Mike O'Riordan, Sales & Marketing Director at Acorn Computers Ltd and John Gunnell MP, among others, will be presenting a state-of-the-art Acorn Risc PC to the winners of the primary, secondary and international categories, with runners up each receiving a Pocket Book, Acorn's powerful palmtop computer.
Many of the competitors used Acorn computers to create their newspapers, including the winner of the primary section, Churwell Primary School in Leeds with The Chirpy Times. Whitby Community College came top of the secondary category with The Apollo while the winning international entry, The Ulricianum Times, was produced by Gymnasium Ulricianum in Germany.
The three winning schools have been chosen from 16 schools receiving a distinction for their entries, who will all be awarded with a certificate and plaque. Up to 80 schools with commended or highly commended entries will receive their awards at ceremonies held on Friday 26th May at the Houses of Parliament and the National Railway Museum in York.
Mike O'Riordan, Sales & Marketing Director at Acorn Computers, comments:
"This is the second year running Acorn has sponsored the TES Newspaper Day. The competition is important because it is not just about writing skills or group-working. It also encourages children to gain new interpretation and communication skills using visual and print-based information from a full range of technologies including the Internet, desk top publishing and video. Our sponsorship of the TES Newspaper Day is just one element of Acorn's commitment to establishing 'New Literacy' initiatives in education."
Schools were provided in advance with a support pack, photography, a survey on conservation and an interview with Richard Branson from a specially devised news centre at Cleveland Educational Computing Centre. Regular news feeds were also sent via Internet to schools on the day itself. This year the newspapers took the themes of 'Comic Relief', 'I want to run my own business' or 'Recycling'.
Those wishing to take part in future TES Newspaper Days should contact:
Brian RobinsonFounded in 1978, with 1994 revenues in excess of £50m, Acorn Computers is one of the world's leading providers of IT to education and was the first supplier of low-cost 32-bit RISC based personal computers in 1987. Acorn works closely with a strong community of industry partners, users and software developers to provide innovative technology solutions for the education, consumer, publishing and international markets.
Acorn Computer Group plc is the holding company for Acorn Computers Limited, Acorn Australia, Acorn New Zealand, Acorn GmbH and Online Media. Acorn Computer Group owns 43% of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. Online Media, a division of the Acorn Computer Group, was launched in 1994 with the objective to design interactive multimedia products.