08 November 2007
Three schools in the Caerphilly county borough have scooped top media awards at a prestigious ceremony held at the BBC studios in Cardiff recently.
Pontllanfraith Comprehensive School’s media project received a prestigious award at the ‘Media4schools Awards’ in Cardiff. The school’s media students attended the high-profile ceremony on the 24th October to pick up the ‘Admiral Business Award’, which they won for a DVD they produced following a visit to 10 Downing Street where they met and interviewed Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The award recognises the school’s efforts to secure an interview with one of the world’s most famous politicians – an achievement which was brought to fruition with the kind help of local MP Don Touhig. The school’s glossy newsletter and media4schools website were also recognised in the award.
Also successful at the ceremony was the school’s ‘Media4Schools’ co-ordinator, Mr Matthew George, who jointly picked up the award of ‘Champion Teacher’ for his hard work and commitment to running the project. The ‘Champion Teacher’ award was shared with six other co-ordinators throughout schools in Wales including Karen Griffiths of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Caerffili.
Machen Primary School also won an award on the evening for ‘Best Edited Film’ in the primary school sector, which the school feel has taken children’s ICT skills onto new levels.
Cllr David Hardacre, Cabinet Member for Education and Leisure, said, “The ‘Media4Schools’ initiative has been going from strength to strength since it was first introduced in local schools. I would like to congratulate all the pupils and staff involved in these award winning projects and hope these new skills will be put to good use by pupils in the future.”
Media4Schools is an education-based programme that offers a range of media training courses, which includes introducing TV productions and enterprise creations for participating schools. It trains pupils and teachers in media production skills and techniques and then supports them in making their own programmes. Media4schools plays a key role in making sure the voice of young people is heard in today’s society, helps raise the awareness of vocational learning in education, and promotes citizenship and raising the ambitions of young people.
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