Shine news

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.”

Back in June, student Annabel won the Terry Mansfield CBE Award for Tomorrow’s Talent at the 2026 Shine School Media Awards. Annabel had been involved with school magazines from the age of 14, joining a longstanding team at one school and (impressively!) starting a new publication from scratch at her next.

After her win, we asked Annabel what teachers can do to support student editorial teams working on newspapers, magazines and podcasts. Here’s what she told us…

The Shine School Media Awards exists to recognise students who are the creators of tomorrow. Over 15 years of the competition, we’ve seen that it’s students who lead what the future of both media and message are.

They’re shaping the world, whether they know it yet or not.

We’ve learned that by following students, by listening to where they go and rewarding innovation, we give them the leg up they need.

So what is school media today?

Back in June, Stationers’ Hall welcomed our most competitive field of Shine School Media Awards finalists yet. Journalists, editors, illustrators and podcasters, all under eighteen, all with a story to tell.

The day started with workshops, including cartoon drawing, bookbinding and two new hands-on sessions this year: metallic foiling and letterpress printing.

Then came the ceremony itself, with an Oscars-style reveal as each winner was announced, including the surprise unveiling of a brand new award, Best Humour, added after we noticed just how much wit and satire had come through in this year’s entries.