The news – brought to you by local teens

~ Birches Head students launch hyperlocal media website ~

Birches Head Academy in Stoke-On-Trent is working with students and staff from Staffordshire University’s journalism school to set up an online hyperlocal media outlet for the their community. The online platform called ‘BirchesheadLive’ will be hosted by Staffordshire University’s StaffsLive website and will feature news pieces written and edited by the students themselves.

Hyperlocal media covers events and topics which are of interest to an extremely small geographical area, such as a borough or a neighbourhood. These news stories wouldn’t necessarily be covered by larger media outlets, but could be relevant to local residents. The outlets also emphasize reader input and interaction more than mainstream media.

This progressive extracurricular project gives students interested in pursuing a career in journalism or media the chance to get hands on experience and set up their own news website.

For the first time, the students will look beyond school grounds for stories, including the whole of the Birches Head community, and wider area, and will cover articles about newsworthy topics in the area.

The student team behind the project is the Birches Head Academy Reporters. The group currently consists of seven students who write articles for the school website and produce broadcasts on Ice Radio - the academy’s own station. In September, the students visited the Staffordshire University Newsroom at the Stoke Campus. They were given a tour of the state of the art facilities and had a training session on how to write, edit and publish stories for the Bircheshead Live platform, which is expected to launch in the next few weeks.

“The project is an amazing opportunity for our students to gain useful knowledge of how local media outlets work,” explains Rob Smith, Birches Head Academy extended services manager. “It allows our students to get creative in a field that some of them will one day work in. It’s also a way of building on what they have already learned by writing for the school website and producing broadcasts for the school radio. It’s challenging them to learn more about modern journalism.”

 “The Staffs Live website is an established source of news for the whole of the county,” adds Jamie Summerfield, community managing editor of Staffs Live. “We’re setting up a number of smaller sites under the Staffs Live umbrella to really tap in to what’s going on in local communities. Working in partnership with local communities is essential and we’re delighted to be working with young reporters from Birches Head Academy.”

The Birches Head Academy News Team members are Lewis Cropper, Chelsea Still, Corey Forrest, Kayleigh Rasdell, Ryan Carter, Rebecca Harrison and Jamie Evans.

Further collaboration between Birches Head Academy and Staffordshire University is planned while this new initiative is developed.

Birches Head Academy grows it like no other

~ Gardening brings students, staff and community together ~

As finalists in Morrisons Young Gardener of the Year Awards, Birches Head Academy in Stoke-On-Trent has won 10,000 vouchers to spend on gardening resources. The school’s gardening programme has been immensely successful and the produce is now being used to supply the school kitchen.

Half of the child population in the UK currently has access to Morrisons ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme, with 26,500 schools currently registered.

The popularity of the programme has taken the nation by storm and Birches Head Academy is no exception. The school’s own Grow It group was set up just over a year ago by Sarah Wright, Director of CPD (Continual Professional Development). Members have been meeting on a biweekly basis and exploring the benefits of growing their own fruit and vegetables.

Using the gardening equipment provided by the Morrisons scheme, the Grow It group has worked alongside the school’s Personalised Learning Centre to cultivate a small plot of land on school grounds. The produce is given to its members and often used to supply the school cafeteria. The scheme is encouraging Birches Head Academy students to learn more about the advantages of a healthy diet and the importance of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of food production and consumption.


The Grow It group at Birches Head Academy is an inclusive organisation, consisting of students, parents, grandparents, staff and community members who meet every Wednesday and Thursday to learn about gardening. They are always welcoming towards new members and are currently looking to extend their reach.

To show its support, the local community has donated funds and equipment to the Grow It community. The group is currently collecting vouchers which will be used to purchase more seeds and gardening equipment.

“We started from scratch, but thanks to everyone pulling together, we’ve achieved quite a lot in a very short time,” says Wright. “The Grow It group teaches pupils how to grow their own flowers, vegetables and fruit, while having fun in the process.”

The community has been constantly increasing in numbers since it was set up and its popularity has convinced the school to make more facilities available to the students. “I am impressed to hear,” says local MP Rob Flello, “that the school is using extracurricular activities to promote academic achievement”.

This academic year, the Grow It group will also plant flowers in meadows around the school with seeds they harvested from the Coronation Meadow in Basford, Staffordshire.