What we did

1. 1. Tasks and progressions

At the outset early in the year we had no idea whether MaranuiFM would even work!!  The school is in close proximity to Wellington Airport, and to a large TV & Radio transmitter located on a hill just behind the school.

We had to consider

• How we would get the necessary radio  equipment
• How we would get the necessary professional advice and expertise
• How we would get around copyright issues
• How we could develop teacher and student  skills

After finding solution s for these issues behind us it was then time to move on to –

• Canvassing local businesses for support
• Seeking buy-in by consulting with our parents and BOT
• Collating information into a meaningful action plan
• Identifying the core student groups who   would be involved with getting the station on air – then building student ownership to ensure ongoing success.

1. 2. Team meetings – planning and organizing

• We brainstormed the challenge with staff and the idea of creating a school radio station resulted.
• The question we still had in our minds was how could we do this with the oldest children in the school being just Year 6 – or 10 years old?
• Staff in the senior school unanimously agreed in to oversee the operation of one area of the radio station  each.

(Announcing, marketing, publicity, advertising, reporting, web site)

(See Tasks)

1. Investigations

Before we started broadcasting live to the community we decided to conduct a survey to find out what sort of music and programming they would like to hear on MaranuiFm. With teacher assistance the survey was designed by members of the MaranuiFM team.

180 surveys were printed off and delivered to selected families and businesses in the community.

Survey Results

Question 1 : School content.

• By far the most requested item was children’s stories.

Question 2 : News

• As well as news from the school, local Wellington news scored highly.

Question 3 : Music

• Easy listening music was the popular choice, with rock coming second. Pop music and country also scored as highly.

Question 4 : Sport

• No real winner here – all sports were requested – a mention was made to hear sport results from Lyall Bay School teams.

Question 5 : Reviews

• All categories scored well (book, movie, game, cds)

Question 6 : Reports

• Weather reports and news reports were the most popular

Question 7 : Interviews

• By far the most popular interviewee was Mr Thompson (Principal) followed by Tana Umaga and Ma’a Nonu. Children from the school were also given as an option as well.

Question 8 : Advertising the station

• Posters were the most ticked choice in this question.

(See Survey)