Diamonds Study Centre Player Interviews November 2009

During the course of the "Playing for Success" term at the Diamonds Study Centre a week was set aside for Year 8 students from Huxlow,Manor and Ferrers Secondary schools, Year 5pupils, from Finedon Mulso, Windmill and Newton RoadJunior schools and a group of students from the "Kicin2study" project to interview Diamonds players.

They all had a great time interviewing first team players Curtis Osano, Jake Beecroft, Sam Smith, Michael Corcoran, Joe Day, Dale Roberts, Craig Farrell, Aaron O'Connor and Jack Higgins as well as some of the clubs prospective future stars in Aynsley Macdonald, Callum Earls and Jake Gillingwater.

The "Playing for Success" project is part of a national initiative which involves a partnership between the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families) the County Council and the football club itself and one of its major objectives is to raise standards in literacy. The interview activity and the follow up work proved to be an invaluable exercise in the improvement of the students speaking, listening and writing skills in a very enjoyable way.

The students were asked to formulate their own questions, speak clearly and confidently to the players, listen carefully to the players' answers and then use their computers to publish an interview poster. This poster included inserting photographs taken during the interview in addition to adding text. This piece of writing summarized the key information about the players which they had gleaned during the question and answer session.