Thirteen-year-old George, from County High School in Leftwich, scooped the best presenter awards at the National Political Journalism Competition 2005/6 for a TV report about the demolition of a local church.

The Citizenship Foundation, which runs the competition, also praised fellow students Stacy and Jess, both 13, for their researching, scripting, directing and editing skills.

Here the students explain what political journalism is all about and share their reporting tips.

Students' thoughts on political journalism When you see all the MPs and the Prime Minister on television you don't think politics affects you, but it affects us everyday. George

"When I first heard about political journalism, I thought it was boring - something to do with the news and Tony Blair. But it's not really to do with that. It's stuff that happens all the time in your life including stuff you don't really notice."
Jess

"I'm quite up for being a journalist in my future career but I thought politics was just something that concerns adults. Now, I've found it does concern us. It concerns everyone."
Stacy

Research tips

"First of all, we searched on the internet to see if there were already any reports about the demolition of the church.

We asked our head teacher, who had been opening up the school to the groups who used to use the church hall, whether we could talk to some of them.

We e-mailed the church and they e-mailed us back with some information about it."
Stacy

Gathering the news It gives people more information if you report both sides of the story. Jess

"We interviewed, our deputy head teacher, one of the brownie leaders and the church vicar.

We e-mailed the company involved in the demolition of the church and got their reasons for going forward with their plans."
Jess

"We asked what happened, when and why. We tried to find a reason for everything."
George

"When we were filming, we tried out different shots. One effective shot involved focusing on a specific object, zooming out, then zooming in on the scene of the report."
Stacy

Writing and editing tips Having a plan of where to film and which shots to take saves editing time. George

"My advice is to keep writing and do loads and loads of drafts."
Jess

"We put together the scripts based on the facts.

We had to review lots of film because we did so many takes. It was quite a long filtering process to find the best shots. It would have been better to do a plan.

As it was our first time, we didn't know exactly what to do.

If we enter the competition again, we'll put our learning into practice.
George

Presenting tips

"Even though I was nervous in front of the camera, it helped me to imagine it wasn't there.

My advice is to be relaxed and confident.

It helps if you're reporting on a local story because you understand the concerns of the people you have interviewed and what they are talking about."
George

Highs and lows After the all the work we put in, the most enjoyable part was the outcome. Stacy

"It was great to see the final product, to see what we had produced.

"Finding the time to do it and juggling it with my social life was quite hard. I think sticking with it was the hardest part."
Jess

"It feels good to be proud of our report and to know that other people think it's good too.

"I found it difficult to get the time to make everything run smoothly. I would advise people doing something like this to keep a plan in mind, then it should work out alright."
Stacy

Teacher's feedback The benefits include working together, thinking about the audience and trying new technology. Jon Bowen, English teacher

"We offered all Year 8 students an opportunity to get involved and to find out more about political journalism.

Students were told to present a two-minute-talk which was judged by myself and another teacher.

The two top teams were given the chance to enter the National Political Journalism Competition.

It's great that George, Jess and Stacy's team have been commended.

They worked really hard and were disciplined.