Year 13 Media students at King James I Academy have produced and published their own career-themed magazine as part of their A Level course.

The production of the magazine, called "Go Ahead' gave them a realistic insight into a range of publishing sector specialisms such as Journalism, Photography and Graphic Design, whilst offering an opportunity for other young people to explore their career options.

Students learned about professional industry practice by planning and managing the entire project; the process involved completing consumer research, budgeting, photo-shoots, interviews and graphic design work, with each student taking responsibility for one spread and ensuring it was completed to a professional standard before being combined with others to form a team product. Students each had to source an interviewee and model for their page and thanks to the co-operation of a number of practitioners, the final product contained information about a variety of industries from Catering and Tattooing to Teaching, Hairdressing and the Police Force.

When asked about the project, students said they enjoyed being able to work towards industry standards but that it gave them a greater sense of achievement to be able to take the requirements of the course one step further and actually see and hold the printed magazine. Megann G said, "It's great to see something I have worked so hard on be turned into a professional product. I have showed the magazine to lots of people and they are so impressed by the quality; that makes me feel even more proud."

Written by Year 13 student, Ellie J