Pupils introduce Camglen Radio with jingles and sound effects.
Camglen Community Radio: We first became involved in local schools in November 2007. It was felt that there wasn’t enough young people involved with the output at the station. And also, I’ve done some previous schools work before and thought it would be a great idea to engage with local schools and get them to become an integral part of our station output.
The main aim of the school’s involvement with the station is to provide the opportunity for them to experience what it is to be part of a vibrant radio station and a new radio station. We offer them the training and give them the skills that they need to actually become fully fledged radio presenters and producers of their own shows, with the aim to them having to actually do a live FM broadcast, during the short-term broadcast that we’re doing.
Principal Teacher at Hallside Primary: We’re currently involved in an enterprise link with Camglen Radio. Camglen approached us about 18 months ago with the possibility of [us] coming on board as one of their schools. I met with Tam who is now the station coordinator. I met with him, originally, to decide and to discuss what the children would be involved in and what we hoped to get from it.
And we’ve spent two two-hour [long] sessions with them, learning how to use all the equipment. Some of them worked as producers, producing the playlist and playing in the jingles. Some of them were, actually, on mic – voice talents, presenters. And we had researchers, we had people who would go on and find the information on the songs and we had people working as runners, running between the studio and back [to] the editorial who were making last minute changes on things that we thought should be different, based on what had happened so far.
Camglen Community Radio: The first sessions that we do with them [are] about using the actual broadcast system; using the controls, how to put on music, how to use correct mic levels and things like that. Another aspect of it is [that] we show them how to use some basic audio editing software, in order that they can produce their own jingles and they may even be able to use those skills to produce their own pre-recorded programmes or even podcasts.
The third session that we offer is scriptwriting and it’s more focused on actually organising the time that they're going to use on the shows. They're going to have to be thinking about how they're going to be planning it out, how they're going to structure their shows, what they're actually going to write about – so they need to actually script their shows in a way that will make it presentable on air.
Camglen Community Radio 2: It’s not entirely the technical side that we teach them here at Camglen; it ties in with a lot of their school stuff. For example, music is a big part of being in a radio station (knowing what types of music) and it can also enhance their ideas and their thoughts towards different styles of music. And at the same time, it’s being creative – installing this feeling of being creative with the kids.
The fact that they can be creative and the shows are, actually, their own stuff – these kids can actually use their own personalities, whereas sometimes at school, they might be a wee bit withdrawn. But it helps bring out their own personalities and put their own ideas across to the public. Once it comes down to broadcast time and people actually hear their live shows.
Student at Cathkin High School: Before we were on Camglen Radio, I wouldn’t dare to go up onto a stage to speak to everybody at all. I would just stay clear of it! Now, I would talk to most people, announce stuff… and it’s boosted my confidence.
Camglen Community Radio 2: We will show them the ropes and help them and guide them through the entire process. Then, when it comes down to doing their show, we do take a step back. We will be there to give them the support and guidance that they need. But at the end of the day it’s their show; they are the ones that are in control of the entire broadcast of their show.
Pupil at Hallside Primary School: Hi, I am a Primary 7 pupil at Hallside Primary and I am also a presenter at Camglen Radio Station.
I think it’s a big responsibility because you need to be responsible for everything you're doing; you need to be responsible for the control boards, you need to be responsible for writing your own script – nobody writes your script for you. Basically, you're writing it yourself, so that’s a huge responsibility to have.
If you’re enjoying it then, I think, learning is easier – when you're enjoying it.
Principal Teacher at Hallside Primary: We’ve managed to extend the community and business links even further. We’ve managed to bring in one of our parents, Jim Gellatly, who is a radio DJ with BBC Radio Scotland – an award winning DJ. He’s been at all of our training sessions and he’s offered real expert tips and advice.
Parent & BBC Radio DJ: I only met the group of kids a few weeks ago for the first time and I was trying to give them a wee bit of advice because I’ve been doing radio for about 20 years and, to be honest, the main advice would have been to just relax and enjoy it. But they were doing that anyway! I don’t think they needed that advice.
So it was really good seeing them just totally get into it and it’s a really exciting project. And it’s great to see the school going out in the community, [getting] involved in community radio and community radio doing something for the school. And perhaps the broadcasters of the future will appear [and] if not, they're getting some great life education.
Principal Teacher at Hallside Primary: In terms of Curriculum for Excellence, there’s no doubt that this experience hits all four capacities for the children involved. The increasing confidence in the individuals is huge. There's no doubt that they are effective contributors and responsible citizens through this project. They are taking their role as part of the community, reporting on the community and sharing with the community, very seriously indeed. And they really do see themselves as citizens of the community through this project; not just pupils of the school.
HeadteacherCathkin High School: If we take this particular situation, you can imagine the type of skills that the children develop. They're talking about presentation skills, they're talking about understanding how to question and listen. They're talking about getting an understanding of the fact that we’re a school within a community; how imporantant our image is for the community. So we really are talking about active citizenship and the importance of that.
Camglen Community Radio: I think we’re also stimulating an interest in radio production and media broadcasting in general. We do always cover podcasting and radio broadcasting here, but it could also lead on to things like an interest in television and other mediums that they can engage with. So I like to think that, maybe, one or two of the young people that are maybe even here today, it’s something that they would like to peruse as a career. And maybe even… these are the kind of things that they’ll study at school and university to continue with.
Principal Teacher at Hallside Primary: In terms of skills for work and skills for life, the pupils have gained so much confidence and so many different skills. And I think it really has ignited an interest in the media and radio in a number of them. But even those who don’t go on to work in media or seek a career in that, the transferable skills that they’ve managed to pick up from this project are invaluable and will stay with them for a long time
Keep up to date