kidsQs (podcast)

Subscribe to the kidsQs podcast:

Or listen right now:

Do you have an idea for a great podcast topic? Email us at kids@thewest.com.au

Want to get your class on air?

We’re looking for Year 3-8 classes who have a great topic idea and will come up with awesome questions that we can ask an expert to answer.

We have developed the following guidelines for schools who would like to participate.

• kidsQs – info for schools
• kidsQs – sample q’s
• Media artwork permission 2018

STAGE 1: TOPIC IDEAS (open submission)

• We’re looking for topics that are of interest to kids, and would create enough discussion for a ten minute podcast, hosted by kids.
• Listen to some of the existing kidsQs podcasts with your students to get a feel for what they’re like or view sample questions here.
• Brainstorm topic ideas and potential questions with your students.
• Send through your topic idea/s and some sample questions to kids@thewest.com.au for consideration .
• We’ll review each submission and will be in contact with you if your submission is successful.

STAGE 2: QUESTIONS (chosen schools only)

• Use an inquiry-based approach to have students come up with questions on your topic for an expert to answer.
• We’re looking for a mixture of questions that:
  • the students genuinely don’t know the answers to, and want to find out;
  • other students may not know the answers to;
  • we can use to create a ‘story’ within the podcast, eg.
    • to set the scene: “what is climate change, and why does it matter to us?”
    • to close the podcast: “so, what can us kids do about climate change that will make a difference?”
  • are pitched at the level of a ‘tween’ audience.
• Don’t overthink it – we’re looking for questions that would genuinely come from students – not ones that are overly crafted.
• Send your questions to info@mediaeducation.com.au and we’ll review them and get back to you with the list of the ones we’d like to record for the kidsQs podcast.

STAGE 3: RECORDING (chosen students only)

• Review the questions – have students do a final tweak of grammar and language if needed.
• Record kids one at a time in a small-ish room, with no background noise.
• Recording on IPhone or similar is fine, you don’t need high-tech equipment.
• Create separate sound file for each student
• It would be best if it didn’t sound like the student was ‘reading’ the question, but rather being part of a conversation.
• Have each kid introduce themselves, but mix up some of them so they don’t all sound exactly the same, eg.
  • “My name is XX and I’m in year XXXX and my question is [PAUSE] XXXXX”
  • “I’m XX from year XX and I want to know [PAUSE] XXXX”
    • the pause is because we may just use the question and have the host introduce them.
    • if they are all same year level, leave that out and it will be introduced at start.
• Have each student that does a recording return a media permission form signed by their parent/guardian (or if you already have signed media permissions held by your school, please confirm by email).
• Email the following to info@mediaeducation.com.au
  • sound files
  • a list of student names and year levels
  • media permission forms (or confirmation in writing that you have this at school level)
• The kids’ questions will be provided to an ‘expert’ on your students’ topic. Please bear in mind that we may not be able to use all questions that are supplied.

Email us at kids@thewest.com.au