Education Reporting

Many people see education reporting as less involved with hard news than the other specialisms.

It is true that as an education reporter you are likely to be involved with more than your fair share of light stories.

But education reporting can also involve investigations into things that are not right with education in the local area and writing serious reports on a council's education policy. And remember that your reporting could make a difference to a parent's choice of school, which could have a big effect on a child's life.

Developing Relationships with Schools

You will find that many schools think they are entitled to positive coverage in your paper but find it difficult to accept that part of your role is to write the negative stories as well.

The first thing you should do as a new education reporter is make contact with local headteachers and offer to explain to them the kind of stories that are likely to be published. But also explain to them that your role is to write the whole range of stories and that sometimes these stories will not be positive.

Some education reporters find that because schools compete against each other, they become precious about rival schools getting more coverage than them. Unless they have a legitimate complaint that good story ideas they have put forward have not made the paper, you should not put up with it.

Explain politely but firmly that the schools getting more coverage are offering you stories that fit better with what the paper wants to publish. Remind them of the kind of things stories need, such as good pictures and unusual angles, and suggest that if they want more coverage then they should approach you with more stories that fit this description.

Often, you will find one or two schools are getting significantly more coverage than the others and this is usually because they have someone who is media savvy and they put a lot of effort into it. There is nothing wrong with this, but do try to make sure you are not featuring the same schools week after week.

Parental Permission

It is really important you always make sure that with any photographs of children, you check the parents have given permission before you publish.

Schools have become better at this in recent years and it is now standard practice for them to ask parents at the beginning of the school year to give the school the right to give permission. But you still need to check, as sometimes teachers forget.

Get the responsible teacher to sign a form saying they are giving consent in case there are any issues later on. It is not uncommon for two or three children in a class not to have parental permission and you have to work with the photographer to make sure those children are not in any of the pictures.

The rules on this are really strict. In fact, the Brecon and Radnor Express was found guilty of breaching the Press Complaints Commission's Code of Practice for taking a picture of a child at school without the school's permission - even though the child's mother had given permission.

School Inspections

If you work in England, then Ofsted will carry out inspections of the schools in your area. The Ofsted website has a useful search facility where you can find inspection reports for schools in your area.

In Wales, Estyn is responsible for school inspections, while Scottish Schools are inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education.

Extremely positive or negative reports are always interesting. With the reports that are neither particularly negative nor positive, look for something unusual the inspectors have picked up on to make the story stand out and give it an unusual hook.

Dealing With Councils

Make sure you work closely with whoever covers the local council and that both your roles are clearly defined.

This is because schools are run by councils and this can be a cause of confusion. For example, if there is a council meeting where an education issue is on the agenda, which of you is responsible for covering it?

The answer does not really matter, but it is important that you have this discussion. Otherwise, it could lead to you stepping on each other's toes or, more importantly, stories slipping through the gaps.