World Vision has recently launched its latest school resource - the 'Lost Raindrops' - which is a set of short fairytale stories aimed at Primary school children but with a much deeper meaning.

The resource features characters such as Niyati, a young Sri Lankan girl and Ronald, a Zimbabwean child. The stories address issues like the lack of nutritious food and clean water in a way that UK primary school children can understand.

'Lost Raindrops' is intended as a useful supplement to Citizenship teaching in primary schools.

Teacher Neil Iceton has already used the resource in his school. "This is a lovely resource with colourful illustrations which give a good starting point for looking at several topics," he said, "The activity plans give good ideas for activities to do around topics.

|QUOTE|"The children have enjoyed the stories and love the pictures. I will use it in assembly or in topic specific lessons, for example, we'll look at drought when teaching about water,' he said.

Answering the question 'Why use fairytales instead of case studies?', 'Lost Raindrops' author, Abigail Andrews explained, "By veiling stories in unreality we create a safe make-believe environment in which children can think about the issues in a secure and comfortable way. We want children to have opportunities to learn about the realities of the world we all share without being asked to face difficult truths until they are ready."