2009 student producers announced

Four schools have been named as the winners of the Schools Question Time Challenge 2009.

Eight students - two each from Bristol Grammar, Pate's Grammar, SRC Bede's Sixth Form College and Tiffin Girls' School - will join the Mentorn production team and David Dimbleby to produce BBC One's Question Time on Thursday 9th July.

David Dimbleby said he was very much looking forward to working with the winners of this year's competition.

"If previous years are anything to go by," he said, "they will be stimulating and original colleagues for the special Schools edition.

2009 WINNERS

• Bristol Grammar School, Bristol

• Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham

• SRC Bede's Sixth Form College, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees

• Tiffin Girls' School, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey

"I hope we will learn things from them about the attitudes of a younger generation to politics, and that in return they learn something from us about the political process and public accountability."

BBC Schools Question Time editor Lizz Loxam thought the standard this year was higher than ever.

"The student-produced events we saw around the UK impressed us with their creativity and inventiveness, as well as with their organisation and planning skills.

"I'm looking forward to working with another enthusiastic young team. The students definitely teach us as much as we learn from them. Their energy and ideas are inspiring."

Early in May, the students will meet for the first time for a two-day workshop to learn team-building and production skills. They will also meet the Mentorn and BBC teams who make Question Time, and David Dimbleby, of course. They will also start to plan their own edition of the programme which will be broadcast from the Lowry Centre in Salford in early July.

The four schools were selected from a shortlist of 10 finalists who each staged a Question Time event as part of the judging process.

All UK schools can still benefit from the Schools Question Time Challenge even if they did not enter the competition by downloading free resources from the Institute for Citizenship's Schools Question Time website.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Institute for Citizenship: Schools Question Time
Parliament's Education Service
BBC News School Report
Schools Question Time 2008
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites