12 Rugby primary pupils poised to launch newspaper

Editor and pupil Lilly told the Advertiser she was driven to create a school newspaper after winning the regional prize in a writing competition judged by David Walliams.

Lilly said she was disappointed that she didn’t win the national prize, so she decided to turn something negative into something positive.

She and deputy editor Darcy, with the support of their mothers who both previously worked in the media, presented the idea in front of the school’s head teacher – after which the idea was given the green light.

Darcy’s mother Kerry Lowe runs a recruitment business. She saw the newspaper as a chance to give pupils first- hand experience of applying for jobs – by organising an application process for each post on offer.

The team holds an editorial meeting every other Friday, with pupils also giving up their time to work towards the publishing of the paper’s first edition in the coming weeks.

Lilly said: “It’s been great because you speak to people you would never normally talk to.”

Natasha Barker, Lilly’s mother, and former photographer for the Advertiser, said: “Lilly views this as her legacy to the school.

“We don’t want it to be short-lived – we hope it will last ten or more years.”

She said she wishes to thank staff at the school for their support.

The team also consists of cartoonist Josephine, sports reporter Lucy, year four correspondent Kaila, year three correspondent Cecylia, year six correspondent Isabel, photography editor Kydon, year five correspondent Stevie and Key Stage One correspondent Alyssa.