Westfields broadcast two live radio shows per day, at break and lunch, and the content of the shows is completely run by the children.
When we arrived at the school we were hit with loads of ideas from the shows such as:
- Advertisements for any teacher vacancies
- Naming different shows
- A link to all 'Podcasts' on our blog (a history of shows if you like)
- Broadcasting news from different parts of the world (and making use of the world maps!!) - could a relative Tweet in and tell us where they've been?!
- App of the Week
First, we were given a tour of the school and their amazing facilities, in particular 'The Hive'. The Hive is an amazing space were students can let their creativity flow! The room had walls which you can write on, chairs and tables which can be wheeled around the room, a built in green screen, games consoles and a tonne of different technology!
Our first task was to produce a five minute broadcast which would be interesting and would attract a specific audience. Any longer than five minutes and the listeners would switch off. We got into groups of 4 and 5 and came up with ideas to pitch to the group.
Our final broadcasts were called "The Big Question" and "Problem Resolved". We then headed back to the Hive to come up with our scripts for the broadcasts.
Next up... Lunch! We were extremely lucky and got given a huge spread! George ate far too many cookies...
After lunch it was time to record our broadcasts in the school's recording studio with Chris the Technician in charge.
To end the day, we had a Q&A session with Chris. Here were some of them:
How often do you broadcast? Every two weeks
How do you get around copyright issues when playing music? We buy the NOW CDs! They have copyright info on - so buy these to be safe!
How did you get into your job? I worked my way up as I just had a passion for IT
How can the radio show help learning across the curriculum? (Miss Rymill didn't add that one, honest!) From writing scripts for the shows to improve literature, to finding out about different parts of the world to improve your geographical knowledge, the show is constantly working towards improving a cross-curricular approach to learning
Do you have any top tips for running a radio station? Here they are:
We have definitely taken a lot away from our trip to Westfields Junior School and the students there are eager to come and see what we have to offer at Wildern too - so we will be planning for them to visit at some point this year! Watch this space!!
How often do you broadcast? Every two weeks
How do you get around copyright issues when playing music? We buy the NOW CDs! They have copyright info on - so buy these to be safe!
How did you get into your job? I worked my way up as I just had a passion for IT
How can the radio show help learning across the curriculum? (Miss Rymill didn't add that one, honest!) From writing scripts for the shows to improve literature, to finding out about different parts of the world to improve your geographical knowledge, the show is constantly working towards improving a cross-curricular approach to learning
Do you have any top tips for running a radio station? Here they are:
We have definitely taken a lot away from our trip to Westfields Junior School and the students there are eager to come and see what we have to offer at Wildern too - so we will be planning for them to visit at some point this year! Watch this space!!
