Formatting a newspaper using Pages

Question

Our school is an all-Mac school.  I would like to produce an 8-page school newspaper using Pages.  Has anyone else done this successfully? or should I give up and use InDesign instead?  We don't need advanced features, just simple textboxes and some wrapping around drawings or photos--no extended textboxes or jump-pages, and no fancy photo cropping or effects.   I would like for Pages to figure out the imposition for me so it will automatically produce the PDF to print 2 large sheets, duplex.
And while I'm on the topic of producing a newspaper, any suggestions about copy flow among multiple student writers and editors?  We are also a GoogleAppsForEducation school, so there might well be some google tools to help the early stages of copy preparation.

Answer 1

How do you intend to print the newspaper?
Inposition could be done manually in Pages but is usually done with the exported pdf file at the end of the job.
When I managed a large weekly color real estate magazine, I set up a simple system of nested folders containing all the editorial files, photos, graphics and ads which was held on a Server in a folder labelled Current Edition.
At the completion of the job the files were moved into the Archived Editions folder, along with pdf previews and notes on published material, in a Job folder labelled with the Edition date eg 2013 10 22 (NB the descending order left to right).
The Current Edition folder was then cleared out ready for the new edition. A permanent set of aliases were used to point from each workstation to the Current Edition & Archived Editions folders and hence their subfolders.
Artists and journalists could readily fish out older material and ads and duplicate them into the current folder as needed.
Writers should write in a basic TextEditor, eg TextEdit, not Pages as this encourages them to stick to the text and not formatting. Artists can use whatever they are comfortable with prepping the graphics for print.
If need be you can control access to folders using permissions.
The Layout Artist's role is to take the text, photos, graphics etc and import them into a prepared template for layout. The Editor offers directions as simple notes scribbled on a single thumbnail plan sheet, as to preferred placement of the articles and images and then reviews first rough layouts then more polished layouts as the edition is assembled.
Use signed, dated, printed copies to manage approvals. Digital copies have a habit of being duplicated and used to cross purposes out of approval order.
The system works because it is simple, organised and disciplined. Your school is unlikely to pay for the heavy publications management software used by Publishing Houses, because it doesn't need them.
K.I.S.S.
Peter