Into Film Clubs
Find out everything you need to know about starting an Into Film Club.
Looking for thematic days to link to your lessons? Our Calendar Dates round-ups highlight the most significant days on the horizon, and provide useful links and resources to help you explore them using film in your classroom.
From a wide selection of film titles available for free* on the Into Film+ streaming service, to brand new resources, delve into some key spring dates below, including Children's Mental Health Week and Charles Dickens' birthday, as well as National Careers Week in March.
Below, we've covered the main dates coming up across the 2024 spring term to help you plan and structure your lessons. As always, the information and links below are an easy, at-a-glance way of knowing what's coming up, but we'll be exploring many in more detail around the dates themselves.
February
National Storytelling Week (1 - 9 Feb)
National Storytelling Week is an annual celebration of the power of sharing stories. Stories teach us about the world, they allow us to step into someone else's shoes and feel empathy, they help us to relax and escape and they can help develop essential literacy skills.
This year's theme is 'Reimagine your world'. Whether it's something unexpected on your way to school, odd sounds you hear at night, or a path you've never followed, the world around us is full of secret lives, places and possibilities. The most extraordinary story can come from the most ordinary place: it just needs someone to find it.
We recently launched Best Story, a brand new category for this year's Into Film Awards. Entries are open until midday on Tuesday 4 March, so there's still plenty of time to submit your films, or even create a new one to enter.
Children's Mental Health Week (3 - 9 Feb)
This year's Children's Mental Health Week has the theme of Know Yourself, Grow Yourself, which aims to encourage embracing self-awareness to build resilience, grow and develop.
Visit our dedicated mental wellbeing page and use our programme of mental wellbeing-related films available to stream with Into Film+ that we updated in October 2024 for World Mental Health Day to help your learners better understand both their own mental health and the wider topic of mental and emotional wellbeing.
Educators can also take our Mindfulness Through Film online course, which explores how film watching and filmmaking can be used to introduce mindfulness principles and exercises.
Safer Internet Day (11 Feb)
Safer Internet Day aims to raise awareness of and ensure a safer and better internet for all, and especially for children and young people. This year's theme is Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online.
We recently published a selection of films and resources to help you explore Safer Internet Day in the classroom, and educators can also book on to our Wellbeing: Staying Safe Online training session, where you will take part in a range of engaging film-based activities to support discussion on themes, issues and strategies to stay safe online.
Charles Dickens' Birthday (7 Feb)
Explore one of the most celebrated authors in history by streaming The Personal History of David Copperfield and Oliver! with Into Film+.
March
National Careers Week (3 - 8 Mar)
National Careers Week is the perfect opportunity to make use of our Switched On: Careers in the Screen Industry resource, which was created in partnership with the BFI, and offers careers advice to young people the most up-to-date tools and knowledge about the creative screen industries.
You can also dive into the Media Careers Podcast, created in partnership with Into Film, which breaks down barriers to accessing a career in the screen industries by providing inspiration and information for students in secondary schools, offering direct links to industry professionals and supporting organisations. The podcast covers the breadth and variety of roles across the industry, featuring both creative and technical roles for TV, broadcast, film, media technology, animation and gaming.
Educators and careers leads can also take advantage of our free online training courses, First Jobs in Film and TV and Supporting Screen Careers Conversations, as well book an in-person Get Into... Screen Industries CPD session.
Into Film's Spring Screenings (7 - 28 Mar)
Taking place from 7 - 28 March, our Spring Screenings are a programme of hundreds of free cinema screenings and special events for both primary and secondary audiences across the UK.
This year's programme is jam-packed with great films, from familiar favourites to brand new releases, and with films including Gladiator II, The Wild Robot, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Kensuke's Kingdom and Kung Fu Panda 4, there's sure to be something for everyone!
And remember - it's all completely free, so be sure to book your places now before events fill up.
How do I get started with Into Film+?
To access Into Film+, all you'll need is an Into Film Account - it's completely free, and only takes a moment to set up. Into Film+ is free to use for all UK state schools that hold a valid Public Video Screening (PVS) Licence from Filmbankmedia.
Filmbankmedia PVS Licences are paid for on behalf of schools by all local authorities in England and by some local authorities in both Wales and Scotland. Into Film NI cover the license cost for some schools in Northern Ireland. For further information on licensing in your locality please see our FAQs.
If you're a state school in England that's funded by the Department for Education, you will automatically have access to Into Film+ Premium, which offers an extended catalogue of 500+ titles. Find out more about Into Film+ Premium in our FAQs.
If you don't have a PVS Licence, or aren't already covered, then a licence can easily be obtained from Filmbankmedia.
Filmbankmedia
Filmbankmedia licenses and distributes film and TV entertainment to many groups and is the licensing authority we work with to ensure schools, libraries and youth groups have the permissions to screen films from our catalogue.
* Screenings for an entertainment or extra-curricular purpose require a PVS (Public Video Screening) Licence from Filmbankmedia. State-funded schools in England are covered by the PVS Licence.
The core Into Film programme is free for UK state schools, colleges and other youth settings, thanks to support from the BFI, awarding National Lottery good cause funding, and through other key funders including Cinema First and Northern Ireland Screen.
