John Young Speaker | Creative & PHSCE & Careers & Literacy & Media

John Young

Developing skills that will help them in the classroom and the workplace

John Young is a BBC TV reporter and presenter who’s as comfortable challenging a group of the toughest Year 9s as he is interviewing the trickiest of MPs. John won’t come and talk to your pupils from the front of the room. Instead, he’ll roam amongst them, throwing them into the cauldron of his simulated TV News environment.

During his Newsroom Bootcamp workshop, your pupils will have to decide the news agenda… make some tough decisions… show some leadership… write their news headlines… and stand up and present them to the group. They’ll have to do it on the tightest of deadlines, and as breaking news poses fresh excitement. At the end of it all, they may even be asked to read aloud off his professional newsreader’s teleprompter. They’ll be knackered at the end, but (judging by the written feedback John gathers on the spot after each workshop) most of them will be exhilarated. Some may have been inspired to explore a career in the media. But that’s not John’s main aim.

He set up his business to give school pupils an experience that ticks a lot of your curriculum boxes: … resilience, time pressure, oracy, literacy, communication, teamwork. No-one nods off if you invite John in as a speaker — because he doesn’t speak to them. He shares an experience with them that they will not soon forget.

Testimonials from Teachers

"What you've done in a few hours today is going to last them a lifetime. It's definitely worth the money we spent."

– Paul Darbyshire, Head of Business Studies, Felpham School

"One support teacher came in late -- saw what was happening -- and said 'I feel like crying ...' -- because her children would never normally have volunteered to do stuff -- but they were reading out loud! In front of people! It was something they haven't normally done, until today. It's been brilliant -- really, really good."

– Julie Buckle, Head of Y7 Transition, Angmering School

"You drained them. You kept them on their toes. You make them think for themselves. They had to be on it. That is a good thing. The gamble of paying for this has paid off -- I would do it again."

– Victoria Bowdler, Manager, Wealden Works Employability Initiative