Design and print a school newspaper - how it works

A school newspaper lets you kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, you'll be helping your school to present itself in a good light. Secondly, you'll have lots of fun creating your own school newspaper with your friends.
We reveal useful tips on how to create a school newspaper on your computer and have a genuine newspaper printed from just 1 copy. From planning, organisation and layout design to the final print. Here you'll find guidelines on what makes a successful school newspaper and what to consider.

Smartpaper24 has a brand-new newspaper Designer tool to help you create your own layouts online. An extra template for school newspapers awaits you too! Simply add your text and pictures to the newspaper templates and then click on order. We can print the desired quantity of your school newspaper right from the first edition.

Design a newspaper for students by students

A school newspaper is a great project if your dream is to work in media. Researching topics, writing articles, conducting interviews and selecting pictures - an editor's job is exciting and diverse. Keep your fellow students up to date with the latest news from the school and schoolyard. The best thing about it: you're reporting from the point of view of the student. Of course, you should also think outside of the box for your newspaper and include news unrelated to school. The focus and main articles of your school newspaper should appeal to the interest of the students.
But always remember: you're writing for (sometimes younger) students, not experts. Therefore, try to convey difficult or complicated content in easily understandable language. Avoid technical jargon, long-winded sentences and awkward passive constructions. Get to the point and write punchy, active sentences that engage your readers’ imagination.

Organising a school newspaper

Organisation is half the battle. Nothing happens without structure and organisation. Before you add content to your school newspaper, you need to clearly distribute roles. Who is responsible for which topic (sport, school politics, culture, music)? Who’s looking after advertisements? And, perhaps most importantly: who is the editor-in-chief? The editor-in-chief pulls all the strings, actively takes notes and oversees the weekly editorial meetings. In the meetings, you'll need to determine which tasks are still outstanding and which topics you want to prepare. Editorial meetings are a way of keeping the entire school newspaper team up to date.

5 ideas for your school newspaper

Be creative and fill your school newspaper with life! Diverse topics are a great way of doing this. You can pep up your school newspaper by including rich content:

1. Surveys: Play it safe with surveys. Let students have their say. What can you ask them about? It’s quite simple: How do you rate the food in the canteen? What games would you like to see in the schoolyard in future? Which school subject do you enjoy the most? Surveys are a great way of bringing opinions to the table and discovering areas for improvement.
2. Teacher interviews: School newspapers are perfect for question and answer articles. An interview gives you the chance to make your teacher nervous. So don’t be shy! Personal and critical questions are permitted by all means.
3. Class trip reports: Whether a class trip to Cologne Zoo, a ski trip to Switzerland or a cultural excursion to Rome - reveal the best bits about your class trips in exciting reports.
4. Report before and after a school fair: Is your school organising a summer fair or big celebration this year? Then a custom-made school newspaper is the perfect way to put your school in the limelight.
5. Theatre groups, school orchestras and football teams: School has more to offer than just chemistry and maths. Provide insight into the various school programmes and activities in a school newspaper. What theatre events are coming up? What’s the theme of this year’s school concert? And how did your school team get on in the last tournament?

Design great layouts for school newspapers

It’s the things you see that inspire you. Nobody will want to read your articles if your school newspaper looks grey and boring. Therefore, devote plenty of time to the design. It’ll be worth it. Catchy headlines and colourful pictures in the right place work wonders. Your layout needs to be interesting and has to draw the reader's attention right away.
The front page is the most important page in your school newspaper. As the first visible page, it determines whether students browse the paper with interest or simply chuck it in the bin. Use your front page to entice the reader to read on. The front page should include informative and entertaining texts as well as impressive photos. A small tip: use the front page to highlight other articles found on later pages. This will encourage your fellow students to read on.

Financing school newspapers using advertising

Printing a school paper on genuine newspaper naturally costs money. But don’t worry! There are ways to cover the costs of printing your school newspaper. Adverts are a proven recipe for success. It makes sense for one or two fellow students to be responsible for partnerships with local businesses or companies. Visit the shop around the corner and tell them about your school newspaper idea. This might be a hair salon, bakery or bookshop - some shop owners will be sure to support your newspaper project with paid adverts. The adverts can be distributed throughout your newspaper and placed between text or displayed altogether on one page. Once you've collected a few ads the printing costs will be pretty much covered.

Whether 10 newspapers for your class or 1,000 newspapers for the entire school: we can print your school newspaper from just 1 copy. At Smartpaper24, you'll find a free newspaper design programme and real-time price lists so you can keep track of the costs. Want some examples of prices?

• 10 newspapers (8 pages, 90 g/m² paper) = €60.21
• 100 newspapers (8 pages, 90 g/m² paper) = €112.22
• 1,000 newspapers (8 pages, 90 g/m² paper) = €709.06

School newspaper as a career-starter

Anyone who works on a school newspaper during their time at school will find it easier to get into the world of media. Having experience with writing and researching is the first step to becoming a successful journalist. A school newspaper opens the door to finding a job at a newspaper or online news portal. Even major companies add value to your prior interest in media and newspaper work. If you're interested in becoming an editor or having a career in media one day, then a school newspaper is the perfect hobby for you.

Create your newspaper today and print from just 1 copy

Want to get started on creating your own school newspaper along with your editorial team? Then Smartpaper24 is your partner. We are an online printing company with a free layout programme for all kinds of newspapers. Our Designer tool includes a school newspaper template for your content and ideas. The newspaper Designer is completely free to use. Browse the templates at your leisure and experiment with the different layouts. In just a few clicks, you'll have added your text, pictures and QR codes to the pages of the newspaper. The best thing about it: the school newspaper Designer templates are ready to print right away. You won’t need to do any formatting and can order your school newspaper at the click of a button. We can print your school newspaper from just 1 copy!
Have you already designed your school newspaper using a different programme? Then we can print it for you in the quantity desired. Simply upload your print file as a PDF. We produce your newspaper as so-called Smartpaper One. Smartpaper One is a genuine newspaper in a handy size (280 mm wide x 400 mm tall). Simply enter the quantity required, number of pages and desired paper quality. Your newspaper will be sent for printing right away.

A summary of your benefits with Smartpaper24

• Newspaper Designer with adaptable layouts
• Free template for school newspapers
• Newspaper printing from just 1 copy
• 4-40 pages
• Genuine newspaper quality
• 90 g/m2 paper: recyclable, handy and bold colours
• Online ordering process
• Delivery in 5-7 working days