CHILDREN at St John’s C of E Primary School were excited to receive a visit from local BBC news reporter Clinton Rogers.

The BBC Points West news man spent a morning working with Year 5 and 6 pupils, giving them tips on how to prepare, film and present a news report.

Clinton began by explaining how he became a journalist at the age of 16 and moved on to work in television. Children and adults enjoyed hearing about some of the news stories he has covered.

He also allowed the children to film with his broadcast quality digital video camera. Pupils took turns to direct, film and present short clips in which they shared their views about the school. They even filmed an interview with head teacher Gareth Jones. The morning ended with a question and answer session.

“It was an amazing morning because we learnt all about being a news reporter,” one child said. “I liked the story about Clinton leaving the video tapes on the ship and having to ask the pilot to turn the helicopter around to go back for them,” added a Year 6 boy. When asked what she had enjoyed the most, a Year 5 girl said: “I enjoyed operating the camera and seeing how it worked.”

Clinton said: “It was a real pleasure to meet such an enthusiastic and attentive group. There seemed to be some future broadcasting talent there – so watch out in a few years!"

The children will now use what they learnt to improve their report writing skills and record short news reports for the school website.

Report by Year 6 pupils at

St John’s Primary School, Wellington