Hautlieu Radio is a school-based community radio station that has been broadcasting daily since its founding early in 2022. The station was established to provide a platform for students to broadcast live, developing their communication skills and enabling them to express themselves creatively. Hautlieu Radio currently offers more than 20 hours of live original content each school week, drawing upon the input of more than 30 students. Content is also provided by members of staff; by parents broadcasting live programmes with their children who are studying at Hautlieu; and by other interested academic parties, such as the Jersey Institute for Continuing Academic Studies (JICAS), which broadcasts every Thursday.
The weekly schedule can be found on the Hautlieu Radio web page at: www.hautlieucreative.co.uk/radio. It starts with the On Time Show, broadcast from 8am to 9am each Monday, and ends with the The Joe Clarke Show from 4pm to 6pm on Fridays. Many of the talk shows, such The Joe Clarke Show are available as podcasts and can be found on the Hautlieu Radio Spotify Channel, on Soundcloud, and on Deezer.
News, updates, ideas and information are exchanged on the Hautlieu Radio Twitter page, and parents, friends, colleagues, and anyone else interested in the station, can send in requests or even talk live. Since we started broadcasting, we have had thousands of listeners from all over the world, including: the UK, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, America, Madagascar and Canada. Indeed, one listener – the renowned CBC Montreal reporter and presenter, Kate McKenna – picked up on a show by our own Kate McKenna in Year 13 and the subsequent communication between the two broadcasters with the same name went viral – with 10,000 retweets and 3,000 likes!
Hautlieu Radio was set up, and is and managed by, Dr Michael (Mike) McKinlay and is available to all Hautlieu staff, students and parents. It generally includes a range of talk-plus-music based programming, with the addition of other subject-specific programmes, such as the extremely popular Time Machine (History), Space and Time (Science) and The Psychology Show. The station has become an integral part of the Hautlieu community, providing a voice for students and staff alike – which is one of the ideas that has always underpinned this new creative venture. As Dr McKinlay, explains, “I wanted to take advantage of the opportunities offered by new digital technology to create an accessible space where the school community could use their voice creativity to connect and to communicate. Ultimately, we would like to provide a full schedule of programmes that represent the interests, aspirations and ideas that bind us all together.”
Since starting, the station has been recognised and supported by local media organisations, with input coming from Channel 103, BBC Jersey, and the JEP, as well as the Bailiwick. In 2022, just a few months after the station went on air for the first time, Year 13 student Julia Bochenska was nominated for the prestigious Arqiva Technical Excellence in Radio Production Award from the BBC, at its Young Audio Awards – an excellent starting point for young broadcasters, presenters and journalists who are thinking about taking up a career in the creative industries.
Now, after two academic years of broadcasting, Hautlieu Radio is part of the Hautlieu community. It was the cornerstone of our Remembrance Day schedule, providing an all-day broadcast, produced and presented by Esme Deer and Harry Elston from the Time Machine show, featuring a range of staff and students. The station also featured significantly in the visit to the school by Education Minister, Inna Gardiner, who was engaged and challenged by students in a live on-air interview. She was impressed with the “very professional” approach of its young presenters and the set-up and quality of its production.
Dr McKinlay adds, however, that “we can’t do it without continued contributions from our community.” To that end, Hautlieu students and staff are encouraged to find out more and to get involved by clicking on the link below. Who knows? You could end up with your own radio show very soon!
www.hautlieucreative.co.uk/radio
Hautlieu Radio runs in term times and is open to anybody from the community (students, staff, parents and wider community), we have over 20 hours of presenter lead programming generally running LIVE from 8am-4pm. If you would like to get involved have a look at the website: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/radio/ and look for a spare slot in the schedule, you can also listen live or to some of our 100+ podcasts on Deezer, Spotify or Soundcloud.
Enjoy!
