Skills sharing in schools

My name is Nicolas and I am the Head of Media Studies at Bolton St Catherine's Academy. On Tuesday 5th March 2013, BBC Outreach visited our Academy to work with a variety of students from Year 9 to Year 13 who study Drama and Media. The day was organised in such a way as to cover a range of topics from practical TV/Radio/Radio-Drama skills to a careers talk for students interested in a career in the Media industry.

The purpose of the day was for students to experience what it really is like to work in the media. I felt the day was very well organised on the BBC front and the BBC staff present on the day were very good with our students.

As a Head of a theoretical/practical subject, I feel it is important for students to develop their confidence and learn key media skills they can use in a professional environment. The BBC Careers Bus visit has definitely achieved this aim.

Here are some quotes from students who took part in the event:

"It gave detailed information on careers at the BBC and would help students wanting a career in the media industry." (Shannan, Year 11)

"I enjoyed it on the bus and I learnt a lot. I understood how difficult it is to produce a TV report. I enjoyed finding out information and using the camera equipment." (Connor, Year 10)

"It was a great experience with the Radio-Drama kit. We learnt a lot about the BBC during the careers talk. It helped us understand how to get started in the industry and how the BBC staff started out." (Kieran, Year 10)

"It was a great experience. The technology we used on the Bus was quite awe-inspiring. Producing a TV show is a lot harder than I thought." (Tim, Year 10)

"Being on the Bus helped me to understand what goes on behind the cameras." (Laurie, Year 10)

"I worked in the Radio-Drama workshop and this was a really fun experience. It helped me learn about the BBC and the media . The Careers talk was very helpful if you would like a career in the media . I am very pleased I took the chance to be part of this." (Jack, Year 10)

"It was amazing and I am so glad I took the opportunity to speak to the visitors. " (Luke, Year

"I enjoyed learning about how radio works." (Chris, Year 10)

"The BBC coming to our school was a really good experience and I enjoyed it a lot. This made me think about new things in relation to the media. I also made me realise that a TV programme is not just a simple TV programme as it takes a lot of effort and hard work." (Reece G, Year 10)

As you can see from the comments above, the day was a real success. We hope the BBC Outreach will be able to work with us in coming years to support our next cohort of Media students in developing their practical media skills.

The skills developed last Tuesday will definitely be used by our students during their involvement with the BBC News School Report on Thursday 21st March.

Thank you to the BBC Outreach team for giving our students the opportunity to enhance and develop their media skills as well as have a great day at the same time.

* The BBC Outreach Careers Bus Tour is part of the work we do to work with young people in and around our new offices in Salford. We hope to increase their understanding of the BBC as a large local employer, and also to give them information about media careers so that we can encourage some of them to aspire to media careers and build a local work force for the future.