Shine news

Invariably students know what they want to write about – and it’s fiercely important to them. Yet, when it comes to a school newspaper or magazine, what may be less clear is how they write about it.

Some advice from a contemporary might be helpful. George Thornicroft, who won a Shine School Media Award for his writing back in 2017, recently told me how writing a truly personal story changed his life. I thought it would be great for students to read what he said, chiefly that expressing yourself with real honesty can be the key to truly captivating writing.

We know that in many cases, school media projects are driven solely by students themselves. However we also know that teacher guidance is key to help students, particularly when beginning a project and pulling together a team. Then, inevitably their learning on the job can run out of steam and some encouragement and top-down, big-picture perspective is needed.

So with this in mind, we would like to offer teachers their own masterclass in guiding students putting together a newspaper, magazine or digital edition.

Last month I told you about our (actual) roving reporter Liz Hunt’s visit to Strood Academy in Rochester. Many teachers might remember Senior Editor Liz from our teacher forums we hold on Shine Award days every year.

The purpose of Liz’s visit was to help students keen to put together a great Shine entry. We like to be as fair as possible, so Liz has kindly written up her talk into ten invaluable ideas and guidelines to follow to create a better publication. We’re publishing them here for the benefit of everyone keen to get involved in Shine 2024…

This week, we have a report from Liz Hunt, our Shine Awards Committee Member at Large. Liz’s day job is Senior Associate Editor at the Daily Mail and she’s supported Shine as a judge for many years now. This past week, Liz went to Rochester to speak to the students at Strood Academy.

Why was she there? Liz explains all…

This year, we’re teaming up with LoveReading4Kids, a programme which has created a way to redress that shortfall; an easy way to share the magic of reading through supporting a school close to your heart – simply by buying the books you’d have bought for Christmas gifts anyway, through their bookstore, a platform with social purpose.

This week I have news which is a bit of a game-changer for next year’s awards. I’ve been talking for a few months to Doug Wills. He’s the Editor Emeritus of the London Evening Standard and Chair of the London Press Club. Keen to help schools and encourage the next generation of journalists, we’ve agreed that the London Press Club is going to back Shine by sponsoring a new award.