Youngsters from a school in Sale have created their own news reports and YouTube video on coronavirus to help keep their family and friends calm and safe.
The pupils from Woodheys Primary School have been learning about the facts of Coronavirus, how to deal with fake news and interviewing each other on their feelings on the disease at an after-school media club.
Kirsty Day, who runs Media Cubs, decided to tackle the issue of coronavirus in the school newsroom so the children can stay well informed and as a way of them opening up to each other about the pandemic.
She said: “As part of the Media Cubs newsroom we always like to keep up with what is on the news agenda – so it was hard not to tackle the issue of Coronavirus as it is one of the biggest ever reported news stories.
“Now we are on the verge of the school closures, I am pleased that they got this opportunity to do their own news reports on it – written and in our pop-up TV studio, take part in a Q&A session with each other to share feelings and what they know, and importantly learning about fake news, as they were keen to support their friends and family with this and provide them with some top tips. Now they will be in the know while at home.”
The group came up with a list of advice for their peers and families including not believing everything you see on social media and if it gets too much, turn your notifications off, get your facts from a trusted news site, ask a trusted grown-up – a parent or teacher – if you have any questions or concerns and stay healthy by washing your hands.
Kirsty added: “We had some great debates on the current situation and any facts they were confused about we set straight. They love TikTok and we found some great accessible and light-hearted videos that were myth-busting from the likes of the Red Cross and also found some you should not and how to spot them and learned we should not always believe what we see in the media.
“They came up with a list of sites they thought they could trust like Newsround and we looked at how to fact check on snope.com
“On the whole, I found they were very well-informed and taking a sensible approach to the situation and will be a valuable asset to their families to help them deal with it too.”
You can view the top tips, video and front-page poster the pupils created here.