How fits in with day to day school life...

Separate structured models are in place in the three schools to make the newsgathering process more effective... and give the students valuable experience and qualifications on the way.

At St. Ambrose Barlow, two 50 minute lessons have been set aside from the curriculum for the Media Project. Pupils who come in to the project from Year 10 are split into three groups, each following a path through until they leave school which will hopefully see them obtain NPRA units in Photography and Printed Media and an RSA Level II in Desktop Publishing. For two whole terms during the two years, each group also gets 'hands-on' experience working with Bridget and Alan on Netherton and Litherland NOW.

At Bootle High, where GCSE Media Studies is a popular option, the situation is different. No curriculum time is set aside specifically for Media Project students - they still work voluntarily during break and lunch times. However, work for the newspaper has been incorporated into the curriculum. Groups of four pupils come out of their Media Studies lessons to work with project staff for a minimum of eight hours to produce an assignment which will be published in Netherton and Litherland NOW, and also count towards their GCSE. After one group has finished, another one comes in... And the interest created in the newspaper through this means some students continue working on the newspaper even after their Media Studies assignment has been completed.

At Litherland High, pupils study the RSA Initial Award in Media Studies under the tuition of Mr Bernie Horton. Two double lessons each week are set aside for pupils to follow the RSA course and along the way they write stories for Netherton and Litherland Now which could also count as coursework for the award. Photography is already a well-established subject as LHS so pupils are keen to use their photographing skills for the newspaper.

Using newspapers in the curriculum is not a new phenomenon. The Newspapers In Education movement has been going strong for a number of years and newspapers are a valuable resource across the curriculum, for every age group. The Media Project and Netherton and Litherland Now has developed the idea by making newspapers in an ongoing process, producing an issue every term, incorporating not merely school news, but also community information. It provides the youngsters with their own voice and, of course, is delivered to every home and business in the area.