City Academy students launch school newspaper

Students at City Academy have been meeting every Thursday over the past few months to create the school’s first-ever City Academy Newspaper.

The project has empowered students to develop content they genuinely care about, resulting in a vibrant mix of articles, puzzles, comics and book recommendations.

Year 11 students played a key role in supporting the editorial process, helping to edit and re-draft peers’ work, while staff collaborated to format, print and distribute the first edition.

The newspaper’s launch on 4 February was met with huge enthusiasm across the school. Students were spotted around the building unable to take their eyes off the pages – rumour has it one student was even asked to stop reading their copy during a lesson.

Demand has been so high that additional copies have already been requested.

With the success of the first edition, City Academy is excited to continue riding the wave of journalism as work begins on the upcoming second edition.

Selina Dowsing, Teacher of English at City Academy, said: “This project has given students a real voice and a genuine sense of ownership over their writing.

“Seeing their excitement when the first edition was released reminded us how powerful it is when young people are trusted to create something meaningful for a real audience.”