Attendance figures always went up on film club days at Abi Beacon’s last school. So when she moved to Danescourt primary school in Cardiff, where she’s now deputy headteacher, she was keen to introduce a club there too.
“I knew how exciting it would be for the children and the knock on effect it would have on pupil engagement levels,” Beacon says.
Around 55 children, aged between six and 11, now attend her club, which meets on a Friday night after school to avoid clashes with other activities. “We have a lot of football-mad boys,” she explains.
It was an important consideration because the benefits of running a film club can be particularly strong for boys, whose literacy skills often lag behind those of girls. At Danescourt, boys have been so inspired by the films that they have volunteered to write reviews.
Beacon’s club is one of one of 8,500 run throughout the UK by Into Film, a charity funded by the BFI with National Lottery money together with funding from the film industry and a number of other sources, which aims to put film at the heart of young people’s learning and cultural experience in the UK.
Film clubs can be used to: improve literacy; engage hard-to-reach students; support the curriculum; explore filmmaking and provide an insight into the film industry. At Renfrew High school, Brian Morris, religious and philosophical studies teacher, runs a club on a Monday morning focusing exclusively on Scottish films.
At Goffs school, Hertfordshire, around 30 students of all ages meet weekly to watch and discuss both popular and challenging films of all genres, fuelled by popcorn. The club’s organiser, Shaun Furzer, leader of digital learning, says pupils from different age groups have become friends because of the club, which has boosted confidence, literacy and a sense of togetherness. As a result, film has now been introduced as part of the school curriculum.
Furzer is a film enthusiast and comfortable with new technology. But neither of these things are necessary to run a film club. You only really need to be able to register an account and order a film online. Nor do schools need any equipment more sophisticated than a whiteboard connected to a computer with a decent sound system.
It is free for state-funded schools, colleges, youth clubs, cinemas and libraries in the UK. In order to view films in schools a pubic viewing and screening licence is required; in England, the cost of this is covered by the Department of Education.
Once a school is signed up, the film club co-ordinator can browse Into Film’s catalogue of more than 4,000 films, using filters including age, genre, duration and theme to put together a wishlist. Films then arrive through the post with a freepost envelope to return them.
The catalogue is diverse, including black and white and foreign language films. “We want young people to be able to access a wide range of films, not just those that are strongly marketed,” says Jane Fletcher, Into Film’s director of education. She says the intention is to make the process as straightforward as possible for busy teachers.
Beacon says in many years of teaching and running clubs, the film club has been the easiest.
Her tip is to choose a surefire winner as the first film. She is also careful not to reveal what the film will be before the club meets to stop the children picking and choosing when to turn up. Also make sure the venue has blinds, she advises, particularly in the summer because “it all gets very exciting when you are cocooned inside.”
Registering with Into Film gives schools access to free teaching resources linked to the films and the curriculum, plus one-to-one support by phone or email from a designated programme co-ordinator. Members can also plug into other teachers’ experience of running a film club through message boards on the website.
While a successful film club can work at the basic level of showing and discussing films and writing reviews, teachers also have plenty of scope to make it into something much more.
Into Film’s continuing professional development programme, open to all teachers running film clubs, offers face-to-face and online training on how to use film in the curriculum. It also gives advice on choosing appropriate films for clubs, organising post-screening discussions and running film-making activities.
This has become a more important strand of activity since the merger last year two leading film education charities, FILMCLUB and First Light. For Erin Cook of Catrine primary, film-making with support from Into Film has been “an excellent way to engage children in cross-curricular learning”. Helen Emery, a teacher at King Edward VI school in Staffordshire says students who took part in the organisation’s See It Make It project have benefited through learning from a professional film maker.
Thanks to its close relationship with the film industry, Into Film also organises school visits with a range of film professionals – from directors to gaffers – to talk about their work or take part in a Q and A session with students at screenings. The charity also provides access to a range of red carpet and other industry events.
Furzer said a special effects artist who had worked on The Dark Knight spoke to sixth formers who were doing media studies at his school, while other students benefitted from tickets to see the Lone Ranger in Leicester Square.
Keen pupils can also join the talent development scheme that offers review training, careers advice and opportunities to interview stars from the industry. Meanwhile, all film club members have access to competitions including review of the week, which attracts up to 5,000 entries, all of which are read.
But film clubs are about inclusivity as much as talent-spotting. Unlike many extra-curricular clubs, film club membership demands no special skills, which means young people who struggle to be included in other areas can still join in.
“There are many different ways you can run a club,” says Fletcher. “The teachers know their young people. We are giving them the skills to do what is right for them.”
