ONE of the Lancashire Telegraph’s senior reporters went to visit budding journalists of the future at a primary school.

Youngsters at Belthorn Academy Primary School invited reporter Neil Athey to their class to talk about his role after they wanted to design their own newsletter.

The reporter and the year six pupils discussed possible story ideas to put in it as well as how to go about asking the right questions and how to write a news article.

The one-hour discussion included what it means to be a reporter, how it’s important to write accurate, interesting stories for the newspaper readers and what makes the best tales.

The pupils published their first edition of The Belthorn Bulletin at the end of their autumn term.

Fitting for the run-up to Christmas, Neil taught them how to write ‘Merry Christmas’ ‘Santa Claus’ and other festive words in shorthand, a method of writing journalists use to take down words quickly and accurately.

Chris Furness, a teacher who helped the boys publish their first edition, said they listened to the advice from the reporter very carefully.

He said: “I was really impressed with the boys’ enthusiasm towards writing a newsletter.

“They made lots of notes about what Neil said and they wanted to find out more about his job.

“I told the boys they needed to work hard if they wanted to put a newsletter together and I think they’ve done a very good job.

“They asked about headlines and what sort of stories they could write.

“They loved hearing about shorthand, they had never seen anything like that before.”

Neil, who has been with the Lancashire Telegraph for three-and-a-half years, also talked about the most interesting stories he had written, such as taking part in the World Gravy Wrestling Championships and meeting Olympic champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill when she went to a school in Blackburn to talk about her children’s book.

The Belthorn Bulletin’s first edition included stories about a Christmas fair at the school, a piece about a girl at the school who chopped off 12 inches of her own hair for the Little Princess Trust, a video game review and a story about a new teacher.

Neil said: “I am really proud of the pupils and what they have achieved.

“They have put together an interesting, informative newsletter with only an hour's training.

“It was great to see children keen to write and wanting to share news about their school.

“If they stick at it and work hard I’m sure they’ll be fantastic journalists in years to come.

"I really enjoyed the day.”