Students get fired up for The Torch

From a way to stay connected during covid lockdowns, to a co-curricular activity with surging interest, podcasting at Blackfriars is going from strength to strength.

This year, there are almost 20 students in Years 7 to 12 involved in the school’s podcasting team – up from six in 2023.

The 2024 team is led by our inaugural podcasting coach and old scholar Hudson Cosgrove (BPS’23), Podcasting Captain Nam Le (Year 12) and Deputy Captain Ben Colliver (Year 8), with support from Catholic Education SA’s Arch D Radio & Podcasting.

Hudson and fellow 2023 graduate Harry Boyd-Turner were the brains, and the voices, behind The Torch podcast, launched in February 2021.

That launch followed the success of the Hounds in Lockdown podcast, an initiative of the school’s Development Office as a way for the community to stay connected during covid.

Hudson, who is this year studying a Bachelor of Journalism and Professional Writing/Master of Communication at UniSA, was thrilled to be back at Blackfriars leading the podcasting team.

“Producing The Torch was one of the most rewarding and fun things I did during my time at Blackfriars and I am so happy to still be involved,” Hudson said.

“We’ve got a big team with big plans for this year, so I think it will be better than ever.”

This year, the podcasting team will produce eight episodes of The Torch – two each term – plus some special episodes covering big school events, including Intercol. The first episode is due to be released on Spotify within weeks.

James Meston, from Arch D Radio & Podcasting, has been working with the team, including running a five-hour introductory workshop to map out the year.

“The Torch is one of the few podcast examples that I know of where students have taken the helm and looked to tell the news about what’s going on at the school from their perspective,” Mr Meston said.

“It’s refreshing, it’s innovative … it’s student voice at its best.

“To see Blackfriars and Catholic Education SA as a whole embracing podcasting as a tool for building communication and collaboration skills, while at the same time giving students the media skills of the future, is an inspiration.”

Blackfriars Communication Officer Shannon Caton, who oversees the podcasting sessions, said it was great to see students of varying ages working together to a common goal.

“There are not too many co-curricular activities where you’ll see a Year 7 working closely with a Year 12 as an equal,” Ms Caton said.

“We’ve got a great bunch of boys on board and I can’t wait to hear the first episode.”