Shine School Media Awards Trip – Stationers’ Hall, London

I am delighted to congratulate the entire student team of ‘Bourne Identity’, the school magazine, on their success this week at the Shine School Media Awards in London. The judging panel comprises a range of key figures in the journalism and publishing world, including those working for national newspapers, and saw us up against competition from other extremely impressive entries from schools across the UK and beyond.

We were awarded the prize for ‘Best Magazine’ and ‘Best Magazine Cover’, as well as being highly commended for Ewan Dragota’s interview article with Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Judges said of the magazine: ‘the pace never lets up’ and ‘this is a superb school magazine that fizzes with energy throughout’ and, of the cover (designed by Isabella Perna), ‘[it] is a thrilling burst of angsty, punky energy, packed with personality and impossible to ignore… [it] delivers a stop-you-in-your-tracks cover that exudes attitude and originality’.

Atiksh Agnihotri (chief editor), Vivienne Chen and Tegan Haw represented the team admirably at the awards ceremony itself, participating in journalism workshops, enjoying a two-course sit-down lunch, and soaking up the atmosphere of Stationers’ Hall, the history of which dates back to the 15th century and today’s building to the 17th century. The hard work of these three students, along with the rest of the team, involved late nights and scrambling to meet deadlines, but all are agreed it was worth it!

It is, of course, hard for me as a member of staff to be entirely objective (!), but I think it is fair to say that the standard of the competition was very high, making the achievements of the team all the more notable. The journalists, editors and other industry representatives judging also declared that this year had seen the highest standard of entries the event had ever seen, and there were plenty of schools not lucky enough to be nominated for awards. I would like to thank the team for the privilege it has been to work with them.

As we bid farewell to the fantastic Year 13 members of the team, who will be missed but leave a strong legacy, Tegan Haw, year 12, looks ahead as our new editor to make plans for the magazine content. Any interested editors, writers, illustrators and cartoonists should sign up to be involved as soon as possible.

You can read more about the Awards and team’s achievements here:
https://www.shine-schoolawards.org/about/past-winners/