From today, primary schools can register their interest in taking part in our new programme, News Wise, which aims to help teachers empower their pupils to access, understand, analyse and participate in the news.
Launching in autumn 2018, the pilot programme will provide teachers of pupils in Years 5 and 6 with a suite of curriculum-based lesson plans and online resources, as well as school workshops delivered by journalists.
We developed News Wise in partnership with the Guardian Foundation and the PSHE Association. The programme is being funded by Google for the pilot year.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said:
“In this digital age, children who can’t question and determine the reliability of the information they find online will be hamstrung – at school, at work and in life. Worryingly, our research shows that this is a reality for far too many children across the UK. Working with the Guardian Foundation, PSHE Association and Google, we will help children develop the critical literacy skills they need to survive and thrive in a digital world.”
News Wise is an important part of our wider work to improve children and young people’s critical literacy skills for the digital age.
Last year, we launched the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy’s Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literacy Skills in Schools following our report which found that children in England do not have the critical literacy skills they need to identify fake news. Drawing on expertise from across the political, education and media sectors, the commission will provide an invaluable evidence-base for the News Wise programme.
Register your interest in News Wise today.
Please note that the News Wise pilot will initially focus on primary schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged children.