Why you should start a school magazine

Hello everyone,

In the last weeks, we’ve been making the case for starting a school magazine, newspaper or podcast with a view to entering the Shine School Media Awards, a free competition for UK secondary schools.

Right now is the best moment of the academic year to get started.

We’re ahead of exams and the shorter spring term. Classes and schoolfriends are beginning to gel. Media projects create a completely new dialogue with the school community, offering nascent viewpoints and an opportunity for creativity and leadership. It’s also a chance to accomplish something beyond homework, building a story of togetherness and expression that could define their teenage years.

So, why is starting a school magazine a great idea?

• Build creative writing skills:
  … as part of a highly specific discipline students might not get anywhere else, such as storytelling, writing for niche audiences, reporting on the news and defining opinion or editorial pieces across a wide range of categories.
• Part of the curriculum:
  within GCSE Media Studies: both Section A – Media Language and Media Representations; and Section B – Media Industries and Media Audiences (and others, check here for full information).
• A once in a lifetime experience:
  … some of the most successful people in the media began this way, like former magazine publisher Sir Nicholas Coleridge, who told us: “I began my career as a journalist and publisher on a school magazine – and I think they are just about the most important thing a school can have.”
• It can be cost neutral:
  … we understand the financial pressures schools are under. However, we believe a digital school magazine can be created on free software like Canva, or podcasts or school radio programmes edited on Audacity. With those tools and some determination, students can achieve anything.
• The (free!) Shine School Media Awards!
  … a unique and defining experience held every summer at Stationers’ Hall in the City of London, where successful students can win prizes which in turn boosts their CVs and university application forms.

The competition is open for entries today: register your school and we can get you signed up. Our entry form for the competition launches in early January – with a minimum of one category to get you started.

And… did I mention it’s free?

Even if your school media project is a sketch of an idea today, register with us today and we can provide guidance and encouragement from now til our entry deadline next May. If you have any questions, message us direct – shine@stationers.org

• Register for next year’s awards here

Best wishes,

Richard Chapman
Chair, Shine School Media Awards