“Super empowering and engaging for all” – Remuera Primary launches school TV.
Remuera Primary School is now broadcasting TV programmes direct to every classroom, and piloting home broadcasting. The school created a newsroom out of two classrooms and, with the help of Edwards, installed a TV studio.
Ricky Bakker, PE teacher at the school put his hand up to run the TV studio with the help of twenty-one year 5 and 6 students. Just one term in and they are broadcasting to every classroom each morning.
The school was motivated by a desire to reach students who might not be excelling academically or at sports, and provide them with opportunities to explore other passions. Ricky explains, “These students are now thriving and are so proud of what they are achieving. They are learning numerous real-life skills that could potentially serve them well in future careers.”
The crew began by doing their own version of “Edge TV” providing students with an opportunity to become familiar with presenting onscreen using a teleprompter and slowly building up their editing skills. Gradually they are moving towards more of a “morning show” format encompassing school news. This has included sports commentary, weather reports where the presenters cut to someone outside and sharing class work.
The school is ensuring that every student is involved both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. All classes have had a visit to the TV studio to see how it works and a camera is set up outside every morning before school with a feed to the studio, where the footage is edited for broadcast that morning’s show. This is giving students an opportunity to work through the novelty of appearing on TV!
In addition, each class can share their learning, “A Livestream app turns any device into a camera so recently one class used their iPads to share their projects on different countries with the rest of the school.”
The school is piloting home broadcasting with parents of the students who are currently helping to run the TV studio. The parents receive an email with a link to the Livestream server and can watch the recorded programme on any device. Feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Ricky has received emails from parents rejoicing that their child is re-enthused about coming to school.
For Ricky the TV Studio has given him a new lease of life too, “It has become my passion. The TV studio can be as big as you want it to be, or as focused. We are having a push on literacy and although not explicitly part of the plan, the TV studio has become another tool. It can easily integrate with anything.”
His enthusiasm has undoubtedly contributed to the success of the TV studio but he had no prior experience. He received training from Edwards after installation and “has done a lot of googling” to fill in any gaps in his own knowledge, or contacted Edwards, “Any technical questions have been immediately resolved by Edwards. They are really responsive. I’ll send them an email and they’ll hop on a computer, call me back and walk me through it. They will seriously do anything they can to help.”
And the future? “We think that any idea is a good idea. We will be streaming aerobics next year so that all classes can start the day with a good warm up!” chuckles Ricky, the PE Teacher in him taking over. “We are also considering recording and editing assemblies to share with parents.” The school’s ultimate aim is that the TV studio is self-managed by the students, “After just one term the students can handle the 7.30-9am live ‘radio station TV’ independently of me but we intend that the students will be able to produce actual TV programmes by the end of this year,” details Ricky. “We are also aiming to extend the numbers of students involved, with each class participating by creating their own show around a class project.”
Ricky concludes, “We know and the students know that we are very privileged to have access to a TV Studio, but if it is any way possible for your school to set up a newsroom, then one hundred per cent do it. It is super empowering, engaging for all and incredibly educational.”
The Kit:
- 2 x Sony PXW-X70 cameras with Tripods for the studio
- 1 x DJO OSMO handheld camera
- A wireless lapel microphone
- 2 microphones
- A boom
- A TV in every classroom
- HDMI over IP transmitters and receivers – Just Add Power System
- A dedicated PC running Livestream Capture System
- A soundboard
Want to know more about setting up your own TV Studio? Contact Jamie, our Education Sales Manager.
