Extra, extra read all about it! Years 7-11 launch a new school newspaper

Have you heard the news? One of our Years 7-11 students, Emily, has launched a new school newspaper called ‘Conscious’ which aims to give young people a voice and engage them in current affairs. The newspaper is produced by a group of Years 7-11 students and covers a variety of relatable themes and topics such as fashion, food, short stories, news, history and editorials.

We caught up with Emily to find out more: Congratulations on the newspaper launch Emily! What was your inspiration behind the paper? “Well, over the summer, I thought a lot about different topics of debate and how I personally felt in response to these. It really made me consider my own opinions, and how uninformed I really was about such interesting and deeply important subjects.

What I found even more interesting, however, was how it led me to think about the voice that young people have in today’s world, and how astoundingly minimal it is, especially considering that people aged under 18 make up just over a fifth of the UK’s population.” It’s great to hear how you are encouraging young readers to have a voice and share their views. What do you think the benefits are of the newspaper?  “A great benefit of the newspaper is that, because it is written by young people, it’s accessible and engaging for other young people, and thus it really fulfils my aim! Of course, I hugely enjoy the writing element of the project, and aim to produce articles that spark consideration and conversation.

I think that the project has brought many people together, and we have all worked together to produce the publication, aiming to engage with every reader, and include something that resonates with them.” Can you tell us about one of the stories you recently worked on? “I worked with Emily Saddler, our Assistant Head (Pastoral), to produce the mental health edition of Conscious, which was part of our commemoration of World Mental Health Day (Saturday 10^th September 2020).

In this edition, I interviewed Sara Roberts about her association with Ecuador, how South America was greatly affected during lockdown, and how people learnt the art of adaptation in response to this.” That sounds really interesting and not one to miss! What does the future hold for Conscious? “In the future, I’m really hoping to get more people involved in the newspaper. We’re looking into getting an interactive online version of the newspaper up and running, which I’m incredibly excited about, as this will make the project more accessible to people, and thus encourage more people to get involved. This will help us to target a larger audience, and to encourage and portray the passion for writing that so many of us share here at d’Overbroeck’s!” Thank you for inspiring us all with your writing Emily, we can’t wait for the next issue! 

D'Overbroeck's is committed to providing a high quality and well rounded education for all its students. Explore the GCSE courses we offer to students coming to the end of their year 7-11 academic journey.