Young news hounds make the news

Reporter: Catherine Smyth
Date online: 12 July 2010

JUNIOR journalists wrote and designed their own school newspaper in just a week.
Last year the first edition of Fearns Chat was produced and this year the Year 10 literacy leaders worked with journalist Catherine Smyth to produce the second issue which is now being sold in school. 

English teacher Rebecca Roach said: “Our leaders are outstanding. They had no teacher input: it was up to them to work responsibly together and manage their time.
“The final result looks incredibly professional and everyone involved should be very proud of what they have achieved. 

“The paper is now being sold by our prefects as a team challenge and a donation will be made to charity. The team that sells the most will determine where the money goes.” Reporter Leah Davis said: “I enjoyed the week and it boosted my confidence because I had to go and talk to different people. It also helped me with my writing, my punctuation and I now try to spell things correctly and not rely on the spell check.”
Nicole Taylor-Lyons said: “It was good finding out all the information, there was good team work and I found out a lot more about school. “It helped my literacy skills as well.” 

As well as writing stories, interviewing staff and pupils, taking photographs and devising a puzzle, several members of the team also got the chance to design a news page using professional software. The result was a 12-page A4 paper produced in a week. 

Miss Roach said she hopes the school will be able to repeat the exercise next year.
For information about running a school newspaper at a primary or secondary school please contact Catherine Smyth on 01706 877150 or 07903 997375.