An application for an RSL licence to broadcast from Morpeth high school has been sent to the Ofcom 17 year old Station Manager Robert Pobjoy. If the licence is granted, KEVI Radio will go live on air for five days in September.
The main aims of the broadcast are to promote the school and its adult community education courses. KEVI Radio already exists as a lunchtime, school-only service and the plan is to extend that schedule to round-the-clock broadcasting on the FM waveband. The transmission area will cover households within a five-mile radius of the school.
Programmes will be presented by students, staff and members of the community under the guidance of school graphics department technician and adult education media teacher John White, who came up with the idea to give KEVI Radio a wider audience.
?We?ve got many talented young broadcasters and it?ll be a great opportunity for them to show off their skills to the people of Morpeth,? said John, who has worked in hospital and local community radio stations. ?We picked week beginning the 25th September for the broadcast to coincide with the start of the autumn adult education courses? he added.
Robert said: ?We?re really excited at the prospect of bringing KEVI to a wider audience and we hope that as many community groups as possible will take the opportunity of getting involved in the project.? Robert, who serves on the nationwide schools radio network advisory board will help lead the team of young presenters and technicians.
King Edward V1 school?s pioneering initiative has the enthusiastic backing of head teacher Jane Mann. ?It?s a brilliant idea,? she said. ?I?ve every confidence that the students will make a success of the project. They already run a tight ship adhering to strict broadcasting guidelines for the internal service and I?m sure they?ll maintain those high standards when we start transmitting to the whole of Morpeth.?
The KEVI Radio initiative will be financed by donations from the Adult Learning department, local organisations and the Enterprise Initiative, as well as through advertising and programme sponsorship.