‘Sports Reports’ requires pupils to apply generic learning skills such as problem solving, thinking skills, speaking and listening, independence and group work to overcome a series of barriers as they strive to generate professional ICT based solutions within a limited time frame.

Set within the context of a large sports event, ‘Sports Reports’ requires pupils to create a newspaper, website and digital video reports as results and news becomes available from ‘Sports Reports Games’.  Videoconferencing plays a major role within this one-day event: providing pupils with an insight as to how journalists work via live discussions with experts from this field; facilitating communication between teams in different schools; and in ‘moving the goal posts’ as the event occurs – posing problems for pupils to respond to within their teams, such as reorganising content as news of a drugs failure by an athlete becomes known.

Thanks to previous funding from the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) and now from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Wakefield schools and those of five partners Local Authorities are able to loan an extensive range of ICT tools to facilitate the one day event: videoconferencing, digital video, and audio recording equipment.  This makes this event accessible for all.  Videoconference connectivity across the regional broadband network is facilitated by the use of JVCS on the JANET network.  In Yorkshire and Humberside all schools have the ability to videoconference across broadband thanks to the infrastructure put in place by the YHGfL and UKERNA.

The ‘Sports Reports’ event has already taken place in eight secondary schools in Wakefield during 2005-6.  These have been extremely successful for both the students and teachers perspective.