Before the Easter holidays, students from across Wickersley Partnership Trust took part in the WPT School Report 2025.
The WPT School Report is all about giving students from across our 13 schools the chance to use their student voice to create meaningful media – in the form of a newsletter, a podcast or a video – on topics that matter the most to them. It also aims to develop a range of skills including: team work, research, communication and interviewing.
The project was launched by the Media Team in 2024 for the Trust’s 10th anniversary and because of its success, it’s something that has become an annual event!
The Process
Student Selection
To ensure that the students get the most out of their time on the School Report project, teachers from each school select a few students from Y5, Y6, Y7, Y8 (and sometimes Y9!) to take part. These students either have a keen interest in media / English, or they are a part of the School Council.
Introduction
Once the students are selected, they are invited to the host secondary school where they are put into teams based on their interests and their preferred media. As a collaborative project, the teams are made up of students from different year groups and schools.
In their groups, they dissect and discuss the topics and their opinions on what’s happening in the world around them, how it relates to their school life, and what their schools and the Trust are doing to help them.
Students are also able to give their views on what they would like to see in the future from WPT, their schools, the UK and even the world!
This year, there were some fantastic topics chosen:
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Social media
- School dinners
- The history of Thrybergh
- Equality in sports
School Report Day Sessions
A couple of weeks after choosing their topic ideas and project, they are once again invited back to the hosting secondary school to come together to start working on their newsletter, podcast or video.
The day is spent doing thorough research, script-writing, interviewing (staff and students from across the Trust kindly get involved!), filming, recording and writing.
Editing Days
As the School Report day sessions are extremely busy, some of the students are welcomed to WPT’s Headquarters to put their final pieces together. They get to work with industry-standard software and members of the Media Team to edit and finalise their newsletters, podcasts and videos.
The students once again gave positive feedback on their School Report experiences. They commented that it was fun to get stuck into media projects that give them a chance to express their views and suggestions on how things in the world and society can be improved.
Scott Gunn, WPT Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, said: “The WPT School Report has, again, been a huge success. It’s been a pleasure working with students from across the Trust to give them new platforms to share their thoughts on various topics.
“All of the students and staff involved in this year’s School Report have been fantastic role models for their schools, and myself and the Media Team can’t wait until we’re back into schools again to work with the next School Report cohort.”
To see the students’ fantastic WPT School Report 2025 work, click the button below!
