Friday, 29 January 2010
What year 7 pupil wouldn’t jump at the chance to be a DJ for a time on the local radio – one listened to and supported by their parents and people in our local community?
Some lucky pupils at Seahouses Middle School, a small middle school in rural North Northumberland, did just that as a result of a composition project in their music lessons.
The original task was to compose an advertisement for a local business as if it was going to be played on radio. The children worked in groups and were each given a business from the village to advertise. They had to contact the manager and arrange an interview to ask about target customers, what aspects of their business they would want to ‘sell’ and generally look for inspiration.
Back in school they worked on their compositions which had to grab people’s attention immediately, getting the message across in just 30 seconds. They had a range of businesses: an electrician (“Having trouble with your fuse? Get on the phone to Oswald Hughes!); a family butcher, whose son is in our year 5; the best fish and chip shop in Seahouses (also related) and a Crazy Golf course. A very good exercise in public relations too! The pupils had lots of fun with songs, rhymes, sound effects etc. and, as they had identified in a learning to learn lesson, what they worked on meant so much more because it was ‘for a reason’.
It would seem a pity to do all this work and only play it to their classmates so we contacted our local radio station and arranged to air the adverts several times a day for a whole week. The radio station were impressed and suggested that some of the pupils might like to host a two hour show, using the opportunity to tell people about our school. Thus the project expanded again, with the class working in groups to decide what exactly they wanted to say about their school: music, sports, clubs, trips, the new dining room, competitions etc. – it definitely made the children realise how many good things their school had to offer – all the things you take for granted until you sit down and list them.
The real highlight of the project was when a group of representatives of the class went live on radio. They worked with a real live DJ who showed them how to work the desk, cue in songs and was on hand just in case they ‘dried up’! It was nerve-racking but very exciting – apparently there was a big surge in the numbers of people listening in on computers (parents had been told what was happening). Pupils played requests, chatted in between and responded to texts and phone calls. The two hours passed extremely quickly and they left feeling that they couldn’t wait to do it all again.
A project we would definitely repeat for what it gave the children involved, the whole school and our local community. Next step? Maybe our very own radio station in school – the pupils would certainly be keen on the idea.
