What is The Llama magazine?

The Llama is a new national magazine and website aimed at, and written by 6th Form students from schools and colleges across the UK. The aim of the publication is to provide this community with a voice – to allow them to sound- off on the issues that affect their daily lives as well as to write about those subjects that they are passionate about.

Created by the team behind Kettle Magazine and edited by professional journalists, The Llama gives a much needed, long-form outlet to a generation that is often overlooked.

Who can write for The Llama?

Any 6th form student, whose school subscribes, can submit content to the site and our aim is to publish as many pieces as possibe – assuming they comply with our publishing policy and UK libel laws, of course!

Publishing policy

Free speech is great – we are all for it – but The Llama draws the line at publishing anything that promotes bigotry or hate-speech.

Formats

The website is updated daily with fresh content and is free to view. Writers are able to easily submit content and we provide them with how-to guides to help them improve the quality of their articles.

The magazine is a printed, hard-copy publication, published once per year. The editorial format is the same as the website and writers will be invited to contribute. Once published, the magazine is sent to each school that subscribes.

Video and podcasts will both be introduced in the Summer of 2020.

Content

The Llama covers a wide range of topics and writers have the freedom to write about whatever they choose, including: Sports, Politics, Fashion, TV, Film, Music, Environment, etc…

There is also a section for creative writing, allowing writers to submit stories and poetry.

The editorial side of The Llama is led by Sian Elvin, Editor and Lucy Skoulding, Deputy Editor – both of whom are NCTJ qualified journalists.

Each month, guest writers are invited to produce content on what students can expect after year 13. This covers topics such as choosing, preparing for and being successful at university, as well as careers advice for those students who aren’t destined for uni.

Feedback and development

Once submitted, each article is edited by our team of NCTJ-qualified journalists and feedback is given to each writer.

The aim of this is to help writers improve their article-writing skills as well as giving them experience of the editorial/ publishing process.

To further help writers improve their skills, we have a separate “Writers’” section which contains articles on every aspect of article writing – from basic libel to headline writing.

The writer-development side of The Llama is led by Laura Wingham, who has over 25 years of teaching experience, most of which as Head of English and Chief Examiner.

We want writers to be able to leave The Llama with new skills, a portfolio of professional published work and something tangible to include on their CV – as well as giving them a sense of pride and achievement.