What it’s all about

Our school is one of 7,000 in the UK that belongs to the Filmclub scheme. Every week we get together to watch a film selected from a vast array of titles, including foreign-language films, documentaries, independent British movies and classics stretching back nearly a century, writes Janice Laycock.

We have seen films as diverse as The General (a silent movie), The Secret of Kells (an Irish animation) and Bridge to Terabithia (a fantasyadventure film). Screenings are regularly followed by discussions, and pupils are learning about history, science, politics, the wider world - and themselves.

We arrange interactions with film professionals, which open new worlds for pupils. Many Filmclub members are not in any other club and the way they have grown in confidence in discussions is wonderful.

We watch U and PG films and have discussed censorship. To share a film that engages a whole school from the ages of 4 to 11 is wonderful.

I have seen so many schemes come and go with varying degrees of success, but in school life consistency and maintaining momentum are key. Filmclub is funded, so there is no cost to the school. On the contrary, its rewards are immense in terms of knowledge and experience of the wider world, speaking, listening, development of writing, confidence and enjoyment.

And there’s more

For more on Filmclub, visit www.filmclub.org For resources to support your club, see Filmclub’s TES profile.

Introduce film language techniques with mcmrbt’s step-by-step guide to the Wallace and Gromit film The Wrong Trousers.