A community radio station gave an opportunity to local primary school students to share their voices.
Six of St Brigid’s Primary School Grade 6 students were invited to the Yarra Valley FM to host the Schools In radio program on Thursday 26 June.
Schools In is a 30-minute segment produced and hosted by students of the Yarra Valley, which has a history of decades.
Matt Shore was one of the students who started Schools In when he was a primary school student and now hosts The Rock’n’Roll Hit Parade every Sunday from 6pm to 8pm.
Cora Zon, the radio presenter who has helped the students run Schools In for 10 years, said she loved collaborating with children.
“I absolutely love it. It’s so much fun. The children have so much energy and enthusiasm,” she said.
“They begin a little nervous, but then they start to shine.”
Lucy, Brodie, Jonathan, Amelia, Liam, and Sophie were very excited to introduce themselves to the local community and play the songs they love.
The six students had prepared for their radio debut every day for about a week, discussing ideas, writing scripts and practising as a team.
Liam said he found it fun to be on air because he’d never done anything like it before.
“I talked about a book nook, which is a little thing you build to put between your books, and it looks cool,” Liam said.
“I also talked about frogs.”
Sophie introduced her leadership role in school.
“I’m a ministry leader, which is a group of 86 students who worked out to make the school a better place,” Sophie said.
“It is a very special job to do, and I’m very proud to have it.”
Amelia spoke of Italy, the country she’d chosen for her geography project.
“I also talked about what I like to do, which is netball, and that today is National Handshake Day,” Amelia said.
Lucy introduced her experience at the Memo.
“We went to the Memo last week, and we went behind the stage and got to see everything that people don’t normally see,” Lucy said.
“We went there because we’re going to have a big production in October and I had a main role.”
Brodie talked about his dogs and what he likes to do in his free time which is motorbike riding.
Jonathan spoke about a maths competition called the Maths Talent Quest (MTQ), which is run by the Maths Association of Victoria.
Five songs chosen by the young radio presenters to be played in between the program were Feelslikeimfallinginlove by Coldplay, Anxiety by Doechii, Mama Said by Lukas Graham, Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye, and Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun.
The students shared what they had learnt through the experience.
“It’s not just one person who does the entire thing to run a radio program,” Liam said.
“They get volunteers to come in and help.”
“I learnt it takes a lot of people to put on a good radio show and public speaking is scary but it’s (overcomable),” Sophie said.
“It’s okay if you step up for something that you’re not normally used to,” Lucy said.
“It’s good to go after things you don’t normally go against.
“I’ve become more confident to challenge myself.”
“It’s a good experience because if you keep doing these things as a child, you could build more confidence to do these things in your life,” Jonathan said.
Grade 6 teacher Darrin Wall and principal Tess Dwyer were proud of their students.
St Brigid’s Primary School has re-engaged with the Schools In program since the end of last year after the Covid pandemic.
The school tries to give all Grade 6 students, who are interested in radio, an opportunity equally as it hosts the Schools In twice in each term.
Mr Wall and Ms Dwyer said students could improve diverse skills through this activity.
“One is the writing because they write the script. They work as a team, so teamwork is a big thing. Part of scriptwriting, they also learn about how to time it so that they can fit it within the allocated time,” Mr Wall said.
“Definitely the public speaking, the leadership opportunity … The fact, that their families and the rest of the school listen to it, also puts the school out there in the community and gives the school a voice in the community, as well as other community organisations when we’re working with them.
“It also teaches them about not just the community but the media in the community. A lot of the students and families are not even aware that there’s a local radio station. It’s also beneficial for them because it puts them out in the community more.
“It also shows (students) how the media industry works. They’re seeing the technology they use and how a workplace works.”
Ms Dwyer added it promotes a sense of confidence in the children.
Schools In faced a big crisis during the Covid pandemic and is now slowly bouncing back as three schools, Upper Yarra Secondary College, Healesville Primary School and St Brigid’s Primary School, started to get involved.
“Schools In gives young people a voice. There were some high school students that came in last year, and they wanted to talk about what was important to them and share that on air,” Ms Zon said.
“One of the things that Yarra Valley FM is encouraging is for students to get involved with the community and act like reporters. They’ll report about what’s happening at their school but also what’s happening in the community.”
To listen to Schools In podcast episodes, please visit the following website, podcasts.yarravalleyfm.org.au/show/1
