Great Yarmouth Charter Academy welcome a visit from the BBC!
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Students at Great Yarmouth Charter Academy were lucky enough to have a visit from the BBC as part of their centenary celebrations. The BBC 100 Share Your Story project is an initiative that aims to build pupil’s resilience and confidence in storytelling, whilst introducing students to exciting careers within the BBC that they may previously have never considered, or even heard of.
Great Yarmouth Charter Academy’s Year 7 - 10 students welcomed host and BBC Radio 1 Extra presenter, Swarzy Mcally, and special guests Rosanna Skwarka, Rights and Business Affairs Executive and Amy Nomvula, BBC Norfolk Senior Journalist, who took to the stage for to share their stories, talk about their lives and how their journey led them to their current roles within the BBC.
Rosanna Skwarka shared her story by telling students all about her struggles throughout school and post school, and how she struggled to find her place and know what she wanted to do, she went on to explain that after studying for various different career routes and changing her mind, she eventually applied to work with the BBC and how she never looked back. Similarly, Amy Novula shared with students how she found peace and comfort after moving to Norwich and securing her job with BBC Norfolk, after she escaped an extremely difficult start to life. Amy inspired students through her story and encouraged them to never give up, despite how tough things may feel.
Rosanna said:
“People like me don’t get to work for the BBC but we all have the ability to rewrite how our stories end, even if it takes a couple of plot twists”.
Each session ended with a Q&A, where students asked some hard hitting questions from 'What is the most difficult thing you've even been through?' to 'Who is the most famous person you've ever met at the BBC?'.
It was a great opportunity for Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, bringing fun and excitement back into schools after so long without external visitors due to the pandemic. Students were shown various videos highlighting how the BBC have been storytelling for 100 years, and even tasked to write their own story involving Stormzy and David Attenborough! But most importantly, students were encouraged to share their stories through the BBC's Young Reporter Scheme.
