Pupils turn the tables

Interviews with teachers, news and weather reports are among the items to be broadcast by pupils on a radio station they have set up at their school.

Jack Woodcock (13) Drew Jones (13) Nathan Bateman (13) and Jimmy Gillman (14) will record a weekly show for the Magnus School, Newark.

The boys held a launch party for Radio Magnus on Friday and the first show was broadcast this week via the school’s internal television.

Drew said: “We’re doing it as part of our Duke of Edinburgh’s award. We are also doing a community arts award and we thought it would be a good challenge.”

He said the hardest part of the project was getting used to speaking to an audience.

“When I first started I had a problem with stuttering, which is something that really annoys me, but I’m getting better,” he said.

Jack said the station would broadcast announcements about activities in the school, news, sports updates, weather and music.

“We’ve been interviewing teachers and setting them challenges,” he said.

“We’re also going to play a lot of music because I’m a music person.

“I like dance music and things from the charts but we’ll probably play some older songs as well.”

Jack said he hoped to join the police after leaving school but would like to host a radio show in his spare time.

The school’s community arts officer, Miss Leanne Phillips, helped the boys to set up the radio station.

She said: “It is very exciting and it is nice to know students want to set things up for the school.

“The boys have all been working to get information about events that are going on around school.”