Context of Participation

Terms and Conditions of Participation

• The students’ participation in the Contest is optional. Neither students nor their schools will bear any financial responsibility for taking part in the Contest. Parent/guardian consent is required.
• Before submitting the school’s entry, teachers acting as project managers will need to obtain Consent Forms by the students’ parents or guardians to ensure they approve of their children’s active involvement in the school’s collective creative process regarding the Contest. In the Consent Forms parents/guardians clearly state they agree to having the collective project of the school’s podcast/song team uploaded on the European School Radio platform in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Contest notice.
• In the online statement and entry submission, project managers will be required to describe their role and level of involvement in the students’ creative process.
• Each school may submit up to two (2) entries. More specifically: both entries may be entered in the Podcast category or both entries may be entered in the Song category; or one entry may be entered in the Podcast category and the other in the Song category.  
• All entries must be original works. They must not have been submitted to a contest before.
• Songs and podcasts may be in the students’ mother tongue or in English. Audio content presentation and singing performance must be the work of school students.
• Schools must not publicize entries prior to the Audience Award vote in order to maintain anonymity during the evaluation process.
• The sound content (podcast or song) must not reveal the name of the school or contain any other indication that may be associated with the entry’s identity.
• The songs and messages must be the work of students. Teachers are encouraged to take on the role of motivator during the creative process in order to activate student initiative.
• Judging Committees operate mainly on the principle that productions must exclusively be the product of the students’ intellectual work as a result of a learning plan that brings out their personality, taste and critical ability in the role of artists/creators. Therefore, the use of AI tools for the making of podcasts and songs, both in terms of wording (podcast text or song lyrics) and in terms of soundtrack (composition, music performance, special effects etc.) should be avoided.
• The making of podcasts and songs can take place either within school hours for Primary and Secondary Education in the context of interdisciplinary activities related to the subject modules of each educational level; within the Programmes of School Activities (Primary) and Skill Workshops; or outside school hours, in the context of activities associated with Secondary Education School Activities.
• All student works must be the work of only one school to ensure equal participation during the Audience Award vote. Collaborations between schools are encouraged to take place over radio shows outside the “Make it Heard 2025” Contest process, where there is enough time, to enable more children from each school to participate in a meaningful way.
• While submitting their entry, special schools may choose if they wish to compete with schools from their corresponding educational level or in the special schools’ category.
• In terms of the evaluation processes, it is specified that on the conclusion of the Contest, an assessment questionnaire will be posted on the website to be filled by participating schools, just like every school year. The aim is to use feedback from students and teachers to improve the Contest’s next edition.
• By submitting the podcast/song by the teacher in charge of the Contest, the members of production team accepts that the project is their exclusive creation and are aware of the fact that it will be broadcast on the European School Radio. The responsible teacher of the school confirms the receipt of Parental Declarations for their children’s participation in the “Make it Heard 2025” competition. Submitting the entry means that you have read and fully accepted the above terms.

Please note that the Contest organizers are responsible for the implementation of the Contest and for securing the entrants’ personal information. The organizers have the right to post the students’ work on their website, on social media, on TV, radio and press so as to increase awareness of the Contest. Creators retain the copyrights for their work. There is no revenue for the Contest organizers through the entries (by trading or advertising etc.) and the use of each work is made only for educational purposes. The students’ works are made available to the bodies responsible for production and broadcasting of the Award Ceremony or for TV, radio, online specials or for feature articles in the press about the Contest. Last, the Organizing Committee is responsible for selecting the members of the Judging Committees. After the conclusion of the Contest, the Organizing Committee will assess the action through questionnaires addressed to all participating teachers, students and the members of the Judging Committees.