School Report

Twenty-two pupils in Year 8 at Chantry High School in Ipswich were taking part in a practice day for BBC School News Report. The most successful pupils will go on to take part in the main event on 26 March.

The class were divided into three groups, and each had to come up with two stories. They had a selection of newspapers, both local and national, to flick through for inspiration, and all three groups felt there was one story they just couldn't miss.

Paul said: "We're looking at Barack Obama and the fact that he's the first black president and that everyone's going crazy about it."

But there were other stories that the youngsters decided to cover. Lauren said: "We're looking at the credit crunch and how it will affect people."

Michelle continued: "Prices are dropping in the shops, and then the shops lose out because they're not getting the right income, you see it all around."

Two of the groups decided to cover a story about their school and the competition their teachers are taking part in along the lines of Strictly Come Dancing, to raise money for Comic Relief.

Pupils at Chantry High School

"We're doing research on the computer and different newspapers," said Michelle. "We want to interview some sixth formers because they might have part time jobs, or they might have lost part time jobs."

They had to make sure the information they were getting, particularly from the internet, was from reliable sources, and that they attributed the people they spoke to.

Pairs from each group got to interview people from around the school, so they could use their quotes in their reports.

Less than four hours after they started, the deadline was approaching. By 2.30pm, all six stories had been written, checked and saved, ready to go onto the school's website.