Radio West Oaks

We are LIVE! Click here to open the radio station player.

Radio station requests can be made at the Boston Spa Learning site library, by posting a completing postcard into the post box provided or by email [email protected]. Alternatively, speak to a class lead who will pass your message onto the radio station coordinator.

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Radio West Oaks, established September 2017, is a resource which allows the whole school community to participate and capture the fantastic work that pupils develop and produce on a daily/weekly/termly basis and showcase this, through broadcasts, across the community.

Radio West Oaks includes content chosen by pupils, such as music, jokes, competitions, interviews, West Oaks news headlines, student reviews and readings including poems and stories. Most classes play this to their pupils during school hours such as at snack, play and break times.

Students in 16+ led the development of the radio station and we are currently expanding the access to this resource across our whole school community. Some of the students involved have been on educational visits, exploring local radio stations and media organisations, questioning experts in the field before generating their own ideas for Radio West Oaks. Students working on the station have had different roles and expectations, tailored and differentiated to meet interests, allowing students to develop a range of vocational skills in a real life project, which are transferable to life after school. This has involved a great deal of team work which has provided a great sense of achievement across the whole school community. It has raised aspirations and highlighted interests which some students are pursuing outside of school but also during transition to further education, training or employment.

We are able to see the wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that our students in 16+ are developing to help enhance their academic and social skills. The resource provides a practical, experiential opportunity to support the development and practice of communication and interaction skills with others, writing scripts, recording content, editing and navigating industry standard equipment. This medium continues to enhance our school’s specialism – SEN communication and interaction and applied learning.

As you might imagine, the possibilities of the resource are endless with many cross-curricular links, providing a platform for creatively improving literacy, developing communication skills, presenting in a clear, audible manner, building confidence, problem solving, recording and listening to information, writing and speaking, giving students a voice, communicating with peers across school, communicating with parents, providing an opportunity for parents to listen to and share in activities in our school, whilst developing vocational skills. It allows our students to raise their confidence communicating, in a safe and controlled environment.

We have developed the following standards for our radio station for pupils’ safe use;

• Pupils will not broadcast live. All content will be pre-recorded, reviewed and then uploaded for transmission.
• Only pupil’s first names and class will be referred to during shows, if necessary.
• Radio airings are only accessible through our school website, meaning the majority of our listeners will be from our school community and those exploring our site – www.westoaksschool.co.uk/west-oaks-radio.

Should you have any ideas regarding the development of Radio West Oaks please get in touch as we would welcome your feedback and suggestions!

If you have any questions or would like further information on the plans for your child’s involvement in Radio West Oaks, please do not hesitate to contact us on [email protected].