BBC Bitesize Commissioning Brief – CCEA GCSE Irish

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Commissioning Brief

CCEA GCSE Irish

Overview

First teaching from September 2017, first assessment in summer 2018 and first award in summer

2019.

The specification supports the aim of the Northern Ireland Curriculum to empower young people to achieve their potential and to make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lives, as well as its objectives: • to develop the young person as an individual; • to develop the young person as a contributor to society; and • to develop the young person as a contributor to the economy and environment.

BBC Bitesize will create a compelling, learner-centred programme of study for this subject. It will be

uniquely tailored for the core audience of 14-16 year old learners. Bespoke videos / animations and

info- graphics will be included.

Further information on CCEA GCSE Irish can be found here: -

https://www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/microsites/Irish/gcse/

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BBC Bitesize Commissioning Brief – CCEA GCSE Irish

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Summary of deliverables

We require the following content for CCEA GCSE Irish:

o Text: Up to 40 Revise chapters of on average 3-5 pages in length (200-300 words per

page)

o Multiple choice quizzes: Up to 40 Test chapters

o Video: Approximately 30 minutes of original video or animation

o Infographics: Approximately 20.

o Bitesize App Content

(Indicative budget: £50,000)

Bitesize Brand Values and Tone

BBC Bitesize is a trusted brand that students know they can turn to for reliable information that has

been produced in an entertaining way to a high quality.

Quality learning resources with high production values, tailored to the needs of the audience

Clear, concise delivery of the key educational points in bite-sized chunks Accessible to every level of academic ability and learning style Factually correct, high-quality and curriculum-relevant Simple, straightforward language Funny, quirky or irreverent tone where appropriate Innovative educational media format

Audience

The target audience for this commission is 14-16 year old students studying CCEA GCSE Irish.

BBC NI has conducted initial research into the needs of this audience.

Teachers have informed us that: -

They expect students to enjoy learning about ‘my area’ (mo cheantar), ‘myself’ (mo féin) and ‘free

time’ (saoire), as well as the topics they have covered prior to GCSE at KS3 level.

They expect that vocab learning, reading comprehension and translating into the target language

will be the most difficult areas to teach.

They would like new animations/diagrams on more complex topics, such as ‘healthy living’ (saol

sláinte), ‘the environment’ (timpeallacht) and ‘new technology’ (nua teicneolaíocht), however

they say any video resources will be welcomed as Irish language resources are minimal.

They would also welcome plenty of listening resources (as it is difficult to find suitable listening

material) and topic based vocabulary visual tasks.

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The Subject CCEA has made changes to GCSE Irish content (for first teaching in September 2017).

BBC Bitesize is therefore creating new bespoke CCEA GCSE content. Current content can be accessed here - https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/subjects/zqtw7ty On the Bitesize website, CCEA GCSE Irish will exist as a series of study guides which allow pupils to

revise and test their knowledge.

The Bitesize app will provide a condensed version of the website content.

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Content for Delivery

Bitesize Components

Text

o Working with writers that are skilled and knowledgeable about the CCEA GCSE Irish

specification you will produce text for Revise Chapters. Writers you wish to contract must

be approved by the BBC production team

o These chapters will hit key learning points and deliver learning outcomes in each of the

Study Guides.

o This is a revision tool and therefore must focus on what students need to know in

preparation for an exam or assessment.

o All Study Guides MUST contain a Revise Chapter

For this commission, we estimate that you will produce an average of 3-5 pages of text (approx.

300 words per page) per Revise Chapter. There will be up to 40 Revise Chapters.

Infographics o These sit within the Revise Chapters.

o Infographics are core to Bitesize and are used to explain and creatively lay out the structures,

theories or other complex topics students must understand

For this commission, we estimate that you will produce up to 20 info graphics. iGFX must be

supplied in the following formats;

Original: Adobe Illustrator file with all layers

Desktop: PNG, 624px wide x up to 624px high, 300dpi

Tablet: PNG, 464px wide x up to 464px high, 300dpi

Mobile: PNG, 304px wide x up to 304px high, 300dpi

(All Graphics must adhere to the Bitesize Style Guide, which is available to download from the

commissioning site)

Video/Animation

Original Video

o Age-appropriate originated video or animation, delivering clear learning outcomes

o Video can be presenter-led, narrated or graphically signposted

o BBC Digital and Learning will be responsible for clearing and paying for any music sourced for

production by the contracted company. Please note: any copyrighted material – including

