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Conisborough College Students Get Behind The Wheel!

Year 8 students stayed close to home in search of a story for the 2012 BBC School News Report. The team met and interviewed drivers from Catford Bus Garage to experience a day in the life of a bus driver!

IMG_0482Conisborough College BBC School News Report

On Tuesday 13 March 2012 our news-team: Annita, Joshua, Samuel, Dilexson, Abdoulaye, Ariel and Susanna, unpacked an assortment of posters, press passes and production equipment to create a newsroom within school.

From there, the team split into two groups with the first researching the stereotypes associated with Public Transport staff and the opinions of service users. The second group worked on staging interviews and practising the techniques required to make a professional looking news programme.

Conisborough College Students Get Behind The Wheel!

Year 8 students stayed close to home in search of a story for the 2012 BBC School News Report. The team met and interviewed drivers from Catford Bus Garage to experience a day in the life of a bus driver!

On Tuesday 13 March 2012 our news-team: Annita, Joshua, Samuel, Dilexson, Abdoulaye, Ariel and Susanna, unpacked an assortment of posters, press passes and production equipment to create a newsroom within school.

DSC00108From there, the team split into two groups with the first researching the stereotypes associated with Public Transport staff and the opinions of service users. The second group worked on staging interviews and practising the techniques required to make a professional looking news programme.

After working throughout morning without a break, the students downed a quick snack and headed off to Catford Bus Garage where they were met by manager, Mr Nick Fields. A tour of the garage ensued and the team was familiarised with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work of transport staff such as bus-washing and repairs.

IMG_0482No time was wasted by our camera crew who spotted several suitable locations for recording.

Meeting bus drivers was next on the agenda and our interview team quickly set them at ease with rapport-building questions and conversation; The drivers that were once thought of as “impatient and rude” turned out to be normal, friendly people that rated polite words, “please and thank you” as the key to building bridges between themselves and passengers.

With the excitement of the day still very much in the air, the team returned to school, where they recorded ancillary footage and began editing the interviews to create the programme. The following morning was spent getting the report polished up with titles and credits and then it was over to our website manager for uploading and linking to the BBC website.

IMG_0483All in all, this project was a great mix of hard work and fun. Students learned the importance of teamwork, managing deadlines and some of the pressures faced by professionals in the world outside of school.

After viewing the report, Mrs N. Dietrich who managed the project last year, commented on its quality and Bus Garage staff stated they were very impressed by the professionalism of the news-team.

A big ‘Thank You’ to everyone involved!

Mr D. Rowe/Mrs S. Strong

BBC School News Report 2012

click here to take a look at what the students produced last time (2011).