Schools’ Special Edition of The Big Issue

Hitting the newsstand this week is the Schools’ Special Edition of The Big Issue featuring the editorial, ‘How social media has changed our world’, written by members of the Wellington College Third Form; Talitha (C), Annie (W), Aurelia (W), Anna (O), Estelle (Hn), Brooke (T) JC (R), Barney (Pn), Ben (Bl), Sasha (Bl), Suveer (M), Ishan (M), and Sasha (M).

They have worked tirelessly on producing the article about social media and its effects on young adults, as part of the Global Citizenship program. This has been a challenging and worthwhile experience for the students to work within the constraints of journalistic writing, which included a short word count and looming deadlines.

Wellington College and The Big Issue have had a longstanding partnership since its co-founder Lord John Bird came to launch the start of the new year’s Global Citizenship programme back in 2014, and are always looking for ways to work together and inspire our young people to engage with news and current affairs.

Rebecca Park, Head of Global Citizenship said:

“There has never been a more important time for young people to be involved in social action. This collaboration has inspired our pupils to build a better world through storytelling, and learn how important it is to be involved in truth-seeking.”

If you would like to read their article please visit The Big Issue for a digital copy or it can be purchased from a street vendor for £3. Available from Monday, dated 16 May. You can use this link to find your local vendor (U.K. only). We hope you enjoy the article!

‘Education for global citizenship helps young people develop the core competencies which allow them to actively engage with the world, and help to make it a more just and sustainable place. It is a form of civic learning that involves students’ active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature.’

“I feel honoured to be helping people in such ways and can’t wait to buy copies for my friends and family!”Talitha

“I have really enjoyed this experience and would recommend it to new 3rd form pupils. This experience taught me new skills and also allowed me to help others.”Anna

“The experience has broadened my view on writing in general, providing me with new opportunities to flourish in any future writing.”Estelle

“I very much enjoy writing and am thinking of pursuing a career in literature. This experience gave us a great insight into the journalism industry, and I have found it very useful.”Aurelia

“I never thought I would have such a wonderful opportunity at a young age. Furthermore, the fact that we are one of the first schools to collaborate with the big issue makes the opportunity even more novel”Sasha

“Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. This was an amazing experience, the skills of researching about our topics, fitting it within the word limit and collaborating with other team members as well have all been instilled in us.”Suveer

“It is actually quite crazy to think that my work, as well as my peers work, was published and that people could actually be reading this.”Ben