BBC Bitesize Commissioning Brief – CCEA GCSE Irish

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clips, images and/or commercial music must be signposted to the BBC Production Team at

the earliest stage to ensure rights clearance. It is at the BBC’s discretion to agree the use of

any copyrighted material. Clearance confirmation will be given based on value for money

o It may be possible to include archive clips if they are beneficial to learning, subject to

clearance. Archive could come from a range of genres - we can advise what is available from

the BBC

For this commission, we estimate that you will produce approximately twelve animations / videos

(to a total of 30 minutes duration) covering various subject areas within GCSE Irish. The animations /

videos should be up to three minutes long. Animations should appeal to GCSE Irish students in the

14-16 age range.

Animations should be concise, imaginative, informal and accessible. Delivery should be pacey and

natural – but not so quick that it loses learners. Clarity is very important. Content should reflect the

diversity of the Bitesize audience. It is vital that content feels part of the students’ world.

The BBC will provide:-

- Learning objectives

- Learning outcomes – what the students should know after they’ve watched the videos,

taken from CCEA specifications

BBC Digital and Learning will be responsible for clearing and paying for music sourced for production

by the contracted company. Please note: any copyrighted material must be signposted to the BBC

production team at the earliest stage to ensure rights clearance. It is at the BBC’s discretion to agree

the use of any copyrighted material.

The links below show the animations currently available on Bitesize CCEA GSCE sites – they are not

necessarily representative of the style we’re looking for from this commission.

Learning for life and work, Parenthood - https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/z373g82/video

English Lit, To Kill a Mockingbird - https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/z9jcv9q/video

French, Music, cinema and TV - https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zhhvd6f/video

Maths, Fractions - https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/zwpk7p3/video

Religious Studies, The encounters of Jesus with others -

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zhmhcqt/video

*For more detail, see Appendix Item B: Video spec for delivery

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Test Chapters

o All Study Guides must contain a Test Chapter – multiple choice questions quizzing students

on what they’ve learned in Revise & Video chapters

o Audio clips and stills can be used within the test chapters. Test chapters usually include 8 –

10 questions

o For this commission, we estimate that you will produce up to 40 test chapters.

BBC Bitesize App o On the Bitesize App, CCEA GCSE Irish will exist as a series of flashcards. This includes text

summaries, glossary terms, audio and video content, infographics and quizzes

o The App flashcards are based on the study guides content and include a summary card,

multiple choice quiz cards and relevant glossaries. They are a subset of the main content

suitable for exam revision in bullet points and summarise the key points/information in each

study guide, with a maximum word count of 450 characters

*For more detail, see Appendix Item C: Bitesize App Flashcard Content Creation

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Sample Outlines How Study Guide components might work together within a Topic area:

BITESIZE > GCSE Irish > Writing > Local, national, international and global areas of interest > Page on Travel and tourism

LEARNING OUTCOME

Translate sentences from English to Irish to convey messages accurately and apply knowledge of language and grammatical structures in context.

REVISE CHAPTER

Infographic A map of the world with a selection of countries labelled (see Travel and Tourism section which starts on page 82 of CCEA specification pdf for relevant vocabulary). Countries are labelled in English and Irish. This could be done as a three part slideshow, with the first map showing the countries in English, the second part showing countries in Irish and the third map showing countries labelled in both languages. Text Approximately 3-5 pages of text (200-300 words per page) focusing on ‘Travel and tourism’ and how pupils might translate from English to Irish. Bullet points, tables and glossary terms may be included.

VIDEO CHAPTER

A holidaymaker on a cruise ship writes a postcard home. He starts writing in English, and then realises his friend can only speak Irish. He lists all the countries he has been to (see page 82 of CCEA specification pdf for relevant vocabulary).

TEST CHAPTER

A multiple-choice quiz that uses stills and text to pose questions.

App Content

For more info on app content see the appendix item C.

BITESIZE > GCSE Irish > Reading > Identity, lifestyle and culture > Page on Animals

LEARNING OUTCOME

Translate sentences from Irish into English.

