Last Thursday, Sheffield Hallam welcomed students from 3 local schools to take part in the BBC School Report day, a national project that aims to get more 11-16 year-olds interested about print and broadcast journalism.
Wales High School, Trinity Academy and Ecclesfield School pupils were tasked with creating their own news stories, under the guidance of SHU staff and student ambassadors, with a view to making their efforts live on their school websites at 2pm that day.
Using video and audio recording equipment, pupils created news packages on a wide range of subjects, including Cyber-bullying, Brexit and Space Tourism. Then, with the guidance of two final-year journalism students, they incorporated interviews and written copy to support their stories.
The day ended with a showcase of the finished news packages, with Vice Chancellor Chris Husbands attending to view what the budding journalists had come up with.
This marked the first time universities had been involved in the School Report initiative, with Sheffield Hallam being one of only 3 institutions in the country hosting the event. Organised and co-ordinated by SHU’s Schools and College Engagement Team, the day was a resounding success, and a testament to the continual commitment Hallam has to working with, inspiring and encouraging the next generation of learners.
Speaking on his personal blog, Vice-Chancellor Chris Husbands commented on the event being a, “visible symbol of our engagement”.
You can read his full post, which also touches on our work with the Children’s University here.
BBC Radio Sheffield also stopped by to cover the event, and even interviewed our very own Helen Walker, about what was going and how important events like this are to the University. You can listen back to the piece here, from 02:42.
