Daily Mail journalist Ruth Sunderland visited students at the David Nieper Academy in Alfreton

Daily Mail journalist inspires David Nieper Academy students

Posted by: Laura Hammond

Thu 16th June 2022

Students at David Nieper Academy were excited to welcome Daily Mail journalist Ruth Sunderland at the beginning of the summer term.

Ruth, Daily Mail group business editor, met with students in Years 8 to hear about their employability work and with Year 10 English and Media pupils during her visit.

Year 8 Enterprise pupils Jayden, Roxanne, Martha and Macey-Lu have been working on a project with the NHS, aptly named Step into the NHS.

As part of the project, pupils researched the 350 different jobs within the NHS and used their findings to create a fun, lively advert for an NHS job of their choice.

The pupils prepared excellent presentations which they delivered confidently, along with displaying their video adverts. The videos were creative and fun, with details on which working hours would be required within the roles, the different related duties and even what can be found on a children’s ward.

Roxanne said: “We had complete control over the project, which included creation and editing of the campaign.”

During the presentation, Jayden also explained how studying Enterprise has helped them develop a range of employability skills, including resilience and working as a team.

Year 10 English and Media students met with Ruth in the library, where she spoke to them about her background – growing up in a small community similar to Alfreton – and the career pathway she took to become a journalist. It was an inspirational message about looking for all opportunities and aspiring to achieve.

Ruth spoke passionately about the importance of studying English and how the language can enrich everyone’s lives by enabling us to communicate effectively.

The Daily Mail columnist then invited pupils’ questions, with one Year 10 asking, “What is the most rewarding part of your job?” and Ruth answered, “Things like this”.

This was a fantastic experience for the group, it being the first time most had met with a journalist, and with many of them looking towards future careers in the media.

The session gave pupils a captivating insight into understanding the role of a journalist and working in the media industry, while Ruth was also a great advocate for studying English.

The academy is very grateful to her for her time and efforts.

Mr Covell, head of English at David Nieper Academy, said: “It was fantastic to be able to incorporate Ruth’s visit into a media lesson and have her share her knowledge and experience in the area.

“Students worked hard to prepare their questions and were delighted to be able to speak with a journalist about a subject which they are all passionate about.”