ARK Kings students make the news, literally

Friday 11th April 2014

On Thursday 27th March students from ARK Kings Academy made their own news when they took part in the national BBC News School Report project.

Working together as one team, 13 students from across Years 7 to 11 took part in a busy day that had them researching, writing, recording and broadcasting a series of news stories. The stories reflected their interests and concerns about their school, community and global issues.

The team from Kings managed to work to a tight deadline to write and record seven original news sources. Each story is presented as both an extended piece of writing as well as a video broadcast. You can view all seven stories over on the Aspire Student Newspaper website.

Many teachers have said that taking part in School Report supports all sorts of learning for instance by helping students develop their ability to work in teams, manage their time, conduct independent enquiries, communicate effectively and think critically, while independent evaluations and studies have also backed the project. The BBC says that more than 1,000 schools participate each year.

“BBC News School Report was a fantastic day for students and staff alike,” said Francis Clarke, Communications Manager for ARK Kings who helped supervise the pupils in their work. “Having set their own agenda, the students worked hard to research their stories, going beyond desk research to set up face-to-face meetings with teachers, council officers and even the Police. This has given them valuable journalistic experience and you can see that it has also boosted their confidence.”