Tile Hill Wood School
and Language College 


  
 

Our objective for today was to develop a finished radio broadcast incorporating international and national up and coming news reports as well as those that really impact on pupils here at Tile Hill Wood School. We focused on topics that interested us. We also used information and research that we have been preparing for several weeks. The topics included: the credit crunch, women in the media, red nose recycling, success in single-sex schools and Spiderman to the rescue. There were lots of jobs to do and lots of stories so ‘everyone got to take part’. 

   

 We started off the day by looking through newspapers identifying interesting topics that we could develop into stories. We highlighted the stories we thought were appropriate and then had a group discussion to tie all our ideas together and plan the day ahead. We adapted these stories to make sure that they were relevant to our target audience, other pupils. We also needed to ensure that we had a balance of news items. ‘This was a great start to the day because we felt like we were really in control and shape ourselves.

 
 bbcone
    We decided who should be assigned which stories and went off to research, expand and compose our scripts in small groups. We found out statistics and facts from the web and used them within our stories. We had to make sure that we used a variety of ways to present the stories, combining interviews, discussion, vox pops, and single straight-to-mic pieces. ‘It was a different way of writing, it had to be concise but also easy to say’. ‘We had to make sure our facts were correct and use facts and opinions.’
 Once we had rehearsed our lines, we went into the radio room, and after a practice run, we then recorded our stories. We then spent the rest of our time making sure the whole thing was perfect and ready to go on the web. ‘It was difficult at first to sound natural and try not to stop and stutter. But we got used to it after a while and even got some pieces recorded on one take at the end of the day!’  image
 4  The day was quite long but it was exciting and there was always something to do, ‘it’s been a really good experience’. This project was fun and worthwhile doing, as it helped us develop lots of skills relating to media and broadcasting.
  
 
BBC NEWS SCHOOL REPORT