School children from Leighton Buzzard tell adults the news - from their perspective

Youngsters from a Leighton Buzzard school became news presenters for the day when they shared a hilarious, insightful and sometimes bittersweet perspective of the world today from the view of a child.

The 12 children from Beaudesert Lower School reported the news to a packed audience at Leighton Buzzard Library Theatre on March 18.

Working with professional artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington, the children have spent the past three weeks researching news reports regarding the issues that mattered to them.

The children explored such questions as, “Is Leighton Buzzard kind?”, “Why are there so many vape shops?” and “What’s under Leighton Buzzard”?

The children interviewed an archaeologist, foodbank manager, the CEO of Central Bedfordshire Council, a shop owner, council officers and passers-by on the streets to form their professional news reports and then presented them to a live theatre audience.

Facts were checked, breaking news was gathered and the show was aired live on the internet.

You can watch the show in the YouTube video in this article

Audiences were impressed by the news reporting and learned a lot about their local community.

Headteacher Vanessa Pearce said: “It would be great to think this will spark a thought in some people's minds, and they can do something about some of the ideas.”

Elaine Midgley, director of Bedford Creative Arts who produced the show, said: “We often forget as adults how boring the news can be for young people and how often we overlook the issues that matter to them. We were blown away by how professional these children of only eight years old were and how insightfully they discovered so many things about their home community. They clearly are the journalists of the future!”

The concept for the show was originally developed by Andy Field and Beckie Darlington as part of a commission by Cambridge Junction and Norfolk & Norwich Festival. The performance in Leighton Buzzard Library Theatre was commissioned by Bedford Creative Arts in collaboration with Central Bedfordshire Council and funded by Arts Council England, Central Bedfordshire Council and The Whitbred PLC Chairman’s Fund via BLCF.