Students at Bishop Challoner Catholic Federation of Schools recently took part in a new, innovative BBC programme for young audiences, called My World. The weekly half-hour show draws on BBC World Service reporting and aims to instil media literacy in children aged 13+. It explains the stories behind the news, providing facts and information, allowing them to make up their own minds about international events and issues.
The filming took place last term over two days, one at school and one at BBC Broadcasting House, and involved students from Year 9 to Year 12.
The first day of filming took place in the school Library with presenters Radzi Chinyanganya and Nomia Iqbal and a large crew. Throughout the day the students spoke about the global issues that are most important to them, before attempting to decide what the most pressing global issue for young people is. Climate change and gender equality were the two most popular issues, with climate change eventually coming out on top. During a long day of filming all of the students remained professional and upbeat and were a credit to their school.
The second day of filming took place at Broadcasting House in central London. This was a particularly memorable day as students were filming with Oscar-winning actor and international humanitarian Angelina Jolie, a co-producer on the programme. The BBC cameras followed Angelina and the nine students as they walked around Broadcasting House talking about the global issues that young people are most concerned about. She asked them about the news that they consume and how current affairs programmes could be more relevant to them. They were also joined by broadcaster and newsreader Reeta Chakrabarty who spoke about her career and her experiences.
‘Meeting Angelina Jolie was amazing,’ said Keira, one of the students involved in the filming. ‘Filming for this programme gave me a real insight into different generational views of the way the news is portrayed. I study politics and this experience gave me the chance to discuss some of the global issues we learn about as part of the course.’
‘It broadened my horizons on a range of controversial issues’, added Nirban, another student. ‘It’s great that this programme has given young people the opportunity to voice their opinions on issues that they may not usually be asked about.’
James Johnston, Student Leadership Co-ordinator said: ‘We could not be prouder of our young people for their intelligent, eloquent and insightful contributions to this fantastic new programme. It was an unforgettable experience and provided them with a global platform to speak about the global issues that matter to them the most.’
