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"A few years ago I stood in the playground with 400 children and we jumped up and down for one minute. We were jumping in unison with thousands of other children around the UK to see if we could register on the Richter Scale. With hindsight this is a pretty crazy thing to do. What if it had worked? What if there had been a significant land movement as a result of us jumping? Think of all those other things that were jumping at the same time. Kangaroos, children on space hoppers, beans, anyone in a gym and a few people watching Whoopi Goldbery in Jumping Jack Flash! Anything could have happened. On the Internet ideas can go viral so quickly. Take Dumb Ways to Die, an ad campaign for staying safe around trains, which has had over 59 million hits so far. Imagine if ‘Jump Day’ had gone viral! The idea of almost 60 million people suddenly deciding to jump… There are over 7 billion people of the planet. It makes me wonder; what does it take to get 7 billion people involved in the same activity at the same time? What would happen if they all jumped at the same time? And how do you reach them to tell them? In school, I constantly tell the children that their work isn’t just for them and their teacher, it’s for a potential audience of 7 billion. Dream big, right? So, we publish children’s work online, in books, we makes videos and we have a radio station running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Last week I received an email from Georgia, US. The email was from the Principal of Elm Street Elementary School and she had been compelled to get in touch with me about Anson Radio. She is one of the 7 billion. She is also living 4224 miles away and in a completely different time zone! Yet we connected. The Principal told me how inspired she had been by the work of the school generally in our use of technology but particularly how she had enjoyed listening to the children on Anson Radio. She is our biggest fan! Our children were blown away that someone that far away was listening to them, that their ideas were being heard, that all I’d told them about the 7 billion listeners could come true! Many people have asked us why a primary school wanted a radio station and I think the answer is simple. We don’t want one. We need one. Using School Radio we are able to give the children a voice and a purpose to their work. For a school with high numbers of children who speak English as a second language (80-90%), radio broadcasting and podcasting are crucial to improve speaking and listening skills. We see children coming in to the radio station who find it hard to communicate in class, but they come alive when they step in to the room. In time this translates back to their class work, not just in their speaking skills, but also in their desire to produce writing of quality to record on the radio. Since the introduction of the radio station we have seen motivation, engagement and quality increase in the vast array of work being recorded on the station. We have sections on story, poetry and science. We have history, facts and songs. Children recorded their instructions, play their musical instruments and broadcast live to the dining room and playground at lunchtime. In addition we strip sound from class assemblies, school YouTube videos and performances to give children their voice. School Radio is powerful. School radio gives the youngest children a reason to write, a place to speak and a way to share their work with 7 billion. Just imagine the idea of connecting with 7 billion people, sharing your work, making them laugh or cry or shout or scream or making the want to jump up and down! Imagine the consequences!"