"Save of my Life," T.E.S Workshop
Going to the Times Education Supplement was an oppurtunity money cannot buy; meeting the editors, having hands on advice and even being taught how to write news story by the experts.
The day started with having an introduction to what the T.E.S actually does: a minute movie to the music of Lord of the Rings, was definatly not what I expected, but the underlying humour was appreciated and light hearted.
Following this, we took part in various activites that taught us about how to right a successful news article, including Michael, the 'opinions editor' making a mock press conference where we questioned a local car-spayer and ex goal keeper about him saving a babies life during an electrical fire: I was 'Karen McCann, iNews.'
After the quiz session, we had to write the story under timed conditions, just as a journalist would- this gave us a taste of how a real reporter would work, and how pressurised the job is.
The T.E.S gave us a great buffet lunch, which we all bonded, I made friends with Tom from Langford Boys School in South London.
In the afternoon, we got an amazing experience, when we got a personal tour of the real life newsroom, seeing first hand the piles of newspapers and notepads on the journalists desks, and talking to them about their jobs and lives. The most incredible fact we discovered, was possibly, that the cartoonists have 30 minutes to create a image when given a specific job- thats insane! Just shows you how difficult it is to work in the media.
My favourite part of the day was when we had to pick at random, a target audience from a mug (printed with T.E.S on the front, of course.) Tom and I got 'Estate Agents'.
We had to create a front cover for a magazine, with this audience in mind, with tag lines and heading for articles which would be inside the magazine.
The most disaterious thing happened, 10 minutes before deadline hit, we accidentaly pulled the power cable out of the Mac computer, losing the work we had already done. Thankfully, Tom was a computer genious and recovered the work whilst many people watched over in suspense.
Mine included: 'Recession Progession', 'Home $weet Home' and 'Relocation, Creation and Emigration', a story about moving abroad.
The sub-editor then reviewed our work and told us how impressed she was with the way we worked and what we produced.
The most incredible event of the day, from an outsider perspective, was we met the Editor, Jerry. He even looked at our work and gave us expert advice and criticism (luckily, there wasn't any bad comments, just praise.)
To complete the most incredible day, we landed a first class return on the train home- with free food and *cough* alcoholic *cough* drinks (we were all over 18- don't worry.)
Winning the Bronze award, (meaning we are the third best magazine in the country) was the most amazing and crazy award 'Sixth Sense' could have achieved.
It was so wonderful to be acknowledged for the amount of hard work put in by every one to create, what I still believe to be, the best edition ever: The Eco Edition.
PLANKING
We decided planking would be pretty funny in London so here we are around the city, doing that silly new sport.
LOVE K