Welcome to the Shine School Media Awards!
The Shine School Media Awards is a free national competition that rewards a diversity of talent from secondary schools across the UK who work on the writing, editing, design and fund-raising for a school newspaper, magazine or multimedia project such as a podcast or digital publication.
The annual culmination of each year’s Shine Awards is a gala ceremony held in central London every summer with student workshops and incredible guest speakers.
The significant benefits of starting a Shine project include an enrichment of the school curriculum, an incentive to creativity and the chance for pupils to win national recognition and in the process enrich their CV and applications for university or college.
The Shine Awards is an endeavour of The Stationers’ Foundation, the charitable arm of The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, one of the UK’s ancient livery companies.
Latest news
14th October 2026
So, your students want to start a magazine?
Last week, Shine winner Annabel told us what student editors need from their teachers. This time we turn the tables and ask a teacher how they guide their student editorial team.
In this week’s blog post, Antonia Breslin, Teacher of English at Yarm School in North Yorkshire, shares five steps to help students turn an idea into a finished magazine, with the students firmly in the driving seat.
Antonia has helped her students at Yarm School run their magazine for years and has had considerable success, winning a clutch of Shine Awards over the years. These days, former editors and Shine Award winners encourage and mentor the younger writers.
Her advice for teachers starting out comes back to one principle:
“Don’t do it for them, just help them to do it well.”
Our entrants speak...
“Creating a student publication is a wonderful way to involve pupils across a school and enable them to express themselves and be part of a community. It is then even more rewarding to be involved with the Shine Awards which celebrates their success and offers inspirational advice from industry professionals.”
Craig Cole, Head of Graphics, Photography & Printing Reed’s School, Surrey
More feedback from schools