• What is School Press?
The school press is a free activity carried out inside the vicinity of the school community. Students, supervised by a group of teachers, are in charge of creating, editing, designing, printing and distributing the product. The latter addresses the school community and the parents. Students are given the opportunity to express their opinions within a frame of freedom and responsibility, which shows their creative and education skills through writing. All the contents of the school press should adhere to the school rules and laws.
• What are the educational and pedagogical roles of the school press?
The school press instills in the student noble educational values indirectly, which helps in shaping his/her behavior and personality. Therefore, the school press:
- Bridges the gap between the school and society: when writing an article about a negative social behavior such as animosity among family members, the students are involved in thinking about and suggesting concrete solutions to social problems.
- Enhances students’ self-confidence when they interview people and conduct surveys.
- Helps the students to be creative as when they design and produce a magazine.
- Allows the students to look for information from different sources, so they acquire the tools to organize this information and present it.
- Enables the student to make connections with different school subjects.
• What are the types of the school press?
a. The wall magazine
The wall newspaper is a board that measures 100X70 cm and is made of card board or wood. The organization of the wall paper can be as follows:
- The name and the logo of the wall paper should reflect the contents exposed.
- The school name is written on the top left hand corner .
- The editor’s name, the editing staff and the issue number appear on the top right hand corner.
- The contents of the paper should be varied; it can include for example, school news , a short story, an interview illustrated by pictures, photos, etc.
b. Picture magazine
This magazine contains pictures and/ or photos with a short comment to explain each one.
c. The printed magazine
The printed magazine is one of the most important art work in the school press. It can be printed in a great number and reach a lot of readers. Besides, it can be easily distributed and can contain a lot of contributions depending on its contents. The most important thing in the printed magazine is that the material should be written by the students themselves under the supervision of a teacher or a group of teachers.
• What to include in a printed magazine?
A 20 page-magazine, for example, can be organized in this way:
1. Cover page: it should include the title, the logo, issue number, the date of publication,
2. Flyleaf back: proverbs, sayings with or without pictures
3. Table of contents: lists the contents of the magazine with the pages
4. The editorial: about a page-length introduction written by the editor(s)
5. School news: 2 pages
6. A report: 2 pages about educational and pedagogical topics related to the concerns of the school.
7. Interview: 2 pages of an interview with a teacher, headmaster, inspector, etc.
8. Contributions: 4 pages that include articles, caricatures, poems, drawings, etc.
9. Reacreational pages : 2 pages of contests, crossword puzzles, games, etc.
10. Last page : Educational slogans with or without pictures.
• How to publish a printed magazine
a. Planning
- Stating the objectives of the magazine
- Appointing the editing board
- Assigning different tasks
- Establishing criteria for evaluation
- Holding regular meetings to collect the materials
b. Editing
- Writing the news, interviews, etc.
- Selecting the pictures, photos, etc.
c. Proof-reading
- Correcting mistakes
- Correcting information
- Matching the pictures, photos to the right material
d. Designing
- Organizing the materials according to topics
- Deciding what to put on the cover pages
- Deciding on the final design
e. Printing & distribution
- Printing enough copies
- Deciding who can distribute the magazine and how
