Description
First News is a weekly national newspaper for children. It is independent and has no political affiliations. It is mostly bought as a subscription and is delivered into homes across the UK (and some overseas) every Friday.
We teach children about what is going on in the world. We have a wide range of articles to inspire children and fuel conversations. We report all the main news stories but do so in a responsible way so as not to frighten children but to make the stories relevant too. We try to report a lot of happy news. News is not just about the chaos of Brexit or the turmoils of natural disasters. Of course, we report on these but we report on so much more positive news as well. The newspaper has different sections: Headlines, UK News, World News, Special Reports, Science, Animals, Entertainment, Games, Books, Crazy but True, Puzzles, Sport and lots more!
It is colourful, very visual and we have some news in bite-sized chunks as well as longer articles so we can cater for different reading levels and attention spans.
First News is also available from good newsagents and supermarkets across the UK.
What our testers said
“I learnt a lot of new things.” – Girl aged 8
“Informative and interesting.” – Boy aged 10
What our experts think
First News is great for teaching children about what is happening around the world as it explains the news in a way that is easy for them to understand. It also is a very helpful tool for parents, as it covers current important issues such as politics and climate change in a child-friendly manner. We found that the stories sparked further interest for children to ask questions and discuss with adults, which is great for their communication skills.
Having their own newspaper is a good way of exposing children to this kind of journalism, as a lot of us now tend to choose to read the news online, watch it on TV or listen to it on the radio. Our testers particularly liked how the writing was broken up with pictures, comics and puzzles – the layout of the newspaper is also very accessible for different reading levels, with one of our testers with dyslexia finding it easy to follow.
Skills developed
– Promotes an interest in current affairs
– Develops speech, language and communication skills
– Encourages vocabulary building
