The 'buzz' of putting student magazines together, with banter and blether assured. Come in and have a wee peep...

Over the last couple of years the team has been involved in putting a number of student magazines together (usually with the CPC, P4W and GR4W groups). As a result, there have been a great deal of wide ranging, wonderful and witty submissions from the learners and a few of the topics are noted towards the end of this post.

Part of the process has been to introduce the idea of putting a class magazine together, and so far not one student has objected to the proposal. We cross-refer to a variety of different magazines available commercially and discuss the types of articles that might interest the writers (and the readers)!

Not only do the students get to write an extended piece, or one substantive submission plus some smaller articles, but they are credited for the work as part of their Core Skills (Communication) Writing task which they thoroughly appreciate!

When we put the magazines together, one of the things we do is ask the respective groups what they would like the publication to be called. A list of possible contenders are offered, such as: Interact, Network, Dis-course, Scribble, Extracts, Articulate, Lexicon, Blurb and Digest, but in the end the students have always decided on what they would want their magazines to be called.

So, democratically, the magazines have been called: The Banter, Blether, Peep, The Voice and Buzz!

Some of the topics that have been covered in past  and present publications include being a young mother, joining the army, the perils and powers of social media, film, theatre, gig and album reviews, raising money for charity, supporting the Edinburgh Capitals ice-hockey team, editing videos and running a small business, representing GB at judo at the paralympics, training Siberian Huskies, lowering the vote for young adults in the UK, a memorable trip to T in the Park and raising awareness to support local bands, to name but a few.

The Communication lecturer acts as the editor and works with the DTP section (the wonderful Chelsea and Nick) and the end product is a beautiful colour, glossy magazine for each student and tutor to keep as a memento. All magazines, yearbooks and other student work, as always, are kept on the shared drive in a clearly labelled folder.

Not only do students enjoy reading the articles, but parents, partners, grandparents and guardians too.