A new website which promises to celebrate life in Sutton Coldfield’s schools has been launched.

www.suttonschoollife.co.uk has been launched by award-winning journalist Gary Phelps (pictured), the former editor of the Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer, who now helps promote the achievements of local schools through PR and editorial services.

“Sutton Coldfield is lucky to have some of the best schools in Birmingham, and it’s great to be able to share their stories with grandparents, parents and students,” Gary said.

“The idea behind www.suttonschoollife.co.uk  is to provide a platform where our partner schools can share their successes and the achievements of their students.

“It’s a simple idea - it has memorable stories and great pictures which capture the vibrant and colourful life of Sutton’s schools. We want to recognise excellence in teaching, celebrate the talent of the pupils, publicise events and highlight achievements.”

Sutton School Life will also use social media to help share its content and will allow parents to download images too.

The site features stories on all of Sutton’s secondary schools, with videos and image galleries of events and productions. Primary and junior schools also feature.

It operates as part of the services provided by Gary Phelps Communications, a PR and publicity agency which also works with clients including West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and Birmingham firm Power Minerals.

Before launching the agency, Gary was editor-in-chief at CIN, publishers of newspapers including the Tamworth Herald and Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer, the closure of which was confirmed last week.

“The closure of the Sutton Observer is a big blow to the local area,” Gary said, “but it’s a reflection of the tough challenges facing traditional media, which have been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Life in local schools always formed an important part of the newspapers I edited. For so many kids, it was part of growing up to have your picture taken, and have your story told when you had done well.

“I hope that www.suttonschoollife.co.uk will help continue that tradition.”

Schools interested in featuring on Sutton School Life should contact garyphelpscomms@outlook.com.