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Lozells News presenters Lexie and Navicka are featured in the BBC 2 Learning Zone programme Who Are We? The BBC selected children from different parts of the UK to talk about their lives, their hobbies and how they view their identity.

The girls started reporting together for Lozells News a year a go but have being best friends for six years.
Their sense of friendship and fun comes across in their unique style of reporting and engages the audience.

Lexie says`I like reporting for Lozells News because we get to go to interesting places and find out about our neighbourhood and where we live’.

Navicka says `When reporting things do go wrong sometimes we forget the words or the words get stuck on the tip of our tongue. But we just laugh and start again’.

Lexie’s Mom, Sandra is very proud she says `Since Lexie has been reporting for Lozells News I have found that she is very articulate and confident in talking to adults. It’s a great opportunity for her’.

If you missed the programme on BBC 2 you watch it by clicking here.

Eileen Doyle, Birmingham City Councils Housing Education Initiative and Lee Martin, CAN UK Media who lead the workshops said ` Over the past few months the children have worked really hard to learn the craft of presenting, taken part in eco educational workshops and have being out filming in Lozells. In this short film you can find out how the children got on with script writing, using cameras and microphones and presenting.

Students attended the ‘Grand Designs’ and ‘Interbuild’ exhibitions at the NEC to find out about a wide range of eco-technologies such as, solar panels; ground source heat pumps; grey water recycling; types of insulation, and the use of recycled materials in construction.

Technology, and geography lessons were given over to the project for two weeks to allow students to research and develop their ideas in the run up to the competition.

On the day of the event the whole of ‘Year 9’ took part in the competition, working hard throughout the morning to complete designs and presentations to put forward for the final stage of the competition. From six form groups each group put forward their best design team to compete in the ‘Dragons Den’ style competition in the afternoon.

After lunch the six teams to reach the final presented their ‘Eco-House Designs’ to the ‘Dragons Den’. The Dragons Den, asked some very challenging questions of the finalists, who defended their design decisions well under scrutiny.

All in all the event was a great success, the whole of year 9 were able to learn how to reduce energy consumption & carbon emissions, and how sustainable lifestyles can contribute to combating climate change.

But this is just the beginning of the story for up to 32 of the Year 9 students who took part.

The ‘Eco House Design Challenge’ is part of a larger ‘Lozells Eco-Village’ project, funded by Urban Living, and delivered by Birmingham City Council.

The ‘Housing Education Initiative’ have developed a range of activities with ‘Holte School’, local primary schools, and Mayfield Special School, to raise awareness, working towards a sustainable community in Lozells..

For 32 students from Holte school who have shown particular interest in developing their knowledge further, this will mean an opportunity to be trained as energy assessors in the next phase of the project ‘Junior Green Doctors’. These students are to be trained to advise residents of Lozells how to reduce their energy consumption, and carbon emissions, and will be visiting relatives and friends to assess their homes, and advise where improvements can be made.

The ‘Junior Green Doctors’ will then be given the opportunity to attend a week residential course in May 2010 at the ‘Centre for Alternative Technology’ in mid Wales to further develop their understanding of climate change, eco-technology, and sustainable living.

The ‘Lozells Eco-Village’ project is to be celebrated with the school and local residents at a ‘Schools Eco-Event’ to be held in July 2010. Including presentations, and exhibitions of Holte Schools involvement in the project.

The web-based children’s news team – which was set up in partnership with Birmingham City Council’s Housing in Education programme – regularly produces short news stories presented by children from schools in the Lozells area.

Currently the news hounds are working on a documentary about the eco-friendly refurbishment of houses on Carpenters Road and its creation has been chosen as the subject of a special BBC show.

The documentary follows a group of aspiring young film-makers who will be investigating and reporting on the various energy efficiency measures Urban Living has funded, including solar panels, energy-efficient lightbulbs and boilers.

The programme will be screened to raise community awareness of the ways in which individuals can contribute to combating climate change and also to the regeneration of their area.

Urban Living chief executive Adnan Saif, said: “This project has been a huge success, showing how engaging creatively with young people can have a positive effect on the wider community and really help imbed awareness of environmental issues.

“It is absolutely fantastic that the BBC is making a programme about the junior journalists and undoubtedly the work that has been taking place in Lozells will educate and inspire viewers across the country”.

Councillor John Lines, Cabinet Member for Housing, added: “Using media projects like Lozells News helps young citizens to develop an understanding of the link between themselves, housing, and regeneration of their community. We want to encourage them to raise their aspirations and give them confidence to take an active role as citizens.”

The completed eco documentary will be premiered at a environmental conference in July 2010 and the BBC programme is scheduled to air in Spring 2010.

Watch this space!

Lozells News

Ready Set Go…
36 children in Lozells have completed their training to be presenters for Lozells News. The young reporters are now ready to take on the challenge to produce an eco documentary.

Eileen Doyle, Birmingham City Council’s Housing Education Initiative and Lee Martin, CAN UK Media who lead the workshops said ` Over the past few weeks the young people of Lozells have worked really hard to learn the craft of presenting. They are now ready to start using the skills they learnt in the workshop to produce their eco documentary’.