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Staff in the Spotlight: Steve Murray

March 28, 2018

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At Havant & South Downs College, we have a number of highly skilled, dedicated and passionate teaching staff. These lecturers go above and beyond to help our students reach their full potential.

We want to shout about these integral members of our HSDC community, so every month we will be finding out about the people behind our teaching excellence with our ‘Staff in the Spotlight’ feature.

Here is Steve Murray.

Name?

Steve Murray

Position at HSDC?

Teacher of Film, Media and English

How long have you worked at the College?

Since September 2010

Why did you choose the subject that you teach?

I have a degree in English Language and Literature and worked for seven years in the media industry.

What was your journey/training before coming to HSDC?

I trained as a local newspaper journalist in 1994 and worked as a reporter, sub-editor and news editor for Observer Newspapers in Watford. I then joined BBC Sport, working as a sub-editor and later as an assistant producer on programmes such as Match of the Day, Football Focus and Grandstand and events such as Wimbledon, the Olympics and the World Cup. I also worked for a year in a similar role at ITV.

What is the highlight of your role at HSDC?

I enjoy offering students opportunities to develop as individuals through participation in extra-curricular film-making projects. They invariably step up to the mark, demonstrate maturity and flourish as they begin to play a role in the adult world of work.

What kind of careers have your students gone on to do?

Students often progress to roles in media production either after university or through direct entry into the industry. A student who directed our first film in partnership with Millstream Productions now works for the company! He initially went to Bournemouth University to study media production before impressing during a work experience placement at Millstream.

What is something about your job that people don’t know about?

There’s much more to teaching than understanding exam board requirements and teaching students to pass exams. When working with teenagers, it is important to understand the broader pressures they face and be sensitive to what’s going on in their lives beyond the classroom.

What kind of opportunities are students offered on your course?

Each year, we offer students the opportunity to work on real-life projects with Millstream Productions, a local film production company. Examples of projects include documentaries focusing on Havant soldiers in the First World War and the 40th anniversary of punk in Portsmouth and a drama based on the diary of a 17-year-old from Emsworth written during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

What three words would your students use to describe you?

Knowledgeable, fair, enthusiastic.