Staying on topic

Hello again,

The Autumn Term is zinging along – hello October! What was once a blank canvas is getting filled in. So it can be with your students’ media project. But first… coffee… then… where to begin?

We’ve seen a recent trend in entries which focus on documenting the everyday life of a school. Topics such as exam stress or peer pressure have begun to become more pertinent now the drama of the pandemic has faded leaving day to day experiences front and centre.

Authenticity always works: so why not harness a fresh take on real lives and the passions of students across the classroom? We’d like to encourage this by revealing our ‘designated topic’ of 2024. This is a challenge we set schools to come up with the most creative response to a brief around one subject.

Newspapers are roughly 30% sports coverage. A huge number of people turn to the back of a paper when they pick it up. We know students are passionate about what happens outside the classroom, not just inside. So this year’s topic veers away from buzzwords and zeitgeist. We want to talk sport.

The prize will go to any entry in any idiom, be it a feature, a poem, a piece of artwork or a photograph, that best explores and interprets this fascinating and wide-ranging subject. Here are some ideas you might like to consider – but don’t let us limit your imagination…

• A journalism project covering the progress of a school sports team through the year.
• Profiles of sporting heroes like the Lionesses
• Viewpoints about sporting controversy
• A conversational podcast on a niche passion
• An incredible photo of someone scoring that winning goal

There’s so much potential and the events are unfolding in real time, right now, this term. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

As ever, if you have any questions about Shine or would like to get in an early project registration, email us at shine@stationers.org

Til next time,

Richard
Shine Chair