News s-coop! Sutton pupils are TV stars

Move aside Bob Warman and Sameena Ali-Khan, because some plucky new presenters from Sutton Coldfield have been taking over the evening news – and it’s no folk tale.

This week, reception pupils from Mere Green Primary School created video reports retelling the classic story of ‘Chicken Little’ and some of their work appeared on ITV’s popular Central News programme.

The children’s news reports – which cover the story of a chicken who fears the sky is falling in – first caught the eye of TV producers when they featured on social media as part of a remote lockdown learning project.

Four-year-old Bert Fekete’s video (pictured above) was screened during Central News’ bulletins and main evening programme on Tuesday (2 February). The roving reporter did not disappoint – both viewers and presenters have been impressed with his impeccable performance.

Lucia Thornton, early years foundation stage (EYFS) lead at Mere Green Primary School, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP), explained how the project came about.

She said:

“At Mere Green, we want to provide exceptional learning experiences for all children and bring their learning to life, even in the current circumstances with remote learning. We start each week with a wow moment to create excitement for the learning ahead.

“As part of our topic of ‘Traditional Tales’, this week we are learning about the tale of ‘Chicken Licken’. Before we read the story, the teachers dressed up as key characters from the story and gave the children an account of their version of events. The children then had to weigh up the evidence and write their own report based upon this. The purpose was to develop their speaking and listening skills by presenting their own news report based on the evidence. They also had to enhance their learning through the use of technology and the children had to draw upon their technical skills to produce their final news report.”

She also praised the team effort of her colleagues in reception, Miss Murray, Mrs Hayes and early years practitioners Miss Ashmore and Mrs Cartmell, who all helped her bring the project to life.

Sean Boyd, deputy headteacher, said: “We were extremely impressed with the high quality of reporting, which was also praised by the professionals from TV. We are all very relieved that the sky has not fallen in and that quite the opposite has happened, as children realise there is a world of possibility ahead.”

For more on this story please visit: https://www.itv.com/news/central/2021-02-02/chicken-licken-dominates-the-headlines-as-4-year-old-bert-reads-the-news

To view the videos please visit Mere Green Primary School’s Twitter page: mgcps_b75