30 Second Briefing
Empower your pupils to navigate today’s complex information landscape with First News’ TeachKit: Media and Information Literacy (MIL). With progressive frameworks, structured schemes of work and dynamic teaching packs linked to current news, the TeachKit makes teaching MIL easy, topical and impactful, right across the curriculum. AI tools allow simple personalisation, ensuring lessons work for every learner.
1. MIL matters!
In a world where anyone can publish anything, our children are growing up in an environment where information is fast, fragmented and not always trustworthy.
Teaching media and information literacy (MIL) isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ – it’s essential. And it’s not just about keeping young people safe; it’s about developing them as capable, confident, consumers and creators of media and information, ready to question, challenge and positively shape the world around them.
Find out more about MIL here.
2. Teachers want support
According to a recent First News survey, 83% of teachers say media and information literacy (MIL) is important or very important; 61% say MIL is not currently taught at their school; and only 5% would feel very confident teaching it. This shows that while awareness of MIL is growing, it is still a relatively new and unfamiliar area for many teachers.
The First News TeachKit: MIL has been created to bridge that gap, providing a trusted, ready-to-use resource that empowers teachers to deliver impactful lessons straight away, without needing to be experts themselves.
3. Everything you need in one place
Working with the Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MILA), First News has co-created progressive frameworks that set out exactly what great MIL looks like. These underpin fully resourced schemes of work for LKS2, UKS2 and KS3, with brand-new lessons added fortnightly, based on the latest news.
“Teaching media and information literacy (MIL) isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ – it’s essential.”
AI-powered tools help you customise materials for different ages and needs, while parent notes support learning beyond the classroom. All of this is brought together in an easy-to-use dashboard – giving teachers a complete solution for embedding MIL across the curriculum with confidence.
4. Topical and responsive
Because it is continually updated with news-based content, the TeachKit is ideally set up to help teachers tackle the issues that matter most to young people right now. From elections to the environment – and even difficult or distressing events – the resources provide a safe, structured way to open discussion, answer questions and build resilience.
Teachers don’t have to worry about finding the right words in the moment: expert-created lessons ensure students get balanced, age-appropriate information while practising essential MIL skills.
5. Can you afford not to?
The risks that come with a lack of MIL in a young person’s education aren’t theoretical; they are already happening. Without the skills and confidence to interrogate what they see and hear, children are incredibly vulnerable – in a world where information travels lightning-fast, algorithms prioritise length of engagement above anything else, and anyone with an agenda has multiple routes to get content out to an audience.
MIL isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. It’s relevant right across the curriculum – and the time to teach it is now, especially as the First News TeachKit: MIL makes it so easy
Get TeachKit: Media & Information Literacy today!
TeachKit: MIL is available from £199.
