Torquay United striker Jamie Ward with William, Luke, Laurent and Matt from Coombeshead College.

Students from Coombeshead College in Devon, Chantry High School in Ipswich and St Robert of Newminster Catholic School in Tyne and Wear interviewed Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Torquay United stars and former Ipswich players as part of the BBC project to encourage 12 and 13-year olds to make the news in their schools.

On 14 December 2006, Year 8 students at Chantry High School secured an email interview with the first person to sail single-handed round the world non-stop while students at St Robert of Newminster Catholic School spoke to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston via satellite-phone.

In her report, Imogen, 13, from Chantry High School, writes: "Sir Robin Knox-Johnston told us he will be spending Christmas at sea because he is doing the Five Oceans boat race so he has the presents from his grandchildren on board."

Sir Robin told Jack, Catherine, Sophie and Jaye, from St Robert of Newminster Catholic School: "I went swimming the other day in sub-zero temperatures. I was tied to the boat, but a long way from it. I was quite worried about climbing back as I started to lose the feeling in my hands as they were so cold."

William, Luke, Laurent and Matt, from Coombeshead College, at the press conference.

Pupils at Coombeshead College battled to get their questions answered at Torquay United's training ground during a press conference involving professional journalists.

In their report, Laurent, Matt, Luke, and William, write: "Meeting Torquay United was a dream come true."

Ros Smith, a producer on the School Report project, said: "I am really impressed with their script writing skills and they thought up some great questions for the guests. I think they will do an excellent job on the national News Day in March."

Students from Chantry High School get to grips with the equipment.

BBC journalist Naomi Kennedy, who worked with the Ipswich students, added: "Chantry High School was fortunate to have an inexpensive film editing programme on a PC which was user-friendly.

"This meant we could shoot out of sequence and not be tied to our guests' timetables.

The day's activities prompted her to provide two tips for teachers:

• Try to get as many terminals with internet access available in your 'newsroom'. She commented: "This allows the children to stay in one room and remain focussed."
• Break the day into sessions with strict deadlines for each session. She said: "This helped the children keep to the 1400GMT completion time. It was still hectic and nerve-racking in the last half hour but at least we had crossed off much of what we had to do."

Footballing dream come true Laurent, Matt, Luke, and William School Reporters, Coombeshead College, Devon

Torquay United striker Jamie Ward with William, Luke, Laurent and Matt from Coombeshead College.

Meeting Torquay United was a dream come true for four students from Coombeshead College, Newton Abbot.

The amazing experience was organised by Richard Green, sports editor for BBC Radio Devon.

We went to Newton Abbot racecourse, the training ground for Torquay United, and we saw the manager Lubos Kubik and top goal scorer Jamie Ward being interviewed by Richard Green and television and newspaper reporters.

The day before the press conference we prepared our questions. When it came to actually asking them, we felt nervous but very excited.

First of all we saw Richard interviewing the manager. He was very good, you knew he was a professional as soon as he started.

We were so nervous we didn't ask the manager any questions but we got our courage up when it came to striker Jamie Ward.

WHAT DID WE THINK ABOUT THE PRESS CONFERENCE? William said: "It was really good and exciting, and I want to do it again!" Matt said: "The best bit of the whole thing was interviewing Jamie Ward. He looked like a very good player." Luke added: "It was a great experience meeting Lubos Kubik and Jamie Ward. I'm a football fan and it was great meeting real professionals." Laurent said: "I've never done anything like it before and it was great seeing a real press conference."

He told Luke he had been playing for Torquay United since July, and he told us that he was spotted by a talent scout when he was eight and playing Sunday League football. He was then signed up for Aston Villa.

Laurent asked him what he thought of the new Torquay United manager.

He said: "He's great and wants us to play good football."

Roving reporters scoop sailor's story Imogen, 13 School Reporter, Chantry High School, Ipswich

A student from Chantry High School writes his script.

Seven school children became roving news reporters for a sports bulletin at Chantry High School.

The aim of the day was to practice using equipment and being news reporters, getting used to being in front of a camera and talking to people about a certain subject.

They also had to interview two ex-footballers Simon Milton and Bryan Hamilton and they sent questions to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston via Email because he is out at sea.

The editor of the day was Josh and the three reporters were Katy, Liam and Matthew.

The presenter was Naomi and the camera person was Imogen, who said: "We all had to work as a team to a deadline to finish this news project, working on different things at different times so it could all get done.

"We had a strict time limit to do the interviews, but we succeeded. We sometimes changed roles to have a chance at experiencing the different roles of filming and reporting."

STUDENTS' FEEDBACK Josh, 13, said: "Today was awesome, a great experience. Learning to use all the equipment was great." Matthew, 13, said: "I think it went really well. I was very nervous at the beginning, but as soon as it started it felt great!" Liam, 12, said: "I thought it was fun but I was nervous in case I messed up. As I got going it was fun." Katie, 12, said: "I learnt how to transform a piece of writing into the second person." Naomi, 12, said: " I thought today was really fun. The best thing was that we got to script it ourselves."

We interviewed Simon Milton, an ex-Ipswich player who kindly let us borrow a moment of his time to ask him some questions, saying he thinks the team could go higher in the Championship.

For our project we also interviewed Bryan Hamilton, another ex-Ipswich player and Northern Ireland international, who now advises Antigua and Barbuda.

He told us he is still a "tractor boy" at heart and can be seen on the terraces whenever he is home!

In an exclusive email interview, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston told us he will be spending Christmas at sea because he is doing the Five Oceans boat race so he has the presents from his grandchildren on board.

This month, other schools around the UK also ran News Days in preparation for the national School Report News Day on 22 March 2007, when 60 schools will simultaneously make and publish news on their school websites.

Sporting and reporting skills were boosted at Hurlingham and Chelsea School in London when students trained with, and interviewed, athletics champion Roger Black.

Young reporters from St John Wall Catholic School in Birmingham quizzed 13-times World Darts Champion Phil Taylor, who was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

A class of 12 and 13-year-olds from Lilian Baylis Technology School in Lambeth, London transformed their mobile phones and iPods into news-gathering devices.

Marden High School from Tyne And Wear filmed their own sport reports. They are being hosted on their local City Learning Centre's website.

Five schools from Ealing, London - Northolt High School, Acton High School, Brentside High School, Villiers High School and Greenford High School - made the news on 14 December and are set to publish it on Ealing City Learning Centre's website.