Schools Question Time Challenge 2009

School pupils take the reigns of BBC ONE's Question Time
Live on BBC THREE Thursday 9 July 2009 at 20:00 and on BBC ONE at 22.35

BBC ONE’s Question Time on Thursday 9 July will be a very special programme, broadcast live on BBC THREE at 20.00 hrs and in the usual slot at 22.35 hrs on BBC ONE. Two students from each of the four UK schools chosen as winners of the Schools Question Time Challenge are working with David Dimbleby and a BBC production team to make a unique edition of the show.

Pupils from Bristol Grammar School, SRC Bede Sixth Form College in Stockton-on-Tees, Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham and The Tiffin Girls’ School in Kingston upon Thames have been involved in all aspects of the production process, suggesting editorial ideas, researching and taking on production roles.

David Dimbleby will be joined on the show by a Question Time panel and a specially selected studio audience of mainly new voters, 16 to 25 year olds who have never voted before. They will question the panel on a range of topical issues affecting young people across the country.

David Dimbleby said, "With a General Election due before next June, attracting young voters is essential. Major issues are being raised about the future direction of our economy and society and about the nature of democracy in the 21st century. It is vital that young people take part in that debate. Schools Question Time provides young people with the skills to do that and opportunities to ask the right questions of the right people. I have enjoyed working with the student producers who want to provide a forum for young people to hold politicians to account on Question Time."

Student producer Tom Shane said, “We want to get more young people involved in politics and by broadcasting on BBC THREE we are directly interacting with people our age. Young people sometimes see politicians and politics as removed from their lives and by broadcasting live on BBC THREE we are trying to give young people the opportunity to interact with politics, democracy and current affairs through a very popular channel.”

Following a national competition, a member of the public (aged 18-21) will occupy a seat on the Question Time panel. Potential panellists submitted mobile video clips of themselves to the BBC website. From all the applicants five finalists were selected to audition in Sunderland on Thursday 18^th June 2009, with David Dimbleby in a “mock” filmed edition of Question Time. Comments from the public about this film are being taken into account to help select one winner who will appear on the programme from Salford.

The panel competition winner will be joined on the Question Time panel by Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Rt Hon Sarah Teather MP and Shami Chakribarti.

The Schools Question Time Challenge, now in its sixth year, is a national initiative from Parliament’s Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC. It aims to help pupils learn about citizenship, contribute to stimulating political discussions, improve their speaking and listening skills and engage with members of the community.

Secondary schools across the UK entered the Challenge online at www.schoolsquestiontime.org describing the
issues they would discuss during their ideal Question Time and the panel they would

select to debate those issues. From the entries, judges chose 10 finalists and each school receives a £250 cash grant from
the Institute of Citizenship, supported by Parliament’s Education Service, to stage their event. A team of judges attend
each event to select the four winning schools.

Two students from each of the four winning schools then work with David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team to produce a real BBC Question Time programme. They are involved in all aspects, from making editorial suggestions to researching and taking on production roles for the programme.

All UK schools can still benefit from the Schools Question Time Challenge, even if they choose not enter the competition, by downloading free resources from www.schoolsquestiontime.org. The educational resources include teacher’s notes, lesson plans and activities and aim to help pupils form opinions, improve their speaking and listening skills and engage with politics and issues that affect them as citizens.

The Schools Question Time Challenge 2010 will launch in September 2009, with new resources for an election year giving more young people than ever the opportunity to debate and interact with politics. For more information and to register your interest please see: www.schoolsquestiontime.org.

About the Challenge

The challenge gives students aged 14 to 18 the chance to run a Question Time-style event in their own school and ultimately win one of a number of places working alongside David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team next summer.

The Challenge builds confidence, emphasising young people’s roles and responsibilities, and their right to question decision makers and hold them to account. It clearly demonstrates that young people, too, are stakeholders in society.

The schools challenge is a three-stage process and the Schools Question Time programme is the final product of a far wider education initiative. The broader aim is to help schools nationwide by supporting the citizenship curriculum, helping improve students' public speaking and listening skills, and engaging young people in society and politics.

The Political Literacy and Citizenship Life Skills initiative is supported by Parliament’s Education Service, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC.

For more information and to download free Citizenship resources please see: www.schoolsquestiontime.org

Initially schools will be invited to register for a free online education resource pack to support directly the teaching of citizenship and political literacy for secondary school pupils in the classroom. The pack includes a new Politics and Parliament Toolkit that includes lesson plans on the different roles of Parliament and Government and voting rights and the reasons why people do or do not vote.

The resource pack also provides guidance for taking part in the second part of the challenge in which schools are invited to stage their own debates based upon the popular BBC One Question Time format.

Judges will select 10 regional winners and assess the schools as they produce their own Question Time events. Four winning schools from across the UK are then selected to nominate two pupils each to join the team producing the Schools Question Time programme in July 2009.

These eight students will be responsible for making key editorial decisions as well as taking on production roles such as editor, audience producers, panel producers and online producer.

Enter the Schools QUESTION TIME Challenge and your students could win the opportunity to help produce a real edition of the BBC’s QUESTION TIME with David Dimbleby and the regular TV production team! See www.schoolsquestiontime.org for more details.

Partners Websites:

Schools Question Time Official Website

BBC Schools Question Time

Parliament's Education Service

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