School Report

BBC News School Report gives 12 and 13-year-olds from UK schools the chance to make their own video, audio or text-based news at school and to broadcast it for real, against a real deadline.

The nine year-eight pupils were selected to choose their own stories to focus on, doing research and planning as part of their media studies lessons.

Students worked to a very strict deadline

Susan Andrews is the Head of Media Studies at Chantry High School and is heavily involved in the editing of the student films.

"Last year we were involved in the pilot of School Report so we had quite a lot of input from the BBC. We had someone come up and they set up quite a few things for us to do.

"We haven't had that this year, so the students have really come up with the ideas themselves.

Robbie, Liam and Brett film an interview

"We live in a media driven world, and you see lots of negative things so it's great to see the students getting involved in something positive which uses the media and can really develop their interest."

The nine students involved in the projects split into groups to tackle different stories, with their lead piece looking at gang crime in and around the Chantry Estate.

The idea came from Robbie, a year eight student whose interview with a local gang member was acted out for the camera.

"The thing that has interested me has really been the whole thing because it gives you a chance to think about the community and get know a bit more about gang life and the affects it has on different people," Robbie said.

Robbie and Liam prepare to interview PC Stock

The students took their camera out onto the streets of Chantry and spoke to a range of people including PC Craig Stock from The Safer Neighbourhood Team. He was keen to take part and support what the students were doing.

"Kids come from a different angle and they ask what is important to them. We try to get into schools as much as possible, but value any opportunity to talk to young people and show them that we aren't all mean policemen."

School Report Day is the culmination of months of planning and preparation as the students finish editing their films in time for the final 4pm deadline which will see their efforts displayed on the BBC website.

Holly is another of the year eight students involved in the project and she is faced with the nerve wracking task of reading the links between the stories.

"I wasn't too scared about it, it was quite fun," she said. "The story that I've been most interested in is the cyber bullying. I think that it's not a major problem here but it is around other towns."

The students have been working towards School Report Day since October, when they first went along to visit the BBC in London and hear about their role within the project.

Teacher Jordana Morrison had a busy day

Since then they have been working on School Report lesson plans and becoming familiar with the editing equipment.

Jordana Morrison is the teacher coordinating the school's input and she is very proud of the way that the students have embraced it.

"The students have been amazing and I've been really impressed with how well they've engaged with the project. They've been out and about talking to people so it really raises the profile of the school in the local community.

"The stressful part is getting everything up and running for the deadline but I've got some faith that we're going to get there and it's all going to be fine."