A little preparation will help teachers and students concentrate on the task in hand on News Day.
BBC News School Report encourages 11 to 14-year-olds to make the news in their school.
Here you will find an outline of how to run a successful News Day along with detailed checklists of what should happen in advance of the day itself and what needs to happy on the big day.
On News Day, schools are required to:
IN ADVANCE OF THE NEWS DAY
Make a web page
Creating a dedicated page on the school website now will dramatically ease the broadcasting pressure of the News Day.
It could be a holding page, asking the audience to return at a time and date when the news will be published.
Example: Hillhead High School in Glasgow The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Or it could host reports which students have already created, leaving you with only the news-making activity of the day to publish on School Report News Day, as three schools from East London did in the past.
During the autumn and spring terms, groups of students filmed and edited two-minute video reports which were uploaded to the website.
During the News Day, the videos were edited to make them even shorter and then slotted into the news bulletin, in between the headlines of the day.
Example: Hackney schools' news web page
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
The videos in the right-hand column are the pre-recorded videos and the main report on the page is the News Day bulletin containing shorter versions of the videos.
Know the news
A time-saving way to keep abreast of the news is to have it sent to you by:
Put skills to the test
As well as delivering the lesson plans, which teach students the skills involved in news-making, we recommend you put them into practice by:
More on practice News Days
ON THE NEWS DAY ITSELF
On School Report News Day, schools are required to:
A simple way to find out what is happening around the world on the News Day is to browse the front page of the BBC News or CBBC Newsround websites.
If you have already set up a news feed or subscribed to a daily email you can browse the news headlines using these services.
Having selected the stories you would like to cover, read the top four sentences of each report which provide a balanced summary of the whole story.
BBC journalists check at least two sources before publishing a news story. If you use a different source, it is a good idea to check that the same information appears in another source, such as a newspaper or website, before using it in your report.
Writing the news
Using the top sentence of the BBC News website reports should give you two of the "W" facts - what and who.
When summarising the other three sentences, try to include the remaining "W" facts - when, where and why.
Before putting pen to paper:
A simple way to assemble words and pictures is to add a photograph to your report.
The BBC has gained permission for you to use photographs on the BBC News website that have an AP, PA, AFP or Getty credit in the bottom right hand corner.
The easiest way to find these is to:
Start by choosing your opening (lead) and closing (and finally) story, then decide on the order of the middle stories.
Grouping your reports into types such as national, international and sport news will help you determine an order.
Broadcasting the news
There are two broadcasting deadlines: Students complete their reports by 1400 GMT and schools publish them on the school website by 1600 GMT.
Experience shows that students benefit from the pressure of presenting their reports live to a school-based audience at 1400 GMT, marking the completion of their news-making activity.
This could be as simple as a handful of students reading out their news to the rest of the class. Schools creating video or audio news should record this presentation.
If you have already published reports made by students in advance of the News Day, it only remains for you to publish the day's news on the school website before 1600 GMT.
The BBC aims to link to these sites, generating a UK-wide audience for students work, and allowing them to go home with the satisfaction of having made the news for real.
Back to top
PREPARING FOR NEWS DAY
Before a School Report News Day can actually take place, there is plenty of preparation work to be done.
Here is a checklist designed to help teachers in advance of the day.
It is broken down into different time scales, explaining what to do a month, a week and a day before the News Day.
AT LEAST A MONTH IN ADVANCE
A WEEK BEFORE
[Teacher's Tip: Experience in school highlights the importance of nominating one person to be in control of the reports/scripts.
During the re-drafting process it's easy for two students to find themselves working on different versions of the same story, when only one can be broadcast.
A report can go back and forth between the reporter and the editor several times until the editor is happy it's correct.
Having one person in charge of the script helps ensure that only the approved scripts and reports are broadcast.]
THE DAY BEFORE
ON THE DAY: A TEACHER'S CHECKLIST FOR NEWS DAY
On School Report News Day, it's a good idea to take a step back and look at the day in terms of objectives.
You want your students to:
You want your students' work to:
Below is a checklist to help you achieve these outcomes:
ENJOY THE DAY
Remind students that they are BBC School Reporters.
Make them feel the part by distributing the School Report journalist notepads, pens and press cards.
Remind them that they are part of a UK-wide event involving more than a thousand children that will be reported on BBC TV, radio and online.
They can see what other students are doing on School Report LIVE on this website.
STAY SAFE
For child protection reasons, remind students to use their first name ONLY.
This includes writing their name on their press cards and notepads, in the credits at the end of their news bulletins, on their by-lines and when referring to each other e.g. "and now over to Sonia for the weather".
It would be a real shame, for example, if the BBC was unable to link to your school website because John was filmed wearing his press card with his surname clearly visible.
Undertake a risk assessment on your "newsroom." Make sure you consider your students' health and safety. This guide will help you.
Safety in the newsroom
BE ON TASK
Assign students specific roles.
Who does what in a TV studio
If students find themselves without a task, ask them to chose a journalistic activity from this page.
Extension activities for School Report
It includes a competition to win a guitar signed by Rock School star Lil' Chris.
MEET DEADLINES
Use the School Report clock and "timetable of the day" poster to keep students on track.
Hold regular briefing meetings to remind students of their tasks during the next section of the day.
REFLECT ON ACHIEVEMENT
Ask students to complete our evaluation form, telling us what they thought of BBC News School Report.
This will help us improve the project when we run it again next year.
Student feedback
Teachers can also send us their feedback, using this link.
Teachers' evaluation questionnaire
BE THE BEST IT CAN BE
Remind students of the five Ws and the three Cs.
They should gather the facts - what, who, where, when and why.
They should ensure their news is correct, clear and concise.
Remind them to double check the facts.
Encourage them to read their work out loud to check for mistakes.
Ask them to read and correct each other's work
Remind them to ask an adult to "sign off" off their report before it is published.
BE SAFE AND LEGAL
Encourage School Reporters to take this quiz, which teaches them how to stay on the right side of the law.
Quiz: Reporting safely and legally
Before publishing, check your students' work for:
Here is a more comprehensive guide:
Keeping your news safe and legal
BE ON THE SCHOOL WEBSITE BY 1600 GMT
Talk to the member of staff who is uploading the students work on News Day.
Organise a system that allows them to access the students' final reports and bulletins - the ones "signed off" by an adult.
Guidance on making a School Report news web page
Guide to putting your news on the internet
BE SEEN BY AN AUDIENCE
If possible, make arrangements to record your news "as live" at 1400 GMT in front of a "studio audience".
This could be a class, an assembly or a group of staff.
A live audience will add to the excitement of the day.
BE ON THE BBC WEBSITE
The BBC aim to link to all participating schools from this page, giving your students a UK-wide audience for their work:
Clickable map of schools' news
Nominate a member of staff who will be able to edit the content on the school website if there is a problem linking to it from the BBC School Report website.
For example, if there is a child's surname on the School Report pages of your website, we will need to ask someone to remove it straight away.
Please make sure the BBC have the contact details of this member of staff, ideally a mobile number, in advance of News Day, using the Contact us link.
BE REWARDED
Encourage students to view their own work on this website.
Organise an awards ceremony during which students are presented with School Report certificates.
Don't forget to nominate your school for a BBC News School Report award.
If you are successful, five children and a teacher can attend the awards ceremony at Television Centre in London.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~01~RS~)