Workington Academy Radio has been nominated for the prestigious, national radio awards: The Young ARIAS. We are nominated for Best in Sport; Best in Comedy/Drama and Secondary School Station of the Year.
The Year 7 Radio Team will be travelling to BBC Broadcasting House, London, on Friday 17 May to the awards ceremony. The team are extremely excited to attend the event, and being nominated is a great achievement in itself. We have been told to expect to see some of the UK’s biggest radio stars and maybe even a special guest!
Young ARIAS were blown away by the standard of entries and they had amazing feedback from their judges. The Young ARIAS are the new UK awards for 8 to 18 year olds and schools who love making audio.
Workington Academy Radio has two separate teams: there is the small team of Year 13 students who get together every Monday, after school (armed and ready with only a running order and their passion for football), and a second team of 12 enthusiastic Year 7 students. The Year 13 team broadcast their football podcast around the world on the Workington Academy website and on all good podcast apps. Their interest for podcasting has seen 2 of the team applying for media/radio based University courses and apprenticeships.
Fresh from primary school, our second, younger team have had to overcome the fear of speaking live to an audience and learning new skills. The year 7 team meet every Thursday lunchtime for a discussion and planning session. They meet again the next day after school to put their plans into action, researching, recording, editing and practicing live broadcasting. So far they have taken part in BBC Young Reporter, and broadcast live to the school over every day leading up to Christmas, planning, writing and editing their own work.
All students have an innate skill and fervour for radio. The younger cohort are already forward planning for the next academic year, and are wanting to take their work “on the road” to interview people, record soundbites and raise the popularity of their beloved radio station. Never have we seen a group of Year 7s with such passion and gusto for all things radio! The pride that they take in their work is immeasurable and commendable.
Our next steps are to prepare for the day, and to raise some money to help fund transportation to and from London.
Workington Academy Radio is available in school, on the Workington Academy website and on Apple Podcasts.