A STUDENT-LED project came to a close with a film-screening and Question Time event.

Ipswich Star: At the film screening. Back L-R Callum Coomber, Paul Press, Callum Frogley, Jill Barton, Front L-R Amy Winter, Ellie Lusher.At the film screening. Back L-R Callum Coomber, Paul Press, Callum Frogley, Jill Barton, Front L-R Amy Winter, Ellie Lusher. (Image: Archant)

A group of year 11 pupils at Holbrook Academy have been asking important questions about their education as part of their Who Asks Us? project.

The project aimed to boost the teenagers’ confidence and self-esteem and address topical educational issues.

The students worked with Jill Barton of Giving Young People A Voice and Paul Press of the Offshoot Foundation to create a film using their findings, interviewing students, teachers, parents and potential employers.

The students held a special screening event for the finished film along with a Question Time session with panel members including councillor David Wood, Ken MacDonald of Waitrose, school governor Jane Gould and student Callum Frogley as well as principal of Suffolk One Alan Whittaker, who stood in for MP Ben Gummer.

Jill said: “It was an amazing evening. The students really excelled themselves.

“The big things that came from the Question Time panel were the stress that students are under from exams and the need for work experience.

“Work experience as it stands now is not enough – you need more than just a week in one place.

“For me it was just the culmination of a really successful project. To see how these young people have changed and how inspiring they were.”

Four of the students – Amy Winter, Callum Coomber, Ellie Lusher and Callum Frogley have all been offered part-time jobs at Waitrose because of the project.

Jill will be starting a new project at Stoke High on April 24, working with year nines.

She said: “What’s great is, it’s a younger group, so they’ll approach things differently.”