Castle Rushen High School has made history by becoming the first school in the Isle of Man to produce its own newspaper.

The first edition of “The Messenger” has been published within the latest Southern Chronicle newspaper, and is planned to continue in future editions.

“The Messenger” has been written by Key Stage Four and Five students at Castle Rushen and is the first ever professionally produced newspaper published by a school in the Isle of Man. The intention is to publish five editions a year from now on, as part of the Southern Chronicle.

“It has been a really interesting, and quite intense, exercise for everyone involved,” said CRHS head of English Nicola Kenndy. She added, “The students went into this with no idea of the task they were taking on, and the result of their dedication is now there for everyone to see. We were entering the unknown, and decided to play fairly safe and go for a 4-page edition, but it looks like we will be able to have an 8-page edition next time.”

The project was overseen by Southern Chronicle editor Bill Dale who said, “I cannot speak highly enough of the team of students who worked together as a team to produce the first edition of “The Messenger”. They came into this with next to no knowledge of publishing, newspapers or the mechanics of how it all works.

“And I think it’s fair to say that they have never experienced the very real task of having to meet tight deadlines, and to adapt their writing styles to journalism. I was genuinely impressed. They took on a really tough task and the result is something I think they can be justly proud of.

“Producing the first edition of any publication is not easy, even if you have been in the business for years. We were very close to the deadline in the end, but we made it and I would particularly like to thank the editor Daisy Moorcroft who worked extremely hard on this, and was very much thrown in at the deep end.”

Such was the enthusiasm of the students to contribute to the first edition that future copies of “The Messenger” will probably now be eight pages - twice the size of the first edition and published every two months. The Head of Sixth Form, Liz Wood, will now be leading the expanding group of students who hope to see their work in print.

Head teacher Keith Winstanley added, “I would like to thank the Southern Chronicle for giving the school the chance to produce our own publication. The opportunity to be a published writer was too good to miss for some of our talented writers and budding journalists. I hope readers enjoy our contributions.”