Citizenship

Putting our Public Purposes into action:
Sustaining citizenship and civil society

What does this mean?

We have a responsibility to help our audiences understand political systems and raise awareness on important issues affecting our society. Through our globally respected news service and outreach activities we aim to engage our audiences in governance and civil society.

How do we do it?

BBC News School Report is an initiative that aims to get 11-14 year olds interested in news and encourages them to think about their own role in society.

The project works by giving students the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience. Using lesson plans and materials from the school report website, with support from BBC staff, teachers help pupils become School Reporters.

The project culminates with annual News Day, when schools simultaneously publish video, audio and text-based news reports. In March 2009, over 10,000 students in 524 schools took park in News Day.

14 year old Ashley, from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe School in Swansea, took part with his school this year and filled the role of cameraman and editor. Here he reflects on the experience:

“What a day!!! Despite the looming deadline and a few hairy moments, everything was completed in time; all the clips edited, all the stories written, all the pictures taken; all our work published on the web.

Going home that night, I felt a sense of pride in myself and our team that the day had been a success. Do I still want to work in television journalism...Yes!!”

Find out more at bbc.co.uk/schoolreport