SCHOOL REPORT

by John Rigby
Producer, Newsnight

BBC School Report project BBC Bradford and West Yorks

It's not often that Newsnight lets children do our reporting for us. But that's what's happening in Bradford United, a year-long project we're running with our colleagues at BBC Look North.

We have been to West Yorkshire to "twin" two secondary state schools in Bradford - Hanson School and the Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College.

Only three miles apart, they have very different ethnic make-ups: Laisterdyke is over 90% Asian; Hanson is over 80% White - communities growing up together and separately.

Newsnight has been into these two schools and talked to pupils to find out what the big issues are in their world. In partnership with the teachers we've chosen a group of students from each to represent their views on screen.

Driven by children

Most importantly, the ideas, scripting, and music were all driven by the children, with BBC producers, cameramen and editors simply assisting them in turning their hard work into interesting television.

Presenter diaries

The remit was very simple: tell us about your school; tell us what it's like growing up in Bradford; and tell us what you know - or think you know - about the school down the road.

In their first reports which you can see here Sabrina and her friends in Year 10 at Laisterdyke wanted to talk about drugs in the local area and how angry it made them feel.

They've taken part in community projects to tackle the problem, but wanted to know what people in power were doing to help. A local councillor was summoned to school to explain himself.

Stereotyping

Danny and his mates in the corresponding year at Hanson explored the issue of stereotyping. At their school, children are put into social groupings known as "Chavs" and "Alternatives", based on the clothes they wear and the music they listen to.

Filming with the Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College

The film explains how this labelling acts as a useful teenage shorthand - but can also foster resentment as it stops them being seen as individuals.

Warming to this theme, Danny asks the Hanson children to "label" their counterparts at Laisterdyke, before deciding it would be better to find out what they make of each other face-to-face.

You can see the two schools come together when we make our next visit to Bradford in June. In the course of the year we're hoping the children will take an even bigger role in producing their reports, with the BBC acting increasingly in a purely advisory role.

"Bradford United" is Newsnight's contribution to BBC News School Report Day, in which teenage schoolchildren across the UK become news reporters for the day.

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The first Bradford United film can be see on Newsnight, BBC Two at 2230GMT on Thursday 22 March.