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FREE NEWSPAPER REPORT TEMPLATE · KS1 AND KS2

Newspaper report template for Year 4–6

Plan a newspaper report from the headline to the closing line. Fill in the template online with prompts for your child’s year group and print it, then check the features of a newspaper report for KS1, Years 3–4 and Years 5–6.

Plan it online, then print it

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Written for newspaper report writing. The prompts change with the year group.

  1. 1. Headline

    A short, catchy headline. Try alliteration or a pun, and leave out small words.

  2. 2. Who, what, where, when, why

    The first paragraph answers the five Ws: who, what, where, when and why.

  3. 3. The details

    Explain what happened in more detail, in order, in the past tense.

  4. 4. Quotes

    Add what a witness or expert said, in inverted commas, with their name.

  5. 5. What happens next

    Finish with what happens next, or an update.

Prints one A4 page with the newspaper report plan and the prompts for Years 3–4. To keep a copy, choose “Save as PDF” in your browser’s print window.

Features of a newspaper report

Purpose: To inform readers about a real or imagined event that has just happened, clearly and fairly.

What children are usually taught to include at each stage. These lists are Litsee’s guidance, based on common UK primary practice; the curriculum quotations below are the statutory part.

KS1 (Years 1–2)

Ages 5–7

  • A headline that tells you what the news is about
  • About something that really happened, or could have
  • Says who, what, where and when
  • Written in the past tense
  • A picture with a caption
  • What someone said, in speech marks

Years 3–4

Ages 7–9

  • A catchy headline, often using alliteration or a pun
  • A byline with the reporter’s name
  • An opening paragraph that answers who, what, where, when and why
  • Written in the third person and the past tense
  • Paragraphs giving more detail in the order events happened
  • Quotations from witnesses, in inverted commas
  • A photograph with a caption

Years 5–6

Ages 9–11

  • Formal, impersonal language
  • A lead paragraph that sums up the story
  • Information arranged from most to least important
  • The passive voice to focus on what happened (the trophy was found…)
  • Direct and reported speech, with speakers introduced
  • Relative clauses and parenthesis to add detail concisely
  • Facts kept separate from opinions, which appear only in quotes
  • Columns, a subheading and a caption

In the National Curriculum

  • “writing about real events”

    Year 2, Writing – composition (statutory)

  • “précising longer passages”

    Years 5 and 6, Writing – composition (statutory)

  • “Use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence [for example, I broke the window in the greenhouse versus The window in the greenhouse was broken (by me)]”

    Year 6, Sentence (statutory)

Worked example: Pumpkin Power!

A worked example written for this page, at the level of Years 5–6: first the plan, then the piece written from it.

  1. 1. Headline

    PUMPKIN POWER! Subheading: Class’s giant vegetable takes top prize.

  2. 2. Who, what, where, when, why

    Who: Year 4 at Brook Lane Primary. What: heaviest vegetable prize. Where: Fenby Village Show. When: Saturday. Why: grown all year as a science project.

  3. 3. The details

    Weighed 61 kilograms. Grown from one seed planted in April. Watered every day, even in the holidays. Lifted onto the scales by four adults.

  4. 4. Quotes

    Head teacher Mr Adeyemi: “incredibly proud”. Lily, 9: the class named it Mr Plump. Judge Mrs Clarke, judge for 20 years: never seen a school win before.

  5. 5. What happens next

    It will become soup for the school’s harvest lunch next Friday. The class plan an even bigger one next year.

The finished piece: Pumpkin Power!

PUMPKIN POWER!

Class’s giant vegetable takes top prize

By Sam Reed

A pumpkin grown by Year 4 pupils at Brook Lane Primary School was crowned the heaviest vegetable at the Fenby Village Show on Saturday, beating entries from experienced local growers.

The pumpkin, which weighed an impressive 61 kilograms, was grown from a single seed planted in April. It was watered every day, even during the summer holidays, when families took turns to visit the school garden. On the day of the show, it had to be lifted onto the scales by four adults.

Head teacher Mr Adeyemi said, “I am incredibly proud of the whole class.” Lily, 9, explained that the class had named the pumpkin Mr Plump. Mrs Clarke, who has judged the show for twenty years, said that she had never seen a school take first prize before.

The pumpkin will be made into soup for the school’s harvest lunch next Friday. Year 4 have already announced plans to grow an even bigger one next year.

How to use this plan at home or in class

A newspaper report tells readers about something that has just happened, and it is built for busy readers. The most important information comes first, so someone who reads only the headline and the first paragraph still knows the story. That is the opposite of a story, which saves the big moment for later, and it is the main idea to teach before children plan.

Real events make the best first reports. Sports day, a class trip, a visitor or the day the school hamster escaped all give children something they saw for themselves. The Year 2 curriculum asks children to write about real events, so a KS1 report can be a few sentences with a headline, who, what, where and when, a picture with a caption and one thing someone said. Events from a story work too: Goldilocks’s visit to the bears’ cottage makes an excellent front page.

In Years 3 and 4, plan around the five Ws. The first paragraph answers who, what, where, when and why; the next paragraphs add the details in order; then come the quotes. Headlines are a good place for wordplay: alliteration and puns (“Pumpkin Power!”), with small words left out. Children practise inverted commas for what witnesses said, and the third person and the past tense throughout.

In Years 5 and 6, newspaper reports bring together several grammar points. The lead paragraph is a précis of the whole story, which the curriculum asks for. The passive voice, introduced in Year 6, lets a writer focus on what happened rather than who did it: “The window was broken” rather than “Someone broke the window.” Relative clauses and parenthesis pack in detail (“Mrs Clarke, who has judged the show for twenty years, said…”), and reported speech sits alongside direct quotes.

Teach fairness as part of the form. A good report keeps the reporter’s own opinions out; opinions belong only in what people are quoted as saying, and a fair report hears from more than one side. This links to the Years 5 and 6 reading skill of telling fact from opinion.

At home, read a story from a children’s newspaper or your local paper together and spot the five Ws in the first paragraph. In class, give pairs the same event and different witnesses to interview, then compare how each report turned out. Layout (columns and photographs) can come last; the content and the order matter most.

Sources

The quotations in “In the National Curriculum” are copied word for word from these documents, with the year and section each applies to. The features lists, prompts, advice and worked example are Litsee’s guidance.

How this page was made

The plans, features lists and worked examples were drafted with AI help and checked against the National Curriculum by Litsee. Spotted something to improve? Email info@litsee.com.

The planner runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved, stored or sent anywhere, and it disappears when you close or refresh the page.

Last reviewed: .

Questions parents and teachers ask

What are the features of a newspaper report for KS2?

A headline, a byline, an opening paragraph that answers who, what, where, when and why, the third person and the past tense, quotes from witnesses, details in order of importance, and a photograph with a caption. Years 5 and 6 add the passive, reported speech and formal language.

What are the 5 Ws in a newspaper report?

Who, what, where, when and why. The opening paragraph of a newspaper report should answer all five, so that a reader who stops there still knows the main facts.

What tense is a newspaper report written in?

Mainly the past tense, because it reports what happened. Quotes can be in the present tense, and the ending often uses the future tense for what will happen next.

Can children write a newspaper report about a story?

Yes. Reporting an event from a traditional tale or a class novel, such as a giant spotted on a bridge, is a popular way to practise the features before reporting real news.

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