Our visit was just ten days before 107.2 FM went on air for a 20 day period - four school weeks with broadcasting eight hours a day, two hours at breakfast time and six hours from 2 pm to 8 pm. The schedule was explained by a group of keen young broadcasters. Andrew Meakin (Year 11) has to organise the provision of four news bulletins each day of 3 minutes each. He has a link to the local community newspaper, but also a strict editorial policy ? only 'happy news'. This promised to be a real test of that wish expressed by so many viewers and listeners about the catalogue of crimes and catastrophes on local news. Paul Knapton (Year 10) has a role presenting the Breakfast Show and searching for appropriate 'lively' music. The RSL includes a licence to broadcast a certain amount of music and the school has used its sponsorship and other resources to build up a library of music which is now stored on a series of MiniDiscs, catalogued on a computer database. Paul's intriguing task is to work out playlists based on these resources. A major input to the Breakfast Show is Steven Caton's mix of interviews, sketches and other material ? a typical breakfast package which will be new and original in every show (20 shows in all). This is a tall order, but Steven, who has returned to school in Year 13 after a long illness, is a genuine radio enthusiast with lots of experience locally and great commitment to the medium. The Pudsey operation involves many, many students, but Steven's knowledge and skills and his ability to work with younger students is obviously a key factor in setting up the station. Helen Doherty, Layla Rashid, Joanne Westerman and Natalie McGeorge are all from Year 7 and are one of the teams providing programming later in the day. They operate as a team with two presenters and two 'technical operators' who 'drive' the studio desk during the Requests Programme. Some of these will be 'phone requests, using equipment borrowed from one of the station's supporters. These programmes will be live and the team will have to think about how to generate requests (so they were preparing for Red Nose Day as a focus) and how to time the programmes. They will also have to cue in advertisements from local businesses. For this reason, and to protect the school in the event of any misinterpretation of the broadcasts, all the programmes are recorded as evidence of what has been broadcast. Each of the eight one-hour slots in the day has a teacher with overall responsibility, but all the preparation and the running of the studio is carried out by students working in teams. We asked Les Barnes how it all began.

itp: How long ago did this adventure start?
Les Barnes: It's a twelve year development in all. We began by developing broadcasting within the school. We built the studio 'set' for both radio and television, using old and borrowed equipment and we piped a signal down to the canteen at lunchtime. We've extended this cabling to several classrooms as well and lunchtime broadcasts ? both radio and television ? have become a regular part of the school day. We finally moved to 'community' broadcasting in 1997 with two short RSLs and we will have two this year ? the second planned as part of Pudsey's Centenary celebrations in November.

itp: Can you give us some facts and figures about 107.2 FM? How do you resource it? How big is your audience?
LB: We decided early on to buy a transmitter and antenna. We could have rented one but we were sure we would continue and it was cheaper to buy outright in the long run ? around £800. Bradford Community Broadcasting came over and set it up for us. The RSL costs £2,240 + £200 application fee for 28 days broadcasting. Its a flat fee so you may as well use as much of the time as possible. Its like paying rent for the use of the airspace for a few weeks. For the first two RSLs we raised all the money through sponsorship and fund-raising ? around £8,000. This time we are getting support from a national project (see below), so we can spend less time fund-raising, but we still try to sell advertising.

The transmitter is 10 watts in power and the broadcasting range is 5-6 miles. It's hard to say how big our potential audience is. We concentrate on serving the immediate community of the school, in Pudsey itself, but we can be picked up in much of west Leeds and possibly east Bradford. It depends on weather and geography ? the Radio Authority changed our frequency and therefore our name to avoid clashing with another station in Wakefield, which is 15 miles or more away. We are carrying out some audience research this time. It is a problem with some commercially-minded advertisers. They ask us for 'audience figures'. Others simply recognise that they can earn a lot of goodwill by supporting us. Then again you do get those like the video rental shop which doesn't deal with under 18s because they can't rent videos ? they don't seem to realise that our students influence their parents, and indeed will be customers in a few years time.

itp: How many students are directly involved in the broadcasting activities? Do they require prior training/ experience? How long does this take before they are competent?
LB: We have as many as 200 students involved this time. There are 160 hours of programming with students working in teams of four, often as producers. The experience is open to every student in the school. There are around 100 students taking Media GCSE and 16 in the Sixth Form taking Advanced GNVQ Media, but not all of the media students are interested practice in radio, so it is by no means a 'media student only' operation. Having said that, there are obviously many spin-offs for media students and the GNVQ students will cover aspects of several Units of their programme, both practical and theoretical, through work on the radio broadcasts. The 'training' as such comes through stints on the lunchtime broadcasts. At the moment, because of his experience, Steven Caton holds auditions for all the students who want to take part. I also get support from staff in other departments, such as Art and English. The mixing of students from different year groups, with different staff outside the classroom is one of the major benefits of the whole experience ? it generates student confidence and a sense of responsibility.

