Hundreds of pupils and students will be donning the modern equivalent of green eyeshades next Wednesday and Thursday to produce their own front page in The TES Newspaper Day competition, now in its 10th year.
The event is more popular than ever, with more than 630 entries, 30 from overseas. The challenge is to produce a real paper in a day to sell to pupils on their way home.
This year, budding reporters will be able to access the TES website which they can use like a press agency. They will find news from other schools in the UK and around the world from which they can compile a column of human interest stories.
Brian Robinson, from Tees Valley Educational Computing Centre, which organises the competition, is enthusiastic about this new venture. Last year a school in Chile actually reported a small earthquake, but by the time the news arrived it was five days old. This year, should the ground move gain, the item could be reprinted instantly Prizes of either an Apple Macintosh Performa or an Acorn Risc PC are being provided by Xemplar Education.
ITN journalist Dermot Murnaghan is to be this year’s interviewee and Cherie Booth QC has agreed to present the prizes on June 1 in the House of Commons.
