Why should we teach children about the news?

At Picture News we believe that what’s going on in the world can provide many real life learning opportunities for children that they not only find interesting but can also challenge their perceptions of the world around them from an early age – we feel this is vitally important for developing respect and empathy towards others.

In our experience, we’ve often found that the teaching of current affairs is neglected in schools – albeit understandably due to many other curriculum pressures, and due to the fact that as the news is ever changing and developing, we appreciate that teachers simply do not have time to create their own plans and resources for something that may have moved on by the time they have had chance to plan a lesson never mind find the space to teach it!

We developed Picture News to fit around busy timetables and packed curriculums, to help provide an instant resource that can be used in a variety of ways:

• As part of a weekly news assembly;
• Using the posters to build a British values and weekly changing news display;
• For literacy, writing about the news and debates;
• SMCS – considering different perspectives, motives and looking at the morality of different current and real life situations and for use as part of circle time.

As Marianne Talbot, whose previous role was consultant for the QCA with responsibility for guidance on pupils’ moral, spiritual, social and cultural development once commented;

“There is much enthusiasm for a project which looks beyond the utilitarian to more fundamental questions. People are fed up with the idea that education is simply about getting qualifications. They are very happy to be reminded of the fact that they went into teaching because they want to help young children.”