First News

📢 New report from Internet Matters: Informed or Overwhelmed? Understanding the impact of online news on children and young people’s wellbeing Our latest research explores how children and young people are navigating an online news environment where algorithms determine what they see, verified and unverified information is presented side by side, and AI-generated content is becoming more common. Key findings include: 🔹68% of children and young people get their news from social media – often from a mix of influencers, friends and news outlets. 🔹Six in ten children have seen a news story in the past month that worried or upset them – most often about war, violence and crisis events. 🔹Over a quarter (27%) of children have believed a fake or AI generated story, leading to confusion, embarrassment and reduced trust in the news. 🔹 Only 56% of children and young people say their school has taught them how to tell if online news is true – falling to 49% among children from lower income households. We’re calling on government and industry to do more to protect children from harmful online content, including violent news content, and to equip them with the media literacy skills they need to navigate an ever-changing digital world. 🔗 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ez5CCAHa

🗓️ FREE CPD Webinar – 23rd Oct Teach pupils to read between the headlines! From AI and social media to fake news and civic engagement, discover practical strategies for teaching media literacy across KS2 & KS3. Hear from First News, Shout Out UK and the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA) and walk away with: ✅ Free resources ✅ Expert insights and advice ✅ A CPD certificate ✅ Tools to help pupils think critically and engage confidently as informed citizens 👉 Register today: https://bit.ly/3KJ0hHz

🌍 Teaching Children to Read Between the Headlines: Why Media & Information Literacy Matters More Than Ever 🌍 Media & Information Literacy (MIL) has never been more vital. Young people today are inundated with information and they need the skills to navigate it wisely. At First News we’re proud to be leading this conversation and helping schools take action today through our new Media & Information Literacy TeachKit. 🎓 Join our free webinar on 23rd October with Matteo Bergamini MBE (Shout Out UK ), Fran Yeoman (Trustee, MILA) and Helen Mulley, First News' Education Lead for practical strategies to teach media literacy across KS2 & KS3. 👉 Register here: https://bit.ly/3KJ0hHz 📘 TeachKit: MIL;  a comprehensive £249 ready-to-use scheme of work giving teachers the tools and confidence to bring media literacy to life. 👉 https://shorturl.at/d6Aqf 📥 Download our free frameworks developed in partnership with MILA to see how TeachKit: MIL can support your school today 👉https://bit.ly/41RpqWy Why is it important? It’s been over a decade since England’s National Curriculum was last reformed, yet the world our children are growing up in has changed beyond recognition. The current curriculum, introduced in 2014, is often seen as too content-heavy, too exam-focused, and not designed for an age shaped by social media, AI, and an endless flow of online information. That’s why this National Curriculum Review, led by Professor Becky Francis CBE, is so important. Promising a “broader, richer, cutting-edge curriculum” for all schools (including academies), the review’s interim report identifies a crucial priority: ensuring the curriculum is fit for the future. At the heart of that must be Media & Information Literacy; the skills that help children: 🔹 Think critically about what they read and watch 🔹 Recognise bias and misinformation 🔹 Engage safely, kindly and confidently online 🔹 Become informed participants in democracy As the House of Lords Communications & Digital Committee put it: “Media literacy must now be embedded across the national curriculum"; with Baroness Keeley (Chair), adding, "One-off lessons are not good enough.” To make that happen, we urge the Review Panel to: ✅ Mandate MIL teaching from at least Key Stage 2 upwards ✅ Define a clear programme of study with progression through each Key Stage ✅ Provide funding for teacher training and resources

🗓️ FREE CPD Webinar – 23rd Oct Teach pupils to read between the headlines! From AI and social media to fake news and civic engagement, discover practical strategies for teaching media literacy across KS2 & KS3. Hear from First News, Shout Out UK and the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA) and walk away with: ✅ Free resources ✅ Expert insights and advice ✅ A CPD certificate ✅ Tools to help pupils think critically and engage confidently as informed citizens 👉 Register today: https://bit.ly/3KJ0hHz

🌟Campaign win for primary school libraries 🌟   Chancellor Rt Hon Rachel Reeves announced today that the government and HM Treasury will ensure every state primary school in England will have a library by the end of this parliament: “Through our Plan for Change, it is our mission to give every child the best start in life, regardless of their background or where they’re from. This announcement is a key milestone in achieving that.”    Not only is this a significant win for the futures of a generation, but it marks a major milestone for our #LibrariesForPrimaries campaign, co-founded with Penguin Random House in 2021, and every author, illustrator, teacher, pupil librarian, MP, business, charity, library, trust, foundation and partners including Arts Council England, The Foyle Foundation and Julia Rausing Trust who have collaboratively driven forward the mission to ensure a dedicated library space in every UK primary school by 2029. It has always been our ambition to partner with the government to ensure all children have access to the life-changing benefits of a school library - today we can see this as a reality!   To date, Libraries for Primaries has given close to half a million more children across the UK new opportunities to access more than 628,000 brand new, diverse and inspiring books and discover a love of reading by transforming libraries spaces in 1,500 primary schools.   Why does this matter now? School libraries and reading for pleasure can benefit children’s academic performance, wellbeing, empathy and confidence yet 1 in 7 primary schools in the UK doesn’t have a library and children’s enjoyment of reading is at a 20-year low.   The announcement also comes as we approach the National Year of Reading 2026 - a Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, that aims to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults by empowering more people to see reading as a personally meaningful, modern and social activity, using reading as a tool to pursue their interests, express themselves and participate fully in life.   We know the transformative power school libraries have in giving children the best possible start in life. This announcement will help unlock that potential for every child, no matter where they live.   Whether you’re a business, publisher, charity, library or school, you can join the Libraries for Primaries campaign and the effort to grow a generation of readers: https://lnkd.in/e7rrGf_z   #LibrariesForPrimaries #GrowAGenerationOfReaders #NationalYearOfReading

💬 In light of recent events, young people are asking questions about freedom of speech – online, amongst friends, and in classrooms. Parents are looking for reassurance that schools are addressing these topics responsibly. Many teachers have told us that they feel uncertain about how to respond safely, balancing open discussion with maintaining boundaries. That's why we’re giving educators one First News TeachKit: Media & Information Literacy resource for FREE to help guide these tricky conversations safely: ✅ Ready-to-go lesson plan and student slides ✅ Tips to encourage critical thinking and responsible debate ✅ Parent-friendly notes for transparency This is just a taste – subscribing schools get full access to all TeachKit lessons, to help students read between the headlines. 📥 Download your free resource today https://bit.ly/3Wfn4x7