Picture News: taking the weekly news agenda into schools

Innovative resource for schools that helps children make sense of the news.

The 24/7 news cycle, social media and ‘fake news’ make it hard for even the savviest to keep up with what’s really happening in the world.

Picture News is the simple yet brilliant new resource that enables schools to encourage children to question what they hear and read, to think around key issues and topics and develop ‘healthy’ news mindsets.

The Picture News team consists of qualified teachers. Each week they choose the latest big news story, turn it into a vibrant A2 poster with a thought-provoking question and create an assembly plan with British values, Key Stage1 and Key Stage2 focus cards. The materials are available to schools as a download or printed and posted direct to the school.

Since 2014, teachers must promote five key British values and their promotion is inspected by Ofsted. To achieve ‘outstanding’ status schools must engage with and promote these values in a meaningful way and the Picture News service builds consideration and discussion of these values into all of their teaching materials.

Picture News is the brainchild of Early Years educational expert Katie Harrison, a mother of 3, based in Yorkshire and a former primary school teacher. Katie specialises in teaching Philosophy and Religious Education and is passionate about helping children understand and think critically about life’s big questions and issues. She also worked for a number of years in Education Sales and Training and founded Picture News with her partner Rob Harrison in 2015.

Since launching the service has gone from strength to strength with more than 1500 schools signed up.

The Picture News service is available in three levels suitable for:

• Early Years
• Primary School, and
• Years 7, 8 and 9

Schools can subscribe to the Picture News service as a hard-copy or email service with prices ranging from as little as £50 per year for email only access, to £300 per year for the full service where they receive posters and all materials in the post and via email each week.