ECP Knowledge News Network Television News

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The launch of the English College Knowledge News Network, a thought-provoking news programme produced entirely by students.

Knowledge News Network or (KNN) is a student-driven media initiative. The students, alongside their teachers and a professional videographer, created a news programme with a twist. In the style of Panorama (UK) or Události (CZ), KNN doesn’t only report the news as it is but reports on how we know what we know or how we gather and assess the facts. In part a response to the rise of “clickbait” media and fake news and in part to enrich our IB Theory of Knowledge Programme, KNN asks students to demand more rigour of themselves in exactly how they know the things they know rather than simply accepting knowledge at face value.  With the use of a green screen to create our news studio and weather report, and various locations in and around the College, KNN tackles the hot topics of the year – technology, equality and the environment – and immerses students in the experience of being a journalist and news producer. First videos within this project are available below.

Watch first ever KNN News here

Year 1 students as Heads for a day

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Lily Mac, Beatrice Doubová, Alice Vavrušková, Ekaterina Tishchenko

On 13th of June, we became the Heads for the day. Do we wish we hadn’t won the Yin Yang Island project? Maybe. But it definitely was a very interesting experience. We started off by greeting late comers in front of the school. There were not as many as we thought. But we still got to yell at them, as well as question some teachers. After that, we got to relax for about five minutes, before everything began. There were tons of emails to answer, a list of people to meet and interview. Even when we thought everything was done, unexpected visits and emails kept on coming. However, we handled them with a smile, as real headteachers would have.

We received emails about our tasks the night before, but some things just had to be managed without preparation. There was a logistics meeting, where we practically had no idea what to do. It was our first logistics meeting after all. We realised how thoroughly the school year must be planned, because just now, all teachers already know exactly what will happen in two weeks.

Then we had to interview an applicant for a new job as a Psychology Teacher and a potential new student. For these, we had to prepare some questions in advance. It was not easy, because we had very little time and a lot of other things to do, but we managed everything in time. The teacher interview was very interesting. She gave us detailed answers and we liked her relaxed approach to teaching. In the end, we had a nice talk with her. We were surprised to hear of a staff complaint (that later turned out to be a joke!) about some staff taking more than their fair share of bananas – still we think we found a good solution that we shared with the teacher!

Suddenly, it was time to give out the cookies. We rushed out of our office with the boxes in our arms. We almost managed to give them out to every single class, but there wasn’t enough time. In the end, we gave them out to random people in the corridors and to teachers. The day ended with a few final emails that were left to sort out. By this time we were completely exhausted.

Being in the headteacher’s chair as students is so tiring, even though there were four of us. This job is very hectic and we had enough after just half a day. And to think that Dr. Brown manages this every day only by himself is pretty impressive. It was also a lot of fun, though, and we had a good laugh most of the time. Becoming the boss of a school is a once in a lifetime experience. Literally, because neither of us plan to work as one in the future.

Thank you for the day, Dr. Brown (and pretty much the whole school) :))


Creating Cultures of Thinking

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Creating Cultures of Thinking – two quite distinct projects being worked on by our Year 1 and Year 5 students.

Yin Yang Island Development Project

Our Year 1 students have been working on a project to develop ‘’Yin Yang Island’’, acting as a metaphor for the Earth and the challenges it faces. Yin Yang Island is a fictitious island in the South Pacific. The Sultan, or supreme ruler of the island chain which includes Yin Yang Island, has commissioned a development study with a proposed investment of up to $500 million. The Year 1 teams formed development companies and created proposals to attract inward investment in the island. Each team will be ready to explain their concept, show you a model of their project and also a brochure. You will be asked to vote on the best concept and the winning team will be given an unusual and exciting prize. The winning team will run the school for a day, taking over the Headmaster’s role, his office and face some expected challenges in running a school.

Knowledge News Network Television News Show

Knowledge News Network or (KNN) is a student-driven media initiative. The students, alongside their teachers and a professional videographer, created a news programme with a twist. In the style of Panorama (UK) or Události (CZ), KNN doesn’t only report the news as it is but reports on how we know what we know or how we gather and assess the facts. In part a response to the rise of “clickbait” media and fake news and in part to enrich our IB Theory of Knowledge Programme, KNN asks students to demand more rigour of themselves in exactly how they know the things they know rather than simply accepting knowledge at face value.  With the use of a green screen to create our news studio and weather report, and various locations in and around the College, KNN tackles the hot topics of the year – technology, equality and the environment – and immerses students in the experience of being a journalist and news producer. If you are interested in your child developing skills in investigative journalism, media and film production, or simply improving critical thinking skills, please encourage them to get involved in this project and, of course, come along.