The Year 10 Leadership Programme gives girls the opportunity to take up specific roles which the girls may apply for: Journalist Leads, Eco-Reps, Digital Leads, Debating Leads and Volunteering Leads. The concept behind the programme is for each leader to come up with her own ideas to do something meaningful around the school and make those ideas happen.

Here’s what our 2023-24 journalists (now Year 11) made of their year in the roles:

What were the best bits about being a Journalism Lead?

Isabel: I found the journalism lead to be an amazing experience opportunity in year 10 – I really enjoyed getting to write numerous articles about events within school, school trips, and even occasionally on topics beyond school. It allows you to develop writing skills as well as beginning to discover your own style and approach to writing articles. You are also encouraged to reflect upon experiences such as school trips, and appreciate them more as well as feeling more involved and aware of all that goes on within the school community. One of my favourite aspects of the journalism lead was coming up with interesting, and different, approaches to writing an article – this challenged me to think outside the box.

Minna: I really enjoyed having the opportunity to explore the subjects that really interest me like drama and sport through my writing, and learning new skills that will really help for the future.

What did you find hard and what are your top tips for writing a great article?

Isabel: Sometimes it was difficult to come up with innovative ideas for an article to find a unique angle – but once I figured this out the articles usually followed with much more ease, it is just the initial problem solving that can be hard. My top tip for writing a good article would be to find a great angle – this hooks readers and makes the article more interesting and readable. I also think that writing in a different style with each article makes the writing process more fun.

Minna: Sometimes I found it hard to make articles structured and engaging, but throughout the year, I learnt about different styles of writing. I would say – when writing an article, be yourself! You don’t have to follow a given structure in writing – just use your different writing techniques to try and engage your audience.

If you would like to read our Year 10 Journalist Leaders’ articles, please see the links below:

How to Survive DofE in 10 Ways
Regeneration Rivers Research and Rain GCSE Geography Trip to South Wales
Physics to the Force
Breathtaking Fascinating Cold Fun Unforgettable Year 10-13 Iceland Trip
Y10 Enrichment Ealing Riding School
Twelve Days of Christmas in London
A Brush with London’s Culture Year 10 National Portrait Gallery Trip
Social Media Undermines Good Journalism
A View from the Bridge: Is Eddie Carbone a Likeable Character?
Inspiring and Motivating the GDST Sport Scholar Day
Reserva Duplicada: Una Experiencia Exitosa
Anything Goes Sails to Success
From Beijing to Shanghai: An Unforgettable Trip to China
Classics Beyond the Classroom: Year 10 Trip to King’s College Greek Play
Interview with Miss Bradshaw about the NHEHS Classics Dinner Tradition
A Debate Over Zoom: The Future of Public Speaking
Space Settlements and Suspense at UK Space Design Competition
Are You Smarter than AI? Year 10 Finds Out at Maths Inspiration