What is the Journalism Project?
Who is it for?
- The journalism project is targeted at KS3 pupils across all secondary age schools, including PRU and SEND settings. Our ambition is to engage 2000 pupils in total
- Included in the project will be the creation of meaningful resources and teacher CPD that have a legacy beyond the London Borough of Culture
- This is an exciting way for young people to grow skills in journalism and storytelling; an opportunity to learn, share, build community and celebrate culture - offering value for the whole school and the community beyond
Programme Structure
Each Secondary school across the Borough will be offered an assembly, workshops and a term-long extra-curricular programme to inspire, upskill and amplify young voices and storytelling.
This will build to a termly celebration event with professional journalists showcasing stories from students, reporting on events, sharing cultural stories with impact and growing skills in journalism and storytelling.
- The project begins with whole year group assembly with industry professionals, introducing students to the wide range of career opportunities and skills required in the sector.
- This is followed by whole-class workshops exploring journalism, reporting and storytelling. These will be led by professional journalists and broadcasters, adapting the model to each setting as required
- Each school will then select up to 30 students to join a 7-8-week extracurricular journalism project run by a trained facilitator in their school, forming a group to build their skills and report their cultural stories and on the activities in London Borough of Culture. A proportion of places will be ring fenced for disadvantaged, pupil premium or less engaged students.
- Part of this extra-curricular programme may involve a visit to a professional London news studio – partners currently being approached include: Sky News, BBC London, Apple and ITV London.
- At the end of each term participating groups will get together for a celebration event with a range of industry professionals.
- Reports created will also be shared on Welcome to Wandsworth and social channels to amplify and celebrate the perspective of young people across the Borough.
Deliverables & Legacy
- Media toolkit supplied to each school
- Mentoring legacy and relationship-building between schools and partner organisations
- Collaborations and connections with key Broadcasters and Digital Media Companies
- Teacher CPD
- Skills development for creative career paths
- Developing storytelling capability and digital skillset
- Build partnerships, contacts, community links and career options for young people
- Enhance digital literacy, with impact beyond the school for parents and the wider community
Timeline
February - March 2025 | Promote offer to schools Schools sign up to the journalism project |
April 2025 | Launch the project |
Summer term 2025 | First term of activity in participating schools Celebration event |
Autumn term 2025 | Second term of activity in participating schools Celebration event |
Spring term 2026 | Third term of activity in participating schools Celebration event |