So, your students want to start a magazine?

Last week, Shine winner Annabel told us what student editors need from their teachers. This time we turn the tables and ask a teacher how they guide their student editorial team.

In this week’s blog post, Antonia Breslin, Teacher of English at Yarm School in North Yorkshire, shares five steps to help students turn an idea into a finished magazine, with the students firmly in the driving seat.

Antonia has helped her students at Yarm School run their magazine for years and has had considerable success, winning a clutch of Shine Awards over the years. These days, former editors and Shine Award winners encourage and mentor the younger writers.

Her advice for teachers starting out comes back to one principle:

“Don’t do it for them, just help them to do it well.”

1. Start with their voice
   “Young people have ideas in abundance, so let them run with them.”
2. Make the whole school part of the idea
   “Even something as simple as choosing a name can build that sense of ownership.”
3. Don’t wait for the content to come to you
   “The students should create it, shape it and ultimately feel that it belongs to them.”
4. Build your bank of content
   “Simply encourage older students to sit down with younger students and help them redraft.”
5. Make the final product matter
   “Revise. Restructure. Re-read. Cut. Add. Question your choices.”

For Antonia, the measure of success is simple.

“Ultimately, the most successful student magazine is one that the students can hold up with pride and say, ‘This is us, this is all of us.'”

Read Antonia’s full advice, including her tips on naming the magazine and working with colleagues, on our new ‘For Teachers’ page, part of the ‘How to start a Shine project’ section of the website.

• Guidance for Teachers
• How to start a Shine project

Encourage your students to start a school media project or funnel groups of students with talent interests into one of these areas. Even better, you might find they already create school work that is eligible for the Shine School Media Awards via the AQA Level 3 EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) where, for instance, a student has led a completed and assessed media project.

We’d love your students to be part of the Shine School Media Awards next year. We’re accepting registrations for the 2027 competition right now, just tap on the link below.

• Register for Shine 2027 here

Entry deadline: 7th May 2027

Do you have any questions? Email us direct at shine@stationers.org

Best wishes,

Richard Chapman
Chair, Shine School Media Awards