EDUCATION reporter Haydn Lewis went to Burton Green Primary School, in York, to meet some budding journalists who are hard at work putting together their own school newspaper.

AN ambitious team of six youngsters from a primary school in Clifton, under the guidance of their teacher, Ruth Croft, are starting work on a school newspaper.

The group at Burton Green Primary School have come up with the name for their publication – the BGP Press – and are raring to go.

The dedicated group of pupils are full of ideas and keen to produce a bright and interesting read for the rest of the school.

They have divided their bi-termly publication into different subject groups including sport, pet stories, community news stories, poetry and puzzles.

They put me through my paces and after a short introduction they quizzed me about newspapers and the kinds of job involved in putting a paper together and my experiences as a journalist, all for an article in their paper.

My interview is just the first in a long line of stories that will be compiled by pupils at the school and the team will select the best for their paper.

Joseph, ten, has something of a secret weapon in his job looking after the paper’s graphic content – he is an ace at origami and, as if to prove the fact, he made a piano out of a paper towel while we were speaking.

He said: “I really like origami and I’m going to do some puzzles to cut out in the paper.

“I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet, but I can do footballs and hats and different animals.”

Adam, also ten, will be taking on the role of news editor as well as distribution manager, but is interested in sport so will be looking after the paper’s sport content.

He said: “We have a lot of after- school clubs at school as well as sports clubs so I’ll be looking at what they do. It’s going to be hard work doing the paper because we are going to have to fit it in around all our other learning.”

Peter, ten, as sub-editor, will be in charge of checking spelling, grammar and punctuation.

He said: “I’m okay at spelling – I’m not the best, but I’m better than most!”

Animal lover Stephanie, ten, revealed that as editor of the Pet Corner she will choose content and pictures, supervise layout and design the final pages.

Stephanie, who has two cats called Charlie and Felix, said: “Personally I am a vegatarian and I love animals.

“People will send in articles about their dressed up pets, what they eat or what they do. I will choose the best ones to go in the newspaper.”

Ten-year-old Hannah, in charge of the Cookery Corner, said she would focus on keeping articles in her section interesting and informative.

“They must be quick and snappy and keep the content interesting,” she said.

“We must also get all the important stuff in too, like the list of ingredients and what utensils they will need.”

Planning on including a range of articles from cakes and treats to meal recipes, Hannah said: “We must make it interesting so people reading the paper don’t get bored.”

Pupils throughout the school will be able to contribute to the newspaper, which will be published every half-term, and both girls said they were eager to get started.

“I’m very excited,” admitted Stephanie. “The last paper the school did failed. They had to make up stories and it got a bit too much. Everyone tried to get involved and it just didn’t work. But now Year Six pupils like us are the editors, I think it will work better.”

Hannah, who wants to be a fashion designer, said: “I’m most looking forward to finding good new recipes and sharing them with others.”