Fake news is a buzzword of our time, but its impact can be significant. Not only can

it threaten our democracy, our confidence in governance, or our trust in journalism, but it has

also been reported to distort children’s view of the world.

In a digital world, we can no longer take everything we read, hear or see at face value –

no matter how reliable we believe the source. Children are increasingly likely to encounter fake

news; more young people than ever are using digital media as their main source of news, so

they must be equipped with the skills to tell fact from fiction.

While critical literacy skills are part of every stage of the national curriculum in England,

a new report from the National Literacy Trust shows that children are not retaining what they’ve

been taught. Some 20% of children aged between eight and 15 believe everything they read

online is true, and 35% of UK teachers say pupils have cited fake news or false information

found online as fact in their work.

Reading comprehension, a big part of the Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculums, is particularly

important for preparing children to become critically literate. It helps children accurately

understand and interpret information by making connections between what they read and what

they already know, working out what is important, and spotting the difference between fact and

fiction. Other curriculum areas help to build the foundation skills needed to develop strong

critical literacy skills, such as reading a wide range of texts for different purposes, learning

about inference, and identifying how language structures and presentation contribute to

meaning.

In addition to building on the skills learned in primary school, these skills feature even

more prominently in secondary school. At Key Stage 3, it is a requirement to teach pupils to

read critically and at Key Stage 4, pupils are taught to understand and evaluate texts by

seeking evidence to support a point of view, to distinguish between statements that are

supported by evidence and those that are not, and to identify bias and misuse of evidence.

Children need to be able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real-life

situations. With fake news such a big threat to children’s lives, as well as being such a topical

issue, bringing it into the classroom will give teachers the opportunity to further develop their

pupils’ critical literacy skills, and give children an opportunity to discuss any news stories that

worry them in a safe environment.