can also be an effective use of an image because it is a point of view shot, as if the child/parent is looking into the library from the door. The fact that it has been taken like this makes it seem as though the audience is actually looking in on the library, and therefore it is almost like the academy is including them already and classing them as a member/part of the academy's community. Within this picture, you can also see a "welcome" sign, which would automatically make the academy seem welcoming to the future potential pupils and their parents. The door is open within the image in addition, and this is effective because it seems as though the parents and children have been welcomed already. The image also looks as though it contains many objects that would aid the children when they were studying within the school, which is appealing as it makes the school suitable enough for a parent's child to presumably be well educated and to succeed.

The third image at the bottom right hand corner is of a section within the academy that evidently helps students in a number of ways. This is attractive to parents who think that their child may require some sort of support if they attended this academy. The students and staff around tables and seeming occupied implies that a working environment has been established within this section of the academy, which would attract parents and children. This is because, not only are the children working, but it also looks like a section in the academy where the children would be able to work with support available. An academy is likely to take on students who require this help, and therefore this is showing that these particular students can receive support from mentors. This focused support that the target audience can assume is available from the photographs, will attract this group of potential students and their parents.

The text included upon the academy prospectus' front cover is suitable for a number of reasons. The phrase "...pupil achievement is at the heart of all we do" is attractive as it highlights straight away to the target audience of parents and children, that if they attend the academy, the main focus is ensuring that they try their best to help promote "pupil achievement". This is effective as the fact that a pupil achieves during their education, is preferable to both the parent of the child and the child themselves, and is usually aimed for. The academy suggests that they are passionate about helping pupils to achieve, as they say that it is "...at the heart of all we do"; the caring nature of the academy is portrayed through this. Parents want to be reassured that their child is recieving the best support emotionally, and being taught by teachers who care about their achievement. Likewise, children may be attracted to the academy as they may believe that they will feel comfortable as the staff seem to have their best interests in mind through this statement; emotionally and academically.

There is a mention that the academy is a "Science Specialist" at the top of the front page, and this is essential to mention as it may attract certain parents, who know that their children are interested in science, and therefore this may possibly attract certain children too. It also allows the audience to know that the school has a specific focus upon science, which may attract them for a variety of reasons. The overall layout of the front page was planned on paper, initial to it's creation on Adobe Photoshop, and I chose this layout for a number of reasons. As mentioned above, I chose the main picture to be the "Chinese Garden" that can be found within the school, as this is a unique place that won't be found in other academies in the surrounding area. This may attract parents and children, as they may believe that it will provide the children with a unique experience if they attended the academy, and it was placed within the centre of the front page so it is likelt to be the first image that the audience looks at. If seeing such a unique sitting area at first, it may attract the audience to discover more about the academy as it catches their eye and will entice them to pick up the prospectus.

The two photos at the bottom of the front page were placed there because I believe that both a working environment and the caring nature of the academy is portrayed through the image on the right, and the audience should link this with quote above. The fact that the academy is trying to achieve "pupil achievement" is portrayed through this image as the staff are evidently supporting the students, as they are sitting beside them, presumably helping them work/supporting them emotionally, and therefore the pupils seem like they are going to achieve in some way because of this, or alternatively are currently achieving as as a result of this help. The caring nature is portrayed through this image as there is an indication that the staff care about their pupil's well being as they look as though they are supporting them in some way. This is also seen through the quote used above this image, as it suggests that it is "...at the heart of all we do", indicating that they are passionate about trying to help pupils achieve, and therefore care for them.

Similarly, the photo on the left links with the quote as "pupil achievement" evidently seems to be important ("...at the heart of all we do") to the academy and one of their main aims, as an image of the library and the facilities that are available for the pupils can lead to them being able to achieve. It also suggests that they provide their pupils with the facilities that can enable their achievement; they make sure that they make this a focus. In addition, there is a sign which says "welcome", and this portrays the caring nature that can be deducted from the quote when they suggest that "pupil achievement is at the heart of all we do". Therefore, these two photos were placed at the bottom of the front page in order to be seen after the audience has read the quote above them, as they link to it; they act as visual tools that connect to the quote.

The colour scheme follows the house colours of the academy; white and black in particular. This is effective as the audience will be able to familiarise themselves with the colour scheme of the academy and be able to distinguish between academies as a result of this. Also, if they are looking for that particular academy prospectus and are aware of the house colours initially, it will be easy to find because they will be able to recognise it due to it's distinctive colours that differ from other academies. The logo is located at the top left hand corner of the front page of the prospectus, and this is effective because by being at the top of the page, the target audience will notice it straight away, and it is also alongside the title of the academy "Stewards Academy", which makes the audience aware of what their logo is for future reference.



School Prospectus- using Adobe Photoshop

After many days of working on my school prospectus front page, it is completed. Creating this front page of a school prospectus in preperation for creating the main music magazine front cover, has enabled me to be able to work with Adobe Photoshop more efficiently. If I hadn't created this front cover, it would have proved more difficult to then produce a magazine front cover, and presumably would have taken much longer as I tried to work Adobe Photoshop and the tools on there. The experience of producing a school prospectus has allowed me to be able to identify certain tools on the programme, and therefore when I use Adobe Photoshop in order to create my music magazine front cover, I will be able to find these again. I noticed when working with the images that I had opened into photoshop, that it was difficult to decide on the size of them, as the correct pixels had to be chosen. This took the most time, although now I'm more aware of how to re-size an image more effectively when using Adobe Photoshop. 

Another action that I discovered had to be known when using Adobe Photoshop, was being able to select a certain layer, and edit something on that layer. I learnt through working with layers, that for example if I wanted to edit a certain image, and it was on a seperate layer, I would have to select the layer that the image was in. If this layer wasn't selected, then I wouldn't be able to edit this image. This was evident as I worked on my front cover, and alongside this I was able to identify with other tools. When adding text to the school prospectus front cover, I selected "Horizontal Type Tool", and this enabled me to be able to write text upon the layer. However, I learnt that I had to make sure that in order to move this text, another tool had to be selected; the "Move Tool". In addition to this, I had to ensure that the layer that the text was placed in was selected in order for me to be able to move it.

I learnt was that I could crop an image whilst using Adobe Photoshop. In order to do this, I chose the "Crop Tool", which enabled me to select the section of the image that I wanted, and make sure that the remaining part of it was no longer visible. Another action that I learnt when using Adobe Photoshop was how to take an image that has been opened onto the programme, and paste it into another page that was created. In order to do this, I found out that I had to select the option of "Select", and following this chose "All". Following this selection, everything that was on that page was selected (in this case, the image that I had opened), and I could then selected "Edit", followed by "Copy". By doing this, I was able to paste the image on to the school prospectus front page, as all that had been selected (the image) had been copied. Therefore, when selecting "Edit" again whilst on the school prospectus front cover, the image could be pasted onto the document by selecting "Paste".