There’s a new Press Gang in town - and they don’t have bad perms or leather jackets like the 80s TV show.

Aspiring journalists at Earlsfield Primary School are launching their first ever school newspaper, and visited our offices in North Cheam to find out how.

Last Friday reception staff were slightly bemused at the sight of a dozen youngsters bustling though our doors.

We introduced them to our editorial teams across south London - but their favourite new friend was Gareth Harmer, our photographer.

The youngsters crowded around him to learn how to take the perfect photo, and then it was time for them to have their own photographs taken.

“Do you want to pick up a newspaper and hold it up to the camera?” Gareth instructed.

It just so happened that one little girl, Muna, chose the Wandsworth Guardian’s latest edition, with a hooded character brandishing a knife and the headline: “Kids at War”.

An embarrassed chuckle filled the room - and the newspaper was quickly swapped for another.

The children looked confused, but then the realisation dawned on one. “No, people might think we’re at war”, he piped up.

Their first lesson in photojournalism had been learnt.

The Earlsfield Express sounds like a sophisticated operation.

I remember my pitiful attempt at the same project aged 10 - written with a biro and then photocopied 50 times.

The first issue sold out, but sadly it can’t have been as great as I thought because no-one bought any of the subsequent ones.

Fortunately, kids at Earlsfield Primary have much grander plans.

Each child on the team is responsible for a different section - environment, community, entertainment, sports and so on.

Interviews have already been conducted with local business people.

There are also plans for a grand investigation into how taking up a musical instrument can boost brain power.

The inspiration came from another newspaper for schools, First News. Teachers hope to publish every half term to encourage the children to take pride in their writing.

Teacher Lelia McDonnell said: “It’s about writing for a purpose. Often when they do writing it’s not for a particular purpose.

“It’s about drafting and planning it out and seeing it printed. That’s really powerful for them.”

Her colleague Eve Morgan added: “We wanted it to be something they could feel really proud of. Something we have created and that the other children are going to want to look at.”

The rest of the visit went smoothly, with a tour of the newsroom by the Wandsworth Guardian’s editor, Kerry McQueeney, and a talk on production from our subbing team.

One boy was so enthralled with our archive newspapers that he offered to buy one for a million pounds.

After some consideration, his offer was declined.

As they left the building, I asked what their impressions were of being a journalist.

“I would like to be a photographer when I’m older,” said one keen young lady. “I like photos that are really imaginative.”

Another boy chimed in: “I’m concentrating on being a great journalist and having a great life. A lot of my family have been saying not to do it, but my mum says 'he wants to do it, so let him'.”

Well, those are brave words. And at a time when all the columnists are predicting nothing but doom for journalism, they’re nice to hear.

The world of news may look very different by the time they grown up, but with this much enthusiasm I’ll hedge my bets that it will still be here.

And if the team at the Earlsfield Express has anything to do with it, it’ll probably be even better.

• For more on schools visit our Education section