Newspaper Club
Budding reporters in the Bedelsford Newspaper Club had the chance to try out their reporting skills when they interviewed former journalist, Fiona Wilkins. Fiona now works for the Trust and is a familiar face to many of the school community as she comes in regularly to take photos at school events.
The students asked some excellent questions about the skills you need to become a journalist and asked about famous people Fiona had interviewed. All three students asked her about their particular interests which ranged from politics to music, film and football.
If they were disappointed to learn that Fiona had interviewed more scientists than film stars, the Bedelsford students were too polite to say and definitely enjoyed hearing about the astronaut who took his guitar into Earth orbit that Fiona had once interviewed. They also learnt that Fiona’s favourite sport is rugby and enjoyed dancing along to the song Sweet Caroline which is a rugby-crowd favourite.
The Newspaper Club runs every Tuesday afternoon at Bedelsford and you can see the students’ questions and Fiona’s answers below.
Q: What was your first journalism job?
A: I worked at my local paper in the summer holiday.
Q: What is the best thing about being a journalist?
A: As a journalist you get to ask people questions which is great if you are nosey!
Q: What do you need to be a journalist?
A: There are different types of journalists some who work for newspapers or for radio and television and so you will need a camera or a microphone to record your interviews. I always have a notebook with me but the most important thing you need is an enquiring mind.
Q: What is your favourite sport?
A: I like to watch rugby and hockey because my children play these sports.
Q: What is your favourite song?
A: My favourite song is Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond because we sing along to it at rugby matches and everyone joins in especially to the chorus.
Q: Have you ever interviewed a pop star?
A: No I haven’t interviewed any pop stars as I mainly worked as a science journalist. Probably the most famous person I interviewed was an astronaut who told me about how he used to play the guitar and look out of the windows at the Earth and moon and stars.
Q: What is your job now?
A: I work for Orchard Hill College Academy Trust and I work with Bedelsford and other schools in the Trust. I come into school to take photos and write news stories for the schools’ websites. We also produce a magazine once a year for the Trust, called Include so that we can tell everyone about all the great things that go on in the schools.
Q: Have you ever interviewed a film star?
No sadly I haven’t but I love watching films.
