BBC’s breaking news alerts have become a part of everyday life. With the advances in mobile technologies, AI and social media, news is a rapidly changing sector, but all true journalism requires the same core principles: honesty, integrity, communication - and a nose for an excellent story.
Enter Mrs Piddington and the Junior School Newspaper Club, a group of astute students who research, create and print (much to the youngsters’ amusement!) an ESMS newspaper each term. It’s just one of the nearly 300 clubs and societies running at ESMS, and a place where children learn important life skills, make new friends and have fun.
The group comprises children from Primary 6 and 7, and each term they get their media hats on and consider what content they want to create, and how best to collate it. One of the great strengths of this creative group of Juniors is that everyone has different interests, meaning the topics covered in the termly newspaper are eclectic. They range from deep-dive Q&As with teachers to facts and puzzles, including some created by the children themselves.
Decision-making and communication is key within this club. There are often more stories and ideas than can fit into a single issue, so everyone in the group has to make a solid case for why their piece of journalism should be included. There’s a healthy level of competition about what makes the cut, but ultimately, it’s a team effort.
No source or fact goes unchecked, keeping the integrity of the paper strong. The students will run through pages and pages of Google just to ensure their words are accurate and they are not misrepresenting their topic. With “fake news” and misinformation masquerading as fact populating much of the internet, this is a valuable skill to develop early on. Each term, one student is chosen to act as the paper’s “editor”, and they lead on keeping the group focussed, organised and on track with their articles.
For just £1 which is donated to a different charity each term, you can pick up your own copy of the Club’s publication from the Junior School reception at Queensferry Road. We know that these core skills will come in handy as the children progress through the Senior Schools. We can’t wait to see where these budding journalists end up!
