Into Film Clubs
Find out everything you need to know about starting an Into Film Club.
Our Into Film Club of the Month for November 2022 is Beechlawn Special School in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland.
Club leader, Gillian West chatted to us about how the school's Film Club has become an integral part of its sixth form, which in turn has significantly improved its students life skills, literacy abilities, confidence, creativity, motivation and more.
The power of film is undeniable. They get to go on a journey with a character and become totally absorbed in the story. I love hearing them discuss each movie. It unites the students when they are able to chat about the story.
Into Film Club leader, Gillian West
Tell us a bit about your Into Film Club and what makes it unique
The Into Film Club in Beechlawn was set up by our Head of Department, Catherine McBride, in 2013. We currently have five sixth form classes with just over 50 students in total that all participate in the club. Only the sixth form students get to be involved with the club and they feel like an elite group. It's a privilege for them to be involved and they feel very grown up. In order to be involved, they need to complete certain classroom duties which is brilliant for teaching life skills. They know what they can achieve and that really improves their self-confidence and self-esteem. Our films are shown on a Friday afternoon so we all look forward to the club - it's the perfect end to a busy week. After the film, the students complete a review and this has been really excellent for improving literacy skills, critical thinking and creativity