Students make the BBC news

Local schoolchildren visit the City Learning Centre for BBC News School Report Day. Jessica Swales (Hathershaw) shows her Press card.

BUDDING journalists from Oldham’s secondary schools made the news yesterday when they took part in a multimedia news day with the BBC.

BBC News School Report gives 11-14 year-old students in the UK the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience.

The Oldham schools which took part were Breeze Hill, Counthill, Grange, Kaskenmoor, New Bridge, Werneth Playing for Success Centre, North Chadderton, Our Lady’s, South Chadderton, St Augustine, Blue Coat, Hathershaw and Radcliffe.

Most of them teamed up with the City learning Centre (CLC), based at South Chadderton School, off Hollinwood Avenue, where the auditorium was transformed into a TV studio. There was also a radio studio.

Sixty-nine pupils were based at the CLC and eight went out in a van as roving reporters. Students’ reports were available on the BBC’s red button service and their reports were featured on national and regional television and radio throughout the day.