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A record number of 500 schools across the UK will make and publish their own news stories as part of this year's ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report – a project to engage teenagers with news and bring their stories and voices to a wider audience by teaching pupils about News production.

As the project enters its third year, teachers across the country have spent the past few months using resources available on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report website to enable their students to become "School Reporters" and develop journalistic skills.

More than 25,000 teenagers have been involved. ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ staff, from journalists to presenters, have also got involved and volunteered to be School Report mentors, so pupils could find out from them how news reporting really works.

On Thursday 26 March, School Reporters, aged 11 to 14 years old, will take part in ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ School Report News Day, simultaneously creating multi-media news reports, to a deadline of 2.00pm.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report website will link to these websites from bbc.co.uk/schoolreport, and will also stream School Report Radio and School Report TV stations for the day.

Students' reports will also be available on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Red Button service and there will be coverage throughout the day on national, regional and local TV and radio.

As part of the initiative, students from schools across the UK will question Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, in addition to political leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Students have also visited number 11 Downing Street to interview the Chancellor about the credit crunch.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News presenter Ellie Crisell will co-present the online TV channel with School Reporters from Television Centre in London, providing four hours of live TV including links to schools around the UK.

Newsbeat's Chi Chi Izundu and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Switch presenter Anthony Baxter will provide seven hours of live updates on the online radio station.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News presenter and former teacher, Huw Edwards, is lending his support to the project sharing his expertise through a series of short videos.

He says: "I'm involved because I want to give young people the chance to make the news themselves, and I want to share the principles of good journalism."

Helen Shreeve, Editor, says: "Often we see teenagers on the news in stories about crime or education but we don't get to hear their views or other aspects of their lives or interests. School Report gives 11-14 year olds the chance to set the news agenda themselves, and it gives the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s audiences the opportunity to see the world from their perspective."

Notes to Editors

For more information on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report day see bbc.co.uk/schoolreport.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report website contains a wealth of resources to help teachers develop their students' journalistic skills.

School Report is an annual project open to all schools in the UK.

An independent evaluation of the project in 2008 endorsed its educational worth: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/7517791.stm.

Another report found that participation in School Report could help raise literacy: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/7845151.stm

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News School Report, which has been running for three years since 2007, has seen an increasing number of schools taking part year after year.

In the first year, 120 schools joined the initiative, while 290 schools broadcast their own news in 2008.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ coverage on Thursday 26 March will include:

School Report Radio – on air via bbc.co.uk/schoolreport and the Red Button from 8.45am–3.45pm.

School Report TV – on air via bbc.co.uk/schoolreport and the Red Button from 10.30am–2.30pm.

Online coverage including an hour-by-hour write-up throughout the day.

Coverage on 40 local radio stations.

Coverage on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Coverage on Breakfast, the One O'clock and Six O'clock News, Newsround and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News channel.

School Reporters are working on a wide range of stories including voting at 16, eating disorders, celebrity culture, what it's like to live on an island, Crufts, ghosts, MRSA, Olympic hopefuls, using mobiles at school, astronauts, what it's like for your Dad to serve in the army and CCTV in schools.

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