Award winners

“Canvey Flood” a radio documentary put together by the Kents Hill Junior School Radio Club has won a prestigious Sony Schools Radio Award.

In the industry, a Sony Award is often deemed as a Radio Oscar – many top radio presenters have won Sonys over the years and it is highly respected.

The Radio club, started by parent volunteer Michelle Durant was run once a week in the school lunch break and started off doing road safety adverts before attempting the documentary project. The pupils received helpful visits from BBC Essex Journalist James Melley, The Canvey Community Archive, Author Angela Owen and Bill Snow from Castle Point Council. The final work was kindly broadcast in September by local Community Radio Station Gateway 97.8 where Mrs Durant is a volunteer. The documentary was then entered into the Sony Schools competition which was being run by the Schools Radio Organisation.

As a prize, Kents Hill Junior School, in Benfleet receive £750 worth of Sony Equipment to help develop their media facilities. The Radio Club, accompanied by Mrs Durant and Deputy Headteacher Vanessa Gigg also got to visit the Sony Headquarters in Weybridge, Surrey, where they were welcomed by Sony Head of Corporate Affairs, Adrian Northover-Smith, Schools Radio President, Peter Thompson and founder, John Bradford. They also met the winners of the Awards entertainment category from the Culverhay School, who had travelled all the way from Bath. The children were shown around and got a demonstration of some of the latest Sony products. They then enjoyed a lunch with the Sony Europe Managing Director Gildas Pelliet and were each presented with a Sony Walkman.

Pictured-

Adrian Northover-Smith, Head of Corporate Public Affairs, Sony UK Ltd
John Bradford, Founder of Schools Radio
Sony Europe Managing Director, Gildas Pelliet
Peter Thompson, President – Schools Radio
Michelle Durant, Kents Hill Junior School Radio Club organiser
Nancy Connolly, The Culverhay School
Front row
Culverhay school students – Tom Matthews & Luke Nix with Kents Hill Pupils
Daniel Bull, Grace Goodall, Holly Howlett, Hannah Worsfold, Abbey Harvey, Dan Copp