Budding young journos

Sacred Heart Primary School Year two students had a taste of being a journalist throughout term three. The students proudly showed their hard work to Yarrawonga Chronicle journalist Emma Prior last Friday. Pictured with Emma are students James Bray, Flynn Leake, Ashlynn Thomas, Taiya Hurst, Finn McDonald and Alvie Young display their war on plastic articles.

War on plastic is a major issue worldwide with Sacred Heart Primary School Year two students researching, taking notes, and writing articles on the subject last semester.

Grade two teachers Caitlyn Seymour, Kellie Cowan, Emma Kerr, Erica Bolton and Alison Stacey have worked with the students throughout the semester focusing on two separate topics, one the issue of plastic waste whilst also learning a new skill with article writing.

Last Friday I had the privilege to visit the students and learn more about the subject from them whilst also answering questions about my profession of journalism as well as assisting them with how to pull all the aspects together to create their articles.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with is how well these students constructed their articles, presenting the main point of information right from the start whilst also keeping the audience interested.

Students were also intrigued about the process of writing an article with a number of questions asked about what the starting point of an article is, how much research is done, if different colours can be used for headings in the paper and how long it takes to write.

These students were also very polite, attentive and excited to share their own work which created a great environment.

As many of us would be aware, plastic is dramatically damaging our environment and we need to do more to reduce the impact, but it was not until these students shared their research that the sheer effect of this material was known.

Here is just a short recap of some of the grade two students’ work.

“It is horrible to think that Australia is producing 3.5 billion tonnes of plastic waste every year. It is evident that damage is already being done. Our underwater ecosystem is endangered!” Brielle De Maria shared.

“Did you know that the first ever piece of plastic used is still out there somewhere? Every year we use three and a half billion plastic items a year, this is way too much plastic. We need to fix it now!” wrote Parker Cowan.

“Plastic straws are harmful to our ecosystem and marine life animals like turtles get plastic straws stuck in their noses. They get hurt and even killed. It’s time to stop and do something!” Alex Pepper wrote.

“Next time think, don’t use plastic, use other materials like metal and plenty more. When you go to the shops, use reusable bags instead of throwing away plastic bags each time,” Isaac McLarty said.

“Did you know that one in five things we buy goes to waste and Australia produces 6600 plastic straws and if they don’t get recycled they end up in our waterways,” Ziera Levesque wrote.

“Do you like the poor turtles having straws up their noses? Probably not! We have to stop now – it’s your choice. Paper straw or plastic? Remember that it all goes into landfill and plastic takes up to 1000 years to break down,” Rosie Lidgerwood wrote.

Although this is only a small number of the students work, every student presented their information in an interesting manner, and everyone did a great job with writing their articles.

Well, done Year two students!