Meet Lisa!

I am the newest member to the Picture News Team, having been an Early Years Teacher for the last 12 years. After completing my BSc Hons degree in Primary Education 3-7 years at York St John University, I quickly discovered that Early Years was where my heart lied and found a job in a school in Garforth, Leeds teaching Reception. Being a Newly Qualified Teacher in a two-form entry school enabled me to learn so much from other experienced teachers. I really enjoyed planning for and engaging in child centred learning, seeing the children excited to explore and pursue their own interests. After having my own children, I decided to move to a school closer to home. My most recent school is an amazing school in Ripon. I began teaching Year 1 there, but soon found myself back in Reception!

Whilst teaching Reception, I was very fortunate to be asked by Picture News for my ideas on how the Early Years Picture News Resource could begin. This developed quickly and I have been writing the Early Years resource each week ever since. Teaching alongside writing the resource enabled me to teach the children in my class all about the different news stories Picture News covered. They loved it and their confidence to share their thoughts and ideas really improved. They really enjoyed linking the news stories to their own life experiences.

Now as the Early Years Picture News Resource has grown, so has my role at Picture News. I recently made the difficult decision to leave teaching. My exciting new challenge is now to go into schools and see how different teachers are using the Early Years Picture News resource, as well as leading Early Years teacher workshops, attending headteacher meetings and creating webinars to support other Early Years teachers.

Thank you, Picture News, for this great opportunity.