Journalism Day for Y5 and Y6 More Able Writers

Liverpool College was proud to host an event specifically designed to promote and enhance more advanced writing skills last week. The workshop invited More Able writers from numerous schools from across Liverpool to join Liverpool College’s own budding authors.

The event was led by journalist Mr Gallagher, who works as a columnist for the BBC and whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The Independent (as well as being a writer for Dr Who dramas). The workshop taught the students how to create and edit newspaper articles, and learn to apply the differences between the writing styles of articles, interviews and features. Pupils explored core skills such as editing, the discipline of deadlines, reliability, verification and why redrafting is required. As luck would have it, our own news story broke that morning when the fire alarms were inexplicably set off. This led to an unexpected evacuation of the school, despite the snowy conditions. The students became instant reporters for the event, interviewing sources to uncover the truth behind the story. The mini journalists were then asked to write their own newspaper articles to report the breaking news story of the day. The participating authors all gained a great deal from the experience.

Our thanks to Mrs Doran for organising the event and to Mr Gallagher for giving us the benefit of his many years as a professional journalist for the BBC.

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