On the 30th April and 1st May 2012, able and talented Year 9 English students visited The Guardian News and Media Education Centre in London.

Students were escorted through the building to the Education Centre to then make the front page to their own newspaper. 

They started off by learning the skills and researching recent stories in the news from news agents around the world.

Once they had chosen their two main stories and three ‘news in brief’ stories the students then started writing their main articles.

They were taught about the 5 w’s of journalism and the news pyramid in which the main information is given at the beginning.

Once their articles were finished, they became their own sub-editors by checking grammar, spelling and even coming up with their own headlines.

Lastly they added photos and made last minute finishing touches (like skylines) before printing out their front page.

The co-ordinator of the task then reviewed their articles, pointing out good aspects of them whilst the students were able to observe the work of their peers.

Grace Hellier, who was on the trip, stated that: “I thought the trip was really fun and I have learnt lots more about how the news works. I was also amazed by the building and was able to sit in their really cool chairs!”Another had said that “the trip was very educational and has definitely persuaded me to consider a career in journalism.”

Overall, the students had a fantastic time and can’t wait to get back to their English lessons to learn more

By Emily Warwick and Grace Hellier, 9O