A Birmingham pupil will be swapping his school books for a shorthand notepad when he becomes a roving reporter during the Paralympic Games.
Jacob Joy, from Kings Norton, will join nine other students from across the UK who will be writing stories for the Paralympic Post newspaper throughout the Games, which begin on August 29.
The 18-year-old, a pupil at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Kings Norton, had to submit an article about a Paralympic sport in a competition to join the reporting team. A judging panel, including Paula Roe, president of the NASUWT teaching union, then picked the best entries.
The Paralympic Post will have a staff of 10 UK youngsters and 10 from Germany.
Paula said: “We were impressed by the quality and diversity of all the entries we received.
“The winning students demonstrated a keen eye for detail and showed a real understanding of their subject. They demonstrated a passion and a level of writing ability that belied their ages and I have no doubt they will prove to be excellent wordsmiths who will throw themselves into this tremendous and exciting opportunity.”
The budding journalists have been brushing up on their writing skills at workshops with sports reporters and Paralympic medallist Martin Mansell.
They also had a trial run at Paralympics World Cup in Manchester in May.
The students’ work will also be published in the London Evening Standard and in a supplement in the educational newspaper SecEd.
