 A student making radio news at King Ecgbert School in Sheffield |
Students, who turned radio journalists for the day, kept to a strict timetable to deliver the news. Year 8 students at King Ecgbert School in Sheffield made a radio news programme from scratch as part of the BBC News School Report project. A clear schedule marked the day's progression, although technical glitches slowed the pace. Determined to record their news, students stayed behind after school - demonstrating the commitment required by real journalists. IT teacher Roger Pickering outlines the timetable of the day's activities:
9am - Divide into four teams  Students using a the school's computer facilities to make radio news |
"At 9am we brought the students, from a mixed ability tutor group, into the computer suite for the day as part of their IT work. We spilt the 26 students into four groups. One group was the production team responsible for operating all the technical equipment. For the first hour and a half, they were trained to use the equipment. The other three groups reported on: Local National School news We were really keen to record the local and national news on the day to make it as up to date as possible, but in hindsight, it might have been a good idea to record the school news piece beforehand to save time. All four groups were given a broadcast deadline of 3pm, by which time the radio news bulletin had to have been uploaded to the school website. Finding and gathering the news The three reporting groups researched news stories of interest. They used the internet and a wide selection of the day's newspapers. They soon realised that because papers have print deadlines, many of the stories were a day old. This researching activity took quite some time because students were keen to make sure the stories they selected were right up to date or focused on the latest angle. After an hour of research, each group selected around six stories for possible inclusion. Shortly before lunch, the whole class reviewed the proposed stories and selected the ones for inclusion in the radio broadcast. 12.30 - Writing the news Following a half-hour lunch break, the three news groups wrote their scripts. Throughout this exercise, small groups of students left the IT room to record the opinions of other students in the school on a variety of news topics. Assembling and ordering the news Once they had gathered all their material, they joined members of the production team to record their scripts, download the vox pops and edit them together into a radio piece. The production team then assembled these pieces into a five minute radio bulletin in the order determined by the whole group. One thing to bear in mind is that once the reporting groups have passed their material over to the production group, they have nothing to do. In real life, journalists would be working on another story, but it is worthwhile having some fill-in activities to occupy these students. We used the BBC Press Pack website which contains a series on educational games designed to teach students the skills of journalism. 3pm - Broadcast deadline  Students work together to work out a way to broadcast the news |
Unfortunately, due to technical problems, we missed the 3pm deadline. The pupils were not too disappointed however as most of them had completed their part of the task successfully. They were very willing to muck in and many stayed behind until after 4pm to re-record the faulty audio tracks. If we'd worked out how to use the equipment beforehand, in particular which mode to save in, we could have avoided the technical difficulties. I would definitely advocate the staff and pupils having a go at using the technology before the news day. Sixth form help A handful of our six formers, who had been working on another media project, helped out. They took a backseat role so they didn't influence the content of the Year 8 bulletin but they were on hand to demonstrate how to operate a piece of equipment or decipher a bit of media jargon they didn't understand. Evaluation We volunteered to make a radio news bulletin having done no preparation whatsoever. Given this lack of groundwork, I think the day was a remarkable achievement. Of the 26 students, 10 really went for it and they pulled the majority of the class with them. There were only a handful who did not engage. Giving the students a real deadline was a very motivating activity with real meaning. It also introduces them to the idea of the coursework deadlines they will encounter in Years 10 and 11. As teachers, we can be a bit lenient, setting artificially early deadlines. This means that a late piece of work can still be accepted but with a news bulletin you don't have this flexibility. Before the day, I had thought some students wouldn't be able to cope with the pressure of a strict deadline but on the day, they rose to the challenge."
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I would definitely advocate the staff and pupils having a go at using the technology before the news day
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