FOCUS: the annual Laude school magazine competition between houses

How the young writers of Laude School, Marbella, are learning to create new words and phrases. Olive Press Editor Jon Clarke was impressed 

DICTAPHONES in hand, and pencils ready, four house groups at Laude School set off to explore a wide range of issues affecting students, both inside the school as well as outside.

The specter of A.I., Hurricane Melissa and everything in between. From Remembrance to the Louvre Jewelry Theft, four magazines tackled it all.

As part of the inter-house magazine contest, Marbella college gives each house one full day to structure and plan their publication.

It began by selecting their topics and then choosing the budding young journalists to do research and conduct interviews.

Next, they needed to pull their articles together, have them edited, then sub-edited before being laid out by the designers… and all this with the help of artists to highlight them.

Each magazine editor had to follow the structure of an established newsroom and check each article for clarity, tone, and accuracy before planning the running order.

With a surfeit of staff – the envy of all modern newspapers and magazines today – each house, North, South, East and West, had around 20 members of the team.

After six years in school, the students were particularly excited about the prospect of grilling their teachers, on topics such as travel plans and sports knowledge.

The students brought up some interesting information, such as the number of solar panels on the roof of their school, the music styles that are most popular, and the fact that three Olympic-sized ice pools are lost at the poles each second.

We also learned that two teachers did not know how many Olympics are held each year, or which country hosted the first.

Also, we discovered that Corsica lies in the Alps and that yellow is not the best colour for a magazine. The word Atomspheric is also a new one.

Proofreading is an important discipline that can be overlooked.

A few magazines stood out in terms of creativity and design, and the photography and artwork were particularly impressive.

Joseph Short, Secondary School Head said: “We have been so proud of the student teams who put together these magazines. They showed amazing skills.” “Congratulations to South House, the overall winner, for their amazing magazine! 

We are fortunate at Laude that we can offer our students this opportunity for independent learning, which goes beyond the classroom. “We are already looking forward to the next year’s effort!”

LAUDE MAGAZINE CONTEST 2025

Winner

South (8/10)

South Mag’s cover isn’t the most exciting, and it’s usually white on blue. However, its content and environmental focus puts it above the three other magazines.

The book has an impressive 10 extra pages, and is a mix of interesting topics with great photos and artwork.

It had a page with content, its writers bylined it and its graphic designers displayed some real talent.

I enjoyed the Hind and Malak article on the environment. It was nicely connected to Jane Goodall. However, it would have been better to first explain who Jane Goodall is and to mention that she died recently.

The photo in the opening is well-chosen and has a large headline above it. Below, there’s a lovely picture of Goodall. The fact that 6,500 billion tonnes of ice will be lost in 2023 is the equivalent of three Olympic pools per second!

The A.I. The article is very current and I also liked the music that was being played at school.

The interview with Mr Reeves was clever and its headline was enticing as well as the use of photos of both him and where he walked… although I didn’t know that Corsica was in the Alps!

On the subject of spelling is ‘Labyrinlnth’ correct? What am I missing?

The tips on how to succeed in Year 12 had a very educational feel to it. There were also many quizzes, and search engines to keep the reader busy.

RUNNER UP

East (7/10).

It is by far the best. It’s a great front page with the Dickens theme, and quotes from Mr Short and Ms Palmer.

It was a shame that it didn’t have the same content as South. However, I did like the clean look.

The page is good, but it needs some help with Upper and lower case letters.

The section on schools was detailed and well-written, but it was letdown by grammatical errors and incorrect spelling.

The spelling and grammar got worse as I read the magazine. I think the Proof Reader must have been sick. I mean ‘Wolrd cup’ (come on!!!). And someone pls explain that etcetera is shortened to etc, not ‘ect’. And PLEASE make Christmas always uppercase!

The World Cup 2026 Review was a good read and a nice layout.

It’s nice to have pictures of interviews, but where are the actual interviews. Safeguarding’s Ana got a few quotes.

The artwork at the back of the magazine was the best. There are many quizzes and puzzles.

ALSO RANS

North (6/10).

A nice clean looking magazine, which was by far the best for grammar, if not spelling, highlighted on page 2 with the word ‘Atomspheric’ which I actually like, truth be told.

I thought the events section was an excellent idea, and it was nice that each writer had a byline.

The four magazines were all good, but the sports section stood out. The great pictures of football games on the playground demonstrated the excitement and fun of the games.

The interview section provided a small glimpse into the life of Jaime Romero (capitalized please) and Ms Chillaron. However, I would have preferred to see more questions.

You did a great job remembering Remembrance Day. Congratulations to Joana, or is it Joanna? You came up with a great idea to have a sport quiz for teachers. The best idea of all four magazines… and Wow, did Mrs Litchfield and George Y really get ZERO right?

West (6/10).

This magazine was difficult to read because of its yellow color, but it had an interesting content and excellent spelling. Good job Mr Proofreader!

I liked the interview with Ms Garcia and also the appeal to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa. It was lacking pictures, but the message and sentiment are good.

The picture of Mr Prentice was lost and needed to be replaced for the interview.

Solar panels and fun facts are good ideas for the article about bikes.

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