itp: What kind of equipment do you need for your radio station in terms of producing programme material? What kinds of costs are involved?
LB: We began with various odd bits of equipment, but recently we've moved over to digital. We use MiniDiscs to record material and to store our library of music. They are around £150 each machine, £170 for a portable. We've just started hard disk editing on our Acorn computer. That costs a bit more than it might on a PC ? around a £1000. For the RSL, one of our sponsors has provided a PC with a sound card and CoolEdit software. We have a proper studio desk, but you could make radio programmes with just two recorders and a simple 'portastudio' ? a 4 track mixer. Plenty of schools already have one of these in the Music Department ? it's amazing what you can find locked away in cupboards. I'd say that you could make a start on reasonable quality radio production for around £500-£ 600.

itp: Do you receive any support directly from the radio industry ? training, advice, contacts etc.?
LB: Perhaps I can answer that in relation to the CAPE project. CAPE (Creative Arts Partnership in Education) was I think, originally an American concept, but in the UK it involves schools in Leeds and Manchester setting up partnerships which involve High Schools, Primary Schools and 'External Professional Artists'. There are 14 Leeds schools involved altogether and we made a bid in 1996 to run a Community Broadcasting Project. Yorkshire & Humberside Arts helped us make contacts and we have been successful in setting up a project which involves ourselves and three local primaries (but we also have links with more). It is a four year programme (next year we hope to include some television broadcasting) and CAPE has brought in ESF and Lottery funding which has paid for our RSL and funded the artists in schools. Waterloo Junior School said they were interested in exploring 'Greek Myths' as part of National Curriculum for Y5.

We found a freelance radio producer through Y& HA and she has been working with the school over 13 weeks to create a radio drama which we will broadcast (each of the three school's will have its day during the RSL). An English teacher from Pudsey is also involved. Lowtown School has invited in a storyteller and puppeteer to work with KS1 children and Sixth Formers from Pudsey have been in to record the work on video and MiniDisc. This will be broadcast as part of Lowtown's day. Primrose Hill School has a music workshop and this will also be recorded and broadcast. In all this work, Pudsey students get to mix with industry professionals of all kinds. They get to see what professional, 'industry standard' practice is all about ? "How it's done". All those difficult concepts such as professionalism, ethos, attitude etc. are there in the experience. We have had a video professional in who generated great enthusiasm and made the students realise what talents they had to be exploited. The presence of the professionals raises the level of student work. It does drop off again when they come 'off-air', but at least the students get to realise what they can achieve.

itp: What are the other benefits for the students and for the school generally in running the radio station?
LB: One of the benefits of CAPE is that it allows some risk to be there in the venture. It's a 'real' situation in which the students learn to develop coping strategies. All the students have their expectations raised. Some will go on to get involved in radio at university. Others will try to get into Hospital Radio, although many hospitals won't take them until they are 18. Those who are really keen, like Steven, will get work with local radio stations. It's live radio, so the reputation of the school is at stake and the students realise this and meet the challenge. I get plenty of support from within the SMT ? the Head is very supportive and our activities are reported to the PTA and the Governors (who may, of course, be our listeners as well). last year we won an award from Leeds LEA for "the most exciting and innovative project of the year". So radio does plenty for the profile of the school. We are one of three schools from the CAPE project to be featured in a national press release and we are expecting coverage in the Times Educational Supplement.

itp: You personally must put in a lot of extra work. What would you say to other media teachers who might be thinking about doing this? How does radio compare to video as a medium?
LB: I do it because I enjoy it, as well as for all the other good reasons I've already mentioned. I originally got interested because a music teacher wanted to find new ways of making lessons exciting. We dramatised Mozart's life and made a radio programme. It became a different type of learning experience and children got used to presenting material in new ways and engaging with it. Then I wanted to develop the
speech side of radio.

Anybody interested in setting up a radio station under an RSL, or getting involved in community media issues, should consider joining the CMA. The CMA is a membership organisation providing information, advice, training and consultancy to community media projects and aspirant groups. It publishes a quarterly newsletter, Airflash, holds regular public conferences and events and represents the interests of community media to regulatory and other industry bodies. CMA also has a website, currently being re-designed to offer an improved service, and a resources/ research library. 

Radio production is generally cheaper than television. You can do more for less. The techniques are much the same, the teamwork, the organisation of programmes, timing etc. are similar. For Media Studies, a radio station enables coverage of all the key concepts.
Radio is also a good way of developing community involvement. We are targeting particular groups of listeners, such as older people who are 'home listeners', often with carers. We will try to develop audience research with this group and use the results to improve future programming. We will also develop community links via the primary schools and with our sponsors and advertisers ? we are hoping to have a banner promoting the station on the Town Hall and the Swimming Baths. We've just joined the Community Media Association (see the information box) and we continue to promote what we do through the LEA, who know about us and support our work. So, radio can get you out into the community and help to make worthwhile partnerships.
I'd say that any media teacher can achieve a lot through radio, taking it a step at a time ? it has taken us twelve years to get here. If local schools are interested, I'm happy to talk to them. Just ask for Les Barnes on the school number, 0113 229 6000.

itp: Thanks, Les, for a fascinating visit and we wish you every success. We'd just like to add that in case any readers think that Pudsey Grangefield is all high-tech and privileged status, we've experienced the school as 'ordinary' in the best sense of that word and that you've all achieved a great deal through hard work, ingenuity and good organisation. Well done.

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Keeley Scott Administrator CMA 15 Paternoster Row Sheffield S1 2BX

© Roy Stafford/itp 2001