REVISE CHAPTER

Infographic A sign in a petting zoo with arrows pointing in the direction of different animals (see Animals section on page 61 of CCEA specification pdf for relevant vocabulary). Each arrow is labelled in Irish with the

name of an animal, eg coinín (rabbit), capall (horse), hamstar (hamster), pearóid (parrot) and

nathair nimhe (venomous snake). It could be done as a two part slideshow, with the first part showing the arrows in Irish and the second part showing the arrows in Irish and English with illustrations of each animal. Text Approximately 3-5 pages of text (200-300 words per page) focusing on ‘Animals’ and how pupils might translate from Irish to English. Bullet points, tables and glossary terms may be included.

VIDEO CHAPTER

A girl is in a pet food shop, she’s looking for some items for a friend who has given her a list in Irish (see page 61 and 62 of CCEA specification pdf for relevant vocabulary). She has to ask various people in the shop to help her translate each word into English.

TEST CHAPTER

A multiple choice quiz that uses information from the previous pages to pose questions.

App Content

For more info on app content see the appendix item C.

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What we’re looking for…

Creative Proposal

Part 1 - Animation / video

Companies are invited to submit a creative proposal for an animation / video.

Please create a storyboard with first draft script (with duration of approximately two and a half

minutes) for the following subject area:-

Listening> School life, studies and work > My studies (please see page 85 of the CCEA specification

pdf for relevant vocabulary).

In order to give us an idea of look and feel, please include a mood board / links to similar styles.

Please tell us what your overall creative approach will be to this content. You must include reference

to any expert consultants you plan to use.

Part 2 – Sample of written text

We would like to see a sample paragraph of text written by your proposed expert on this subject.

Learning outcomes for ‘Listening’

Students should be able to: • demonstrate understanding of different types of spoken language; • follow and understand clear speech that uses familiar language; • identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of spoken passages; • deduce meaning from a variety of spoken texts; and • recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in extended spoken text (including authentic sources, which may be adapted as appropriate) by answering questions, extracting information, evaluating and drawing conclusions.

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Production schedule

Please provide a top-level schedule of major milestones/project management approach.

Note: A project management system will be required (i.e. Trello, Slack, Basecamp or other tool) to

manage the production of the content and to allow the BBC to track the project’s progress and

record feedback.

Indicative budget

Within your indicative budget, you will need to make allowance for the following:

Writers

Two writers are needed, one to write an initial draft and a second to review and rewrite where

necessary. You are free to suggest writers, but they will need to have approval from the BBC

production team before production starts.

Advisers

An education consultant is essential to advise and offer guidance on the content during each stage

of the production. Your education consultant will need to have approval from the BBC production

team before production starts.

User Testing

There should be at least two user-testing sessions during the course of the production. These should

include working with at least two different schools who are teaching CCEA GCSE Irish.

Working with the BBC

There will be a minimum of 4 face-to-face meetings during production (this does not include the

project initiation meeting). In addition, we require a weekly content report/update (via phone or

teleconference).

The 4 face-to-face meetings will be with the production team in Belfast – so your travel expenses

should be considered within your budgeting.

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Project Initiation Meeting – This first meeting will be a chance to meet the production team in

Belfast. We will discuss the editorial scope of the project, confirm the timeline for delivery and hear

content plans and ideas.

Meeting #2 – This meeting will take place at the mid-point of the pre-production process and will

focus on proposed video content (scripts, storyboards, talent, style and tone), iGFX samples (looking

at approach and style) and use of text to deliver learning outcomes.

o Checks on text style and tone

o Production schedule/milestones

o Formal Input from the Education Consultant and user testing

Meeting #3 – This meeting will be scheduled for the mid-point of the production process and will

assess content produced to date and next steps including:

o Production schedule/milestones

o Formal feedback from the Education Consultant and user testing

Meeting #4 – This final meeting will be scheduled around the end of the production process to focus

on how the content fits together within the Bitesize framework. We’ll look at learner journeys and

progression through the content to determine if it is delivering on these key learning outcomes:

o Production schedule/milestones

o Formal feedback from the Education Consultant and user testing

Company and project team profile

We want to hear from companies who are passionate about learning and enthusiastic about creating

content for one of the BBC’s premier online brands.

Audience awareness will also be key. Do you know this audience and their needs? Have you

produced content for them before? Can you produce content that will resonate with them?

Please include details on the skills and experience of the key members of your project team.

We would like to see evidence of your capacity to deliver this content.

