BBC Points West news correspondent Clinton Rogers spent the morning with Year 5 and 6 pupils at St John’s Primary School this week, giving them tips on how to prepare, film and present a news report. The children filmed an interview with the school’s Headmaster, Gareth Jones, using a broadcast-quality digital video camera and took turns to direct, film and present short clips in which they shared their views about the school.
Mr Rogers began by explaining how he became a journalist at the age of 16 and then moved on to working in television. He also shared stores of some of his experiences as a broadcaster before the visit ended with a Q/A session. “It was an amazing morning because we learnt all about being a news reporter,” one pupil said. Another added, “I liked the story about Clinton leaving the video tapes on the ship and having to ask the pilot to turn the helicopter around to go back for them!”
Clinton Rogers, BBC Somerset correspondent added, “It was a real pleasure to meet such an enthusiastic and attentive group. There seemed to be some future broadcasting talent there – so watch out in a few years!”
The children will now use all the information to improve their report-writing skills and record short news reports for the school website.