YOUNG REPORTER SCHEME 2020

In early October, myself and 4 other Year 10 students were chosen by our English teachers to take part in an annual competition organised by a local Surrey newspaper group. The competition is called Young Reporter and involves writing several newspaper-style articles.

The scheme takes place over 8 months, with one article to write per month. As there is no brief, we can write about almost any topic that we choose. Some of the subjects we’ve chosen so far include; the problem with straight pride marches, creating digital art, the effect that climate change has on tropical reefs and the history of the videogame ‘Among Us’. Throughout the scheme there are also extra experiences that we can volunteer for and write about, such as cookery workshops and interviewing workers at a food bank.

Once the articles are written and completed, we upload them onto a real online news website. Here both us and other young people involved in the scheme can read our articles, as well as members of the general public. This gives us a chance to receive feedback from other students and we can look at different articles for inspiration.

If we complete all 8 articles by their assigned deadlines, we are entered into the final competition. The articles are then judged by a board of professional journalists and several of the best writers are awarded with prizes. There are categories for different age groups of regional areas, and the prizes we can win include theatre tickets and other experiences.

Overall, the scheme is a great opportunity to learn new skills and express creative ideas in a fun and engaging way, and I’m delighted to be part of such a beneficial experience this year.  Reported by Megan Neall (Year 10)