Bitesize Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines

BBC Bitesize has produced guidelines for all suppliers, setting out how we will work together

to meet our ambitions for diversity and inclusion. Suppliers should consult these guidelines

when responding to Bitesize commissioning briefs.

BBC Bitesize Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines

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Links to relevant portfolio examples

Please send links to content you have produced which you think are relevant to this commission.

Indicative Budget

£50,000

Please provide a budget breakdown to show how you intend to cost the project. Payment schedule

to be agreed upon award of contract. Typical payment might be:

40% on signature of contract

30% divided upon completion of defined production milestones

30% upon final delivery

Working together

Who is responsible for what? You will be responsible for:

Project management and production of deliverables to agreed deadline and budget

Chairing regular production meetings and communicating project plans and status

We will be responsible for:

Sharing project documentation

Collaboration throughout the production and delivery

Enabling access to any relevant BBC archive

Sign-off at milestones on all content, and on final delivery – within an agreed timeframe

Post-production paperwork to be completed in format supplied by BBC (WebasC)

We will be jointly responsible for:

Ensuring the learning outcomes are met

Ensuring that content is best-fit for the Bitesize audience

Quality assurance of content

The BBC Learning team David Monahan - Executive Editor

Emma McIlveen – Producer

Alison Finch – Assistant Producer

Anthony McKee – Researcher

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Schedule/project management

All Bitesize productions follow an iterative development process and we will feed back as

Final delivery and sign off for the project is 16 September 2019.

This project is highly dependent on specific delivery dates that will be defined in the contract. As

such we would like you to give particular attention to clause 9 in our standard terms which states

the following:

If you fail or are due to fail to deliver a Deliverable (or any part thereof) due at any stage specified in

Schedule 2 for any reason not directly and solely attributable to the BBC, the BBC shall (without

prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to the BBC under this Agreement or at law) be

entitled to terminate this Agreement

Should this situation arise and the BBC is forced to terminate, the BBC would only be liable to you for

anything delivered prior to termination. For this reason we would ask that you give timeframes and

delivery the highest priority.

The pitching process

Shortlisted companies will be invited to Belfast to pitch their proposals.

(An allowance of £250 toward travel costs to Belfast is available if based outside Northern Ireland)

Learning experience is not a prerequisite, but a thorough understanding of the needs of the Bitesize

audience and clear approach to addressing those needs is expected.

Deadline for submissions, pitch deliverables and selection requirements are outlined below:

Commissioning Schedule Commissioning brief published 13 March 2019

Deadline for creative proposal submission 27 March 2019

Deadline for notification of shortlisted proposals 29 March 2019

Pitch meetings (Belfast) 9 April 2019

Commission decision deadline 10 April 2019

Project initiation meeting 15 April 2019

Full delivery of commission 16 September 2019

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Proposal Deliverable List

Company Overview, Portfolio and Project Team

Project Overview

Storyboard with first draft script for following subject area:-

Listening> School life, studies and work > My studies (please see page 85 of the CCEA

specification pdf for relevant vocabulary).

Sample paragraph of text written by your proposed expert

Production Schedule and Project Management approach

Budget Breakdown

Selection

The BBC will use the following standard criteria to evaluate the pitches submitted:

Quality of the idea proposed – suitability for Bitesize audience

Prior experience of company

Ability to meet editorial requirements

Core staff experience

Project management / production plan

Pricing / value for money

Presentation of response

Next Steps

All proposals should be submitted via email to alison.finch.01@bbc.co.uk by 27 March. Please use

‘Submitted Proposal: CCEA GCSE Irish’ as the subject line.

This is an open brief published on the BBC Learning Commissioning website. Please note that this document is for information purposes only and does not form part of a contractual agreement with the BBC. This is a stand-alone new media commission and the BBC will require all rights in the content, worldwide and on all platforms. The commission will be contracted using the BBC’s New Media Rights Framework 2 agreement. Further information on the BBC New Media Frameworks can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/technology-online/how-we-work/new-mediarights-framework.shtml

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APPENDIX

Three items

Item A: Suggested Content Breakdown

Topic Sub-topic Study Guides – each

incorporating a Revise Chapter

(text), a Video Chapter and a

Test Chapter

Listening

(foundation

and higher)

Identity, lifestyle and culture Myself and my family

Describing people

Local, national, international and

global

My house

Household jobs

My village / town and region

Travel and tourism

School life, studies and work My studies

School life

The classroom

Greetings

Reading

(foundation

and higher)

