On Tuesday 5^th June, Press Club members had the privilege of making a trip to the BBC Headquarters in Newcastle.  The trip lasted from 10:10 – 12:45, and it was BRILLIANT.  We looked at some Gory Games from Horrible Histories and practiced taking the ‘guts’ out of a mummy in one minute, and succeeded! Then we went into a very large studio and in the screen in front of us we were standing on the Tyne Bridge! They had it switched to a ‘green screen’ and so anything that the camera saw that was green, it cut out. Then it got switched to a ‘blue screen’ and when somebody was covered with a blue blanket, they disappeared! That is, we found out, how the Invisibility Cloak works in the Harry Potter movies.

Later we went onto the set for the Hetty Feather television series.  We were transported into Victorian life as we sat in the classroom set!  Many pupils enjoyed when we went onto the set for the local news and saw the ‘hard news’ section and chair and the ‘soft news’ sofa, learning about what sort of information would be featured on each side.  We sat on a sofa where Little Mix had been!  After that, we went through a studio and saw Carol Malia!  Next we went to a room where we played Copycats, which is basically Chinese whispers but with drawings.  Finally, and the absolute best bit – we went onto the set of The Dumping Ground. We each did a Father’s day recording that was to go out on the radio on Father’s Day.  Four of us were picked (including me) to act out a short scene from The Dumping Ground with the costumes that the actors actually wore.  Then some people were picked to do sound effects for a scary story presented as a radio play. One person flapped a pillow, one person clinked glasses together, one person stepped repeatedly on gravel, and one person slid a lock up and down a block of wood.  Next three people (including me again!) were chosen to do a local TV broadcast.  Adam did the sports news, I did news, and Erin did the weather.  We were also led into a studio where we saw some people doing radio broadcasts.  It was all really fun but (unfortunately) we had to leave.  It was an awesome experience and I will never forget it! 

By Mina 5SL