One extended schools service currently operating in over 3,000 schools nationwide is FILMCLUB, a centrally-organised initiative which aims to engage and motivate children through the power of film. Founded by film director Beeban Kidron and educationalist Lindsay Mackie, FILMCLUB is now one of the country’s most popular after-school activities, with around 90,000 children watching, discussing and reviewing great films every week, with more schools joining daily. Those who join the scheme find that much of the work has been done for them – they are set up with a free DVD rental account, given promotional materials, film experts are always on hand, and a dedicated website exists though which members can post reviews and find out more about the film industry.
“When Beeban and I started FILMCLUB”, said Mackie, “we thought that another golden age for film had started and that we had to move fast to capitalise on it. This golden age lay in the fact that movies had become tiny – DVDs – and huge – the great popular blockbusters that were starting to drive up cinema audience numbers again.”
Mark Higham, FILMCLUB Chief Executive and the former MD of Creative Partnerships, agrees with the initiative’s founders that now is the time to improve the education – and indeed lives – of children through free access to inspirational films and movie industry professionals: “I believe that we have a once in a generation opportunity to bring film culture to young people in a creative and engaging way. If we get it right we can make a marked difference to their lives, opening minds and improving the richness of their cultural experience. In getting it right we will rely on the contribution of teachers to inspire children and grasp the opportunity to switch them onto film.”
Importantly, teachers are already seeing how screening thought-provoking movies each week can help them meet the demands of Every Child Matters by providing whole-school benefits, as well as having a profound impact on individual students. In a recent survey, for example, 81% of FILMCLUB leaders said that students who take part in the club are more receptive to learning, and teachers often put this down to the fact that they have developed a better, more informal relationship with their pupils in the club which has transferred into the classroom.
The discovery that writing can be fun (FILMCLUB encourages members to review the films they’ve seen) can also be a real boost for pupils who might normally struggle with written tasks, and many teachers have reported an improvement in their students’ behaviour. Shelley Claxton of Mounts Bay School said that “I feel like I’m working as a professional at a high quality arts event [during FILMCLUB] – the children behave very responsibly”.
Another issue high on the agenda for educationalists is helping disengaged students feel more included, and using FILMCLUB to provide a safe, welcoming and non-judgmental environment is one way of achieving this. FILMCLUB’s Schools’ Support Director and former Head of English Sabrina Broadbent says: “A film club is one way that a school can help children to feel a part of something, not apart from everything”, and this is backed up by Assistant Headteacher Karen Burrow who believes that the club “can be used to enrich the lives of students through shared experience and discussion.”
Although the scheme is just a couple of years old, it seems that educationalists across the UK are seeing how FILMCLUB can support what happens in the classroom. Sir Michael Bichard, FILMCLUB Chair and former Permanent Secretary for the Department of Education, feels that film can be an effective way into the curriculum for students: “For many children, everyday life does not often provide a rich diet of experience… For them, films can provide a genuine window on the world, helping them to understand elements of the curriculum which would otherwise seem detached from their own realities and therefore difficult to grasp.” Manchester University’s Professor of Education Mel Ainscow has also noted the improvements made in schools running a film club: “FILMCLUB has helped to inspire creativity, improvements in literacy, writing and oral language, and an awareness of other cultures.”
This final point seems especially important for teachers, many of whom are increasingly eager to instil in their pupils an appreciation of the world which lies beyond the school playground. A massive 96% of teachers involved in the FILMCLUB scheme believe that exposing children to different world cultures and languages has a positive effect, and 88% have indicated that FILMCLUB itself broadens children’s cultural understanding. There are films in 21 different languages on the FILMCLUB catalogue, meaning that it is genuinely that “window on the world”, and pupils can even use film to discuss their own varied backgrounds with classmates. Through its website, FILMCLUB actively encourages members to watch a whole range of films – not just the blockbusters with which they will be familiar, but foreign language films, black and while classics and absorbing documentaries. Thanks to this diverse catalogue, teachers are able to use the suggestions of FILMCLUB’s movie experts, and show their pupils great films which are increasingly challenging – and therefore increasingly rewarding.
If we are to set young people on a journey of progression that ensures they are safe, healthy and motivated, then they must be provided with a wide variety of memorable and inspiring experiences, and extended services are helping schools achieve just that. It is becoming clear that where schools have the support of nationwide organisations such as FILMCLUB, students really do see the benefits in a range of personal, social and academic ways and, as such, must be better prepared for their journey into the workplace and beyond.
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