Identity, lifestyle and culture Social media

New technology

Local, national, international and

global

Directions

Getting around

Travelling by car

Travelling by train

School life, studies and work Extra-curricular activities

Part-time jobs

Money management

Future plans and career

Speaking Identity, lifestyle and culture Free time and leisure

Animals

Shopping

Daily routine

Local, national, international and

global

The environment

Endangered species

Social issues

School life, studies and work Days

Months and seasons

Writing

(foundation

and higher)

Identity, lifestyle and culture

Customs

Festivals and celebrations

Local, national, international and

global

Health and lifestyle

Food and drink

The body

School life, studies and work Numbers

Telling the time

* All potential study guide titles taken from CCEA GCSE Irish specification pdf, ‘Irish Core Minimum

Vocabulary List’. There are 36 Revise Chapters listed above – this total may increase to 40 on advice

from CCEA.

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Item B: Video Spec for Delivery

VIDEO

Deliver on a hard drive (exFAT) two formats of each video (one compressed and one uncompressed).

Compressed:

Container format: .mp4 or .mov

Maximum file size, 50GB

Video Codec: H.264 / QuickTime

If your system gives you the option to choose between baseline, main and high profile for H264

export, high is preferred.

Frame size: 1920 x 1080

Frames per second: 25 (progressive scan)

Bit rate/ Quality: Constant/100%

Audio

Codec: AAC

Channels: Stereo

Bit rate: 320 kbps

Sample rate: 48 KHz

Sample depth: 16 bit

For online there is no set level – if it is consistent and you can hear the voice over the music mix and

it is not too low or distorted, it is fine.

Uncompressed:

Deliver an uncompressed version on separate channels.

This can be the source files used within the editing system, with Video, Voice, Music, SFX and

Graphics on separate channels.

Graphics must be rendered on separate channel for translation.

Video Codec is AVC Intra Class 100. Premiere and FCP you can use the DPP AS-11 HD export

setting.

If delivering animation, use the uncompressed Animation Codec.

H264 source footage from DSLRs is acceptable.

Please refer to this link for output https://www.digitalproductionpartnership.co.uk/what-we-

do/technical-standards/programme-delivery-standards/

MUSIC

Commercial music should only be used in the videos if there is an editorial reason to do so and this

needs to be agreed with the BBC prior to inclusion.

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SUBTITLES

To deliver an XML for subtitles for each video (In English and Irish as per the script)

Using a form of XML called TTML EBU-TT-D (Time Text Markup Languages)

Section 26 - http://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/

For file format please refer to this link http://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/ from section 23.

There are other useful guides in this file but a basic style guide and example will be supplied later.

DOCUMENTATION

The following Post Production Documentation must be completed on the following templates and

returned as complete within seven days of the delivery date:

Metadata for each video written by a teacher/educational consultant

2 x post production transcript for each piece of video – one timecoded and one without

timecode

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Item C: Bitesize App Flashcard Content Creation

Outline of work

All content for the app should be based on the main Study Guide content. For each subject the app

will include a deck of flashcards suitable for GCSE students’ exam revision.

Each deck of flash cards will include:

- Summary cards outlining the main points of the Study Guide

- Multiple choice quiz cards, including feedback

- Relevant glossary cards

Summary cards

Each card is a list of bullet points (min 3, max 5) which summarises the key points/information

provided in the Study Guides on BBC Bitesize. The maximum word count per card is 450 characters

(including spaces).

Each deck of cards must contain at least one summary card. You can use more summary cards,

separating topics on different cards. The maximum number of summary cards is five.

Example

Here are two examples of concise information from Biology and English literature summary cards on

the Bitesize app.

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Quizzes

There are five quiz questions per flashcard deck. These questions should all be multiple choice with

3 possible answers that relate to the topic you have written about.

Questions from the Study Guide can be used but there should be two original questions (reuse up to

three from the study guide).

Provide one piece of meaningful feedback (which offers further explanation) for the CORRECT

answer. This should be one sentence, which further explains the answer and should be useful for

students who get the answer wrong.

Glossary cards

There are a minimum of two glossary terms per deck and no more than five.

Example

Glossary term Definition

vitamins Organic substances, which are essential in small amounts to regulate the metabolism and maintain the immune system.