It is thanks to one sharp eyed Aberdeen youngster that her entire class is getting the chance to take part in the Press and Journal Junior Journalist project.
It is thanks to one sharp eyed Aberdeen youngster that her entire class is getting the chance to take part in the Press and Journal Junior Journalist project.
Eight-year-old Edie Whyte, who is in primary four at Ferryhill Primary, and her mum spotted a story about the project, which encourages youngsters to take an interest in what is happening in their area via local paper – while competing winning fabulous prizes for their school at the same time.
Her teacher, Miss Fiona Keating, said: “Edie and her mum told us about the scheme and we thought it would be a great project for the rest of the children to get involved with, and that’s certainly proved to be the case.
“They have enjoyed getting the newspapers to themselves and have been interested in looking at the different front pages. They have also used the papers to do research for themselves using the project booklet.
“This week they have been concentrating on doing news in brief (nibs) and created some based on the story about some who had viewed last week’s solar eclipse having to see an optician afterwards.”
All 32 children in the primary four class are taking part in the project which is being run by the Press and Journal in association with the News Foundation. The scheme aims to enhance learning away from the formal curriculum.
In the course of designing their front pages, pupils will learn about the world of news through individual activity books. At the end of the project, each participating student will receive a certificate of achievement while the winning school will gain recognition across Scotland.
There are also prizes on offer with £3,000 up for grabs for the winning school and £1,000 each for the two runners-up.
Edie Whyte, eight: ” I am looking forward to writing the lead story because it can be a made up story and it will be quite fun. So far I enjoyed the challenges in the booklets.”
Haan Yildirim, eight: “I am going to enjoy putting it all together and seeing what it looks like. I also enjoyed the challenges in the booklet.”
DEADLINE LOOMS
The class of primary five pupils of Muirtown Primary School in Inverness know all about the importance of working to deadlines after racing to finish designing and writing their front pages today.
Teacher Ruth Ross set the deadline of today, and said the children had been hard at work on their stories.
“The booklet has been really great but there’s so much in it, to do it justice and go through it properly using each element as a lesson could take weeks and weeks, so we’ve focused on selected areas such as looking at the front page,” said Mrs Ross, who has taught at the busy city school for more than 20 years.
“I suspect that after the project is finished, we will continue to use the booklet as the children have been really inspired by the project.
On their front pages, the 26 young news hounds, aged nine and 10, have included real-life stories relating to events that’s happened locally such as the flooding at the popular Whin Park children’s play park in Inverness, and the school football team’s recent success when it lifted a trophy. There’s also been a lot of Harry Potter-inspired stories.
“The children are working in pairs and they’ll decide for themselves which front pages they want to put forward to the competition.”
More than 110 schools and 2,300 pupils aged eight to 12 are taking part in the scheme, and have been busily studying their free copies of the Press and Journal and using its mix of news, features, entertainment and sport as a learning tool. They will now demonstrate what they have learned by producing their own front pages.
Jamie Carnihan, nine: “I feel like I’m actually a real journalist doing a real job. I’d absolutely love to do this again.”
Caitlan Kelly, 10: “I have liked writing my own piece instead of something I’ve been told to write. I would definitely like to do this again.”