The Journalists 

Have you heard about the floods?

On Monday, children across Worcestershire headed to school, but the snow and rainfall cases some disruption. In Redditch, flooding caused severed roads to close and cars were stranded. We looked at before and after photos, and then explored places we recognised and saw one of the roads near to Arrow Valley Lake was closed by the police because of the flooding. 
 

We saw an article, but the photo was missing. Using what we had seen in the photos, we created a representation together. We added various layers of collage to build the image. 

What is a newspaper?

Many of us knew about newspapers. We knew they had words and photos in them. We knew that ‘news’ meant important or interesting things that happened that week. We also knew that the newspaper has the same news as the TV or internet. 
 

Who writes the news?
 

We didn’t know who wrote the articles, or who made the news videos, so we looked at BBC Newsround and discovered the studio. We looked at the equipment the people used and learnt that these people were called journalists. 
 

We began creating miniature representations of the equipment journalists use and constructed an office, using shoe boxes for each room. 

Working in the role of a Journalist 

We looked at some muddled headlines, and in pairs put them in order to make sense. We then tried to match the captions to the headline. Once we did that, we could create a photo to match. 
 

These will form part of our history as journalists.

The Farmer’s Market Poster

We saw a poster about a farmer’s  market happening locally and thought it would be a great story for our newspaper. We thought we could take some photographs and share some of the things we’ve seen. 
 

Outside the drama, we created products that way be sold at a farm, including jam, cakes, vegetables and milk. We used a video of a farmers market to help us build up some experience and knowledge too. 

Meeting the Farmers

Whilst we were at the market, we met a number of farmers. To help represent them, we worked in small teams to create a role in the wall for each farmer. 

The note…

Whilst we were at the market, we observed Farmer Darren whispering to other farmers. We used drama to explore this further, each of us in the role of farmers, listening to Darren and receiving a secret, coded note. The note read, “London, 10 o’clock, bring tractors”. We wondered what it meant and thought perhaps we should go too…. We could get a great story. 

Representing the tractors, farmers and signs

To begin with, we created tractors. We used kitchen roll tubes, cut to size and painted in the colour we wanted for the tractors. We then chose two large wheels and two smaller wheels. We used straws for the exhaust and attached everything with glue. Then, we represented the farmers, and sat them in the tractors. Finally, we discovered that the farmers were in London to protest. We heard a narration of how the farmers arrived outside the Houses of Parliament, holding signs with words such as “no farmers, no food” or “help us”. We then created protest signs for our farmers. 

Representing the protest 

Using the representations we’d created, we split into a team of journalists and a team of farmers. The Journalists observed as the farmers chanted the words on their signs. Then, we switched roles. We found out that the farmers were angry with supermarkets because they were paying very little for milk, but making lots of money in the shop for themselves. 
 

Reporting on the protest 

In our Literacy learning, we explored the lenses from The Write Stuff to create a poem. We applied the work we had done to create an independent piece of writing all about the things we’d seen at the protest. We used this as our article and put it with the photos we had taken. 

Invitation to Jersey

Farmer Darren invited us to his farm in Jersey. He wanted us to understand the hard work that went into farming, and why protesting was so important. 

How is Dairy Produced?
 

Farmer Darren is a dairy farmer. His Jersey cows produce the best milk. We observed the work  that goes into looking after his cows and the work that goes into collecting milk. We also learnt where the milk goes. Paying less for milk didn’t seem fair!

Darren introduces us to another farmer

We we’re tasked to advertise Farmer Dan’s land. He lives in Devon. He had so much pasture and space and as he was getting older, he didn’t need as much. We looked at all the human and physical features on his land, and made sure non of the human features were included in the advert.  Being based in Devon, there was plenty of potential buyers. 

Farmer Mary is interested

Farmer Mary contacted us. She has hundreds of cows and is looking or even more space. We meet Mary, also based in Devon and she is excited to show us around. She produces dairy, but instead of milk, she makes cheese from the milk. She showed us around her machines and the storage of cheese. 

Something terrible happened…

We saw an update on Mary’s social media and something had happened. During the night, cows had been attacked and sadly, one had died. What had happened? As journalists, we were interested to find out. 

Hearing the point off view of the cows

When we arrived at the farm, many of the cows were injured. We used drama to represent the cows  and activated the still images to hear their point of view. We discovered another animal had caused this, but why?

Using our equipment to help 

We realised that our camera equipment could be a great resource to help work out what had happened, because the animal would potentially come back. So, we set up cameras in the hopes we’d see what was visiting the farm during the night. 

What did the cameras capture?
 

Upon returning to the site, we realised the cameras had captured images. Through drama, we all collected a photograph, but didn’t look, until we all had one. When we looked we revealed what had been on the farm. It was…

A Lost Leopard 

We discovered the animal was a lost, black leopard. But, what was it doing in Devon? Big cats like this are not pets, they’re wild animals. How did this mammal get here. Outside of the story we began creating an animal fact-file that’s helped us understand the different animal groups in Science.   

The story behind the Lost Leopard

After creating the newspaper article, we were approached by a family. They explained that they’d been given the leopard many years ago as a cub. They were given in after helping in a village in Africa. This tribe believed the cub to be magical and felt it was a special gift to say thank you. Little did the family know, the cub would grown and grow and grow. One day, it escaped and now this has happened. They felt terrible, but wanted us to understand that it was supposed to be a wild carnivore who hunts meat. It wasn’t the fault of the leopard that it had been kept as a pet. 

Help from the World Wildlife Fund 

As expert journalists, we were not skilled to capture or relocate wild animals. So, we contacted the WWF who helped with relocating the leopard to where it would be happier and have a family. They captured it and took it back to Africa. 

Comparison

Out of the story, we mare comparisons between human growth and the leopards growth. 

Another siting of a leopard

We were shocked to see another newspaper report another siting in a Devonshire beach, but upon closer inspection we realised it was a sculpture. Brendan Rawlings created a representation of the leopard obj the beach to remember the lost leopard. Brendan is an artist and after sharing his creation, he planned a workshop. He dammed it ‘The Community Flock’. He wanted to get a group of people from the community to come and work together to create sculptures of birds. We all thought we’d like to go as a team.

The Community Flock Project 

Another unusual pet

After reporting on the leopard, we were shown a post and videos of a monkey being kept as a pet. We did some research and learnt a little more about the species. The owner used his social media to remind people, they are NOT pets and they are very hard to look after. We helped him to share this information. 

Fact file 

Meeting a Snake

Last Commission 

Our last task came from a Farmer in Kent. Unlike our other clients, this client didn’t have animals. They produced apples. Their apples are famously called the ‘Snow White’ apple, but only came third in a top ten fruits test. The farmer felt the apples were good they only share them with local shops and not supermarkets. We met with a local greengrocer and her explained he tried really hard to only sell local produce from the UK. The only thing ism some fruits don’t grow well here, because it’s not warm enough. 
 

We researched how imported fruit gets to the UK.

We were commissioned to use the famous apple in a smoothie recipe that would get more people eating and buying the famous apples.