Pupils in North Wales are being given the chance to become the next Gary Lineker or Clare Balding as part of a new broadcasting project with digital competence at its heart.
Swansea-based learning technology company Aspire 2Be has launched the iBroadcast programme in partnership with the principality and sports broadcaster, Sean Holley.
iBroadcast will give pupils an insight into the world of broadcasting and aims to enhance digital competency skills as well as skills across core curriculum areas including literacy and numeracy.
The programme, which will be rolled out in North Wales after a successful pilot, will also encourage pupils to develop core personal skills such as communication, team working and the ability to be able to present themselves strongly as individuals.
The North Wales programme, which will begin this month, will see six students from a school in each of the six local authorities invited to GRC Rugby Club for three days, where they will have the opportunity to interview players and work on their broadcasting skills.
Pupils will also be given masterclasses in interview skills, video editing and analysis from Aspire 2Be trainers, as well as commentary and public speaking skills from Sean Holley.
Each team involved will put together and present a show in the style of BBC Wales rugby programme Scrum V, which will be judged by a panel at the end of the training.
The programme will be replicated in South Wales in February and the winning school will face North Wales’ winner in an all Welsh final at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in 2018.
The programme model has also been commissioned to work with arts groups in Wales and Multi Academy Trusts in England in an effort to reach students with interests outside of sport.
A successful pilot was held in March and saw pupils from schools including Ysgol Y Strade and Tonypandy Community College tasked with creating a panel show around the Wales v Scotland rugby match, which was held at the Principality Stadium.
Daniel Hughes, head of business at Ysgol Y Strade, a school which took part in the initial pilot, said: “We were delighted to be given the opportunity to work on the iBroadcast pilot and it was fantastic to see the confidence of the pupils grow during the programme.
“We were incredibly impressed by the professionalism and expertise shown by the Aspire 2Be trainers and Sean Holley, and the pupils who attended have been inspired to become digital pioneers in school who have passed on the skills they developed to both teachers and pupils.”
Jackie Jones from Tonypandy Community College said iBroadcast had “surpassed” all of the school’s expectations: “As well as being a lot of fun it has helped students learn new skills and taken them out of their digital comfort zones,” she said.
“We think it will have a huge impact on their classroom work in future as they will be able to create reports and articles around sporting events or school trips, then upload them to social media or even create videos for uploading to YouTube.’
iBroadcast was officially launched last month at a charity fundraising golf day where over £1,500 was raised for Velindre. Stars including Wales and Lions rugby player Dan Biggar and comedian Owen Money were also in attendance.
Simon Pridham, education and performance director at Aspire 2Be said: “We are delighted that iBroadcast has been such a success and that the skills pupils have developed on the programme are being utilised in schools.
“The media plays a significant role in the day-to-day lives of children today, and it is incredibly important that this can be used to help them learn new skills, as well as supporting the core curriculum.”
The programme has also been commissioned to work with arts groups in Wales and multi-academy Trusts in England.