Examples of short-term partnerships

• Vibe 101 and Connexions (West of England)
  This commercial radio station on the NOW digital multiplex collaborated on a project in which young people worked on a radio advertising campaign for Connexions (the government's support service for young people aged 13 to 19 in England) to be aired on the station. The adverts, which ran for six weeks, were aimed at helping young people who had just left school, letting them know how Connexions could help them work out what to do next and also with any life issues which they might have. The young people looked at scripts and found out how the world of local radio works.
   

• BBC Radio Sheffield - Sheffield Children's Festival
  Every year, BBC Radio Sheffield trains and organises a young broadcasting team, who go out and about reporting on the Sheffield Children's Festival. Their reports are then broadcast on BBC Radio Sheffield.
  In addition, in 2004, BBC Radio Sheffield linked with schools in Sheffield and with the Crucible Youth Theatre to create a series of radio plays as part of the Sheffield Children's Festival. Primary and secondary schools paired up to write and direct the plays, using actors from the Crucible Youth Theatre.

Where local broadcasting centres have the space and facilities to welcome members of the public, this is often an extremely effective way of building links, creating good will and introducing the public to the radio production process.  Some specialist facilities, such as the BBC's Twenty First Century Classroom (21CC) in central London, have been designed specially for educational visits and groups.

• BBC 21CC
  BBC 21CC is a digital learning centre in BBC Broadcasting House, central London, which is "dedicated to exploring creative and cutting-edge uses of technology in teaching and learning." The centre is open to school groups, teachers and the public (families with children), who can take part in free workshops throughout the year. Topics include film, music, web design, digital art and animation as well as radio skills. It also works at a more long-term, structured level in partnership with several London schools.

Examples of longer-term projects

• Radio in Schools - 1
  BBC Radio Sheffield with support from the Radio Academy
  In the first Radio in Schools project in 2001, the Radio Academy and BBC Radio Sheffield (Margaret Burgin) worked together, creating radio directly with children in five Sheffield schools, evaluated by Sheffield Hallam University (report published in 2002).
   

• BBC Radio-in-Schools Pilot - 2, Teaching the teachers
  BBC Radio Sheffield with BBC Training & Development
  In this, the second Radio in Schools pilot, BBC Training and Development worked with BBC Radio Sheffield to train local teachers in how to use portable recording and editing equipment in the curriculum and to develop a training kit. One-day training courses were led by Margaret Burgin, BBC Radio Sheffield. Teachers then used the equipment in their teaching in a wide range of subjects, including English, History and Modern Languages. The project was evaluated by the University of Lancaster, with a positive response and conclusion. The method has also been used by BBC Sheffield/the project team to train teachers in Sheffield, Merseyside and Hull. A pilot training CD was produced (with participation from Radio 1), which included case studies and examples of lesson plans as well as training notes in how to use the radio equipment.
   

• BBC Stoke - Making Waves Project
  BBC Stoke have been carrying out a one-year pilot project working with children in local schools. The setup varies depending on the particular school, although it follows a general pattern, as explained on the Making Waves website:  "Work is done at school, on location and at BBC Radio Stoke’s Learning Centre, giving students an understanding of the media and opportunities to produce their own features. They choose subjects for themselves, and themes being discussed so far include bullying, discrimination, teenage pregnancy, stereotypes and local facilities. Students learn practical skills in sound editing and writing for radio, as well as discussing the role of the media industry through issues such as news reporting and advertising. Many of the issues covered in workshops link to class work in Citizenship and English. "  So far, around eight schools have taken part, mainly secondary schools. Each has a section on the Making Waves website, in which the students' completed reports are showcased and are available for listening on demand. Some of the items are also broadcast on BBC Stoke.  The project is currently being evaluated and aims to continue for a second year.
   

• Preston Manor School, Brent - 'The Manor' drama project
  Through Creative Partnerships, the Arts Council scheme which puts creative organisations and schools in touch with each other, Preston Manor worked in partnership with BBC Drama to create a radio soap opera, The Manor. As its partner input, the BBC provided a drama producer to work on the project.
   

• Park Community School - Media on the Park
  Park Community School in Leigh Park, Havant, has Specialist Performing Arts Status. The project Media on the Park is a partnership scheme with BBC South. It is an ESF (European Social Fund) funded project to provide a fully equipped media centre with facilities for TV & radio, plus a trained member of staff on secondment from BBC Radio Solent, based at Park Community School. The project serves a total of 14 local schools: 12 primary + 1 other secondary in addition to Park Community School.  
  In school: there is a daily breakfast programme, plus radio as a module in the Media Studies GCSE, plus support and encouragement in the use of radio in the primary schools - eg. training in using mini disc recorders.
  On BBC radio: there is a commitment to provide one piece of radio from the community per week for BBC Radio Solent.
   

• Radio Regen
  This community radio organisation in the Manchester area runs two licensed community stations: ALL FM 96.9 and WFM 97.2. Radio Regen has links with around six schools in the area: children from each school have regular 10-minute weekly slots on the airwaves during the day, either delivering their programme live or playing out pre-recorded programmes which they have produced in the classroom. Radio Regen runs workshops to introduce the schools to community radio and to help prepare the children for their broadcasts. 
   
• Takeover Radio - Leicester
  Takeover Radio received funding through partnership with the government's Connexions support service for young people aged 13-19 for equipment and to fund a trust manager to develop work experience opportunities at the radio station. Click here for details (Government Office for the East Midlands, Annual Report 2003-2004)

See the Resources page on this website for details of organisations which can help in setting up partnerships.
If you know of other partnerships which you think should be included here, please let us know.

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