A GROUP of 15 A-level students from Melksham Oak Community School recently went along to a workshop at the Guardian offices in London in order to learn how to write a feature article.
The school reports, “For all students involved it was a learning experience that they will now apply to their English language coursework. Throughout the day they were supported by a journalist, Elli Narewska, and they were told to focus on a current news story. They then had to build an opinion on a bigger issue that related to the news article. The stories chosen ranged from body image surrounding the news story of the new Channel 4 programme ‘Big Ballet’ to the nature of love based on J.K Rowling’s confession that she wanted Harry as Hermione love interest instead of Ron.
“The morning was based on planning and layout. The afternoon was focused on writing and deciding headlines and straplines. In the space of four hours’ work the students had come up with an idea, chosen the layout, written the article, chosen the picture and edited it which Elli was very impressed by. She said, “I am impressed by the quality of work that you have produced in such a short space of time! Looking back on the experience all the students were happy and commented that it had really helped them improve their writing skills. All in all a very successful day in London.”
