Kidsnews.com.au is a FREE teaching resource available to all schools in Australia. It is proudly produced by media group News Corp Australia under its News in the Community program. It began in 2017.
Kidsnews.com.au is aimed at students from Years 3-8 but is an invaluable tool through to Year 12. Kids News is a ready-to-go resource allowing teachers and students to use current affairs and breaking news in the classroom.
It helps increase literacy levels whilst improving children’s general knowledge and thirst for information, teaching them the importance of relying on trusted news sources with time-honoured verification practices.
Kidsnews.com.au is currently used in schools across all Australian states and territories. The site attracted more than 10 million page views and almost 2 million unique visitors in 2024.
The content — sourced from News Corp Australia’s national stable of newspapers and websites — is repurposed into child-appropriate language and censored to remove inappropriate content or imagery. The site is presented in a safe online environment that does not link to any outside news sources or sites.
THE ARTICLES
Two to three news articles on a range of curriculum-aligned subjects are added each school day. Key topics covered include:
| Animals | Sport | Indigenous News | Environment | Science |
| Technology | Society & Culture | Civics | History | Geography |
| News | Weather | Space | Explainers | Money |
| News Cartoons | Education Kits | Health | Just for Fun | Arts |
READING LEVELS
Each article — rated as either GREEN (Years 3-12), ORANGE (Years 5-12) or RED (Years 7-12) includes:
+ Headline, images and text
+ An audio file so students can listen to the text as they read
+ Glossary of terms and words that students might be unfamiliar with
+ A poll to encourage them to think more deeply about the story
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ON EACH STORY
Classroom activities are written by teachers for teachers and linked to the Australian curriculum. There are two classroom activities, plus a VCOP activity, on every story.
ARCHIVE
Kids News has a rich collection of more than 5000 archived stories, filtered under each category and colour coding.
SPELLING BEE
The Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is Kids News’ flagship national literacy initiative. Over 70,000 students were registered in 2024.
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR KIDS NEWS
Kids News is free to use. Teachers can register FREE on kidsnews.com.au – the sign-up box is found on the right-hand side at the top. Subscribers receive a weekly edm with the latest news stories and the latest on competitions, site improvements, education kits and more.
