BBC News School Report gives year-old students across the UK the opportunity to research and produce their own news reports for a real audience. Last year, more than 1,000 schools across the UK took part in this diversity award-winning project. Students reported on a range of issues, from social media addiction to why dancing is not just for girls and how Muslim women can wear the hijab. Some even interviewed leading politicians. Teachers help their pupils develop students' journalistic skills so they can report on the stories that matter to them and make their voices heard. The project culminates on School Report News Day - this year to be held on Thursday 10 March where all schools taking part produce stories and publish them on their school websites. There are four Practice News Days - Friday 13 November (also Children in Need), Wednesday 9 December, Thursday 21 January and Tuesday 9 February (also Safer Internet Day) - for schools that wish to have a trial run. What is the aim? The main aim of BBC News School Report is to interest young people in news of all sorts, and the world around them, by giving them the chance to make their own news. It is also an opportunity for students to inform a real audience, via BBC programmes and web pages, about the stories which are important to them. HOW DO THE STUDENTS BENEFIT? Many teachers have said that taking part in School Report supports all sorts of learning - for instance by helping students develop their ability to work in teams, manage their time, conduct independent enquiries, communicate effectively and think critically. It is also a chance for students to discuss the responsibilities involved in broadcasting their work to a worldwide audience. Our News Team Teachers: Miss Mohmed and Mrs Patel Students: Kieran Flanagan Zahra Seedat Humairaa Gheewala Karina Rowthwell Minahil Yasin Our story US Gun Violence MESSGAE FROM CELEBRITIES ON GUN VIOLENCE IN USAbama-returns-hawaii-fired Statistics behind US gun violence: For the 17th time since he was sworn in as US president, Barack Obama attempted on Thursday to make some sense of an act of mass gun violence. It's the third time he has addressed the issue since the start of October, when nine people were killed and seven injured in a shooting at an Oregon school. The 16th time of his presidency was last week after three people were killed and nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. This time the setting was a public health centre in San Bernardino, California. Sixteen people died, including the assailants, and 17 more were wounded. The statistics US gun crime in 2015 Figures up to 3 December 353 Mass shootings 62 shootings at schools 12,223 people killed in gun incidents 24,722 people injured in gun incidents Source: Shooting tracker, Gun Violence Archive Mass shootings: The attack in San Bernardino was the 353rd mass shooting this year. A mass shooting is defined as a single shooting, which kills or injures four or more people, including the assailant. Source: Mass Shooting Tracker School shootings: There have been 62 school shootings so far in 2015, and 161 since the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut on 14 December although those figures include occasions when a gun was fired but no-one was hurt. Source: Everytown Research All shootings: The school shootings and other mass shootings generate the headlines, but the vast majority of gun deaths in the US occur in smaller, often unreported incidents. Some 12,223 people have been killed in the US by firearms so far this year, and 24,722 people injured. Source: Gun Violence Archive How the US compares: The number of per capita gun murders in the US in the most recent year for comparable statistics - was nearly 30 times that in the UK, at 2.9 per 100,000 compared with just 0.1. Of all the murders in the US in 2012, 60% were by firearm compared with 31% in Canada, 18.2% in Australia, and just 10% in the UK. Source: UNODC. IN THE NEWS Jennifer Aniston, Sofia Vergara, Other Celebs Join President Obama in AntiGun Violence PSA December 10, 06:20 AM / By Sophie Vokes-Dudgeon Loud and clear! There's one simple message that stars such as Jennifer Aniston, Sofia Vergara, Amy Schumer, and Julianne Moore want us to take away from their new public service announcement: We can end gun violence. The stars, who joined other celebs including Kevin Bacon, Michael J. Fox, and Debra Messing, all lent their faces and voices to President Barack Obama's latest attempts at raising support for actions to put an end to gun violence. Jennifer Aniston joined President Obama in his new anti-gun crime PSA Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage The powerful PSA, created by Everytown for Gun Safety, is all the more poignant in its timing, just more than a week after the Dec. 2 shooting that killed 14 and injured 21. Supporters of the message are urged to record their own videos to add to the PSA, to make sure as many people as possible unite in a bid to change the nation's approach to gun crime. WE CAN END GUN VIOLENCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXIA FfI4CIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbXIA FfI4CI Obama considers unilateral action on US gun violence 2 January 2016 President Obama has said he wants to take unilateral action to tackle the problem of gun violence in the US. In his first weekly address of 2016, Mr Obama said he would meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch to discuss possible actions. He said he would seek to use his executive powers as president because the US Congress had failed to address the problem Analysts say there will be a backlash from gun activists and Republicans. But Mr Obama told Americans that he had received too many letters from parents, and teachers, and children, to sit around and do nothing. "We know that we can't stop every act of violence," the president said. "But what if we tried to stop even one? What if Congress did something - anything - to protect our kids from gun violence?" He has admitted that his inability to win Congressional backing for what he called "common sense gun laws" was the greatest frustration of his presidency. Obama considers unilateral action on US gun violence 2 January 2016 (Continued) The BBC's Laura Bicker in Washington says the president could use his executive authority in several areas, including expanding new background check requirements for buyers who purchase weapons from high-volume dealers. However he is likely to face stiff opposition to his plans, our correspondent says. The National Rifle Association has already launched a video series attacking gun control activists. And in Texas, a new "open carry law" will allow Texans with a permit to wear handguns on their hips in holsters - openly displaying the fact they are armed. Last month a Texas police chief warned the president that trying to disarm Americans could spark a revolution. Previous efforts to introduce stricter gun control laws have repeatedly foundered despite the large number of people dying in gun attacks. A joint Democrat-Republican bill following the 2012 shooting of 20 children and six adults at a primary school in Connecticut failed to get the 60 votes needed to broaden background checks and ban assault weapons Barack Obama: US gun control inaction must end. 5 January 2016 An emotional US President Barack Obama has unveiled new restrictions on gun purchases, saying the "constant excuses for inaction" have to stop. Wiping away tears, the president recalled the Sandy Hook primary school shooting in 2012 where 20 children and six adults were killed. His executive actions, without Congress approval, widen background checks on potential gun buyers. But the National Rifle Association said it would fight Mr Obama's measures. And the leader of the House of Representatives, Republican Paul Ryan, said the plans were certain to be challenged in the courts. "His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty," he said. Meanwhile, sales of guns in the US appear to have risen, amid speculation in recent weeks that the White House was going to tighten the law. Earlier, the president announced the law change at the White House, while surrounded by survivors and relatives of victims of shootings. "The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now, but they can't hold America hostage," Mr Obama said. Our School. Our People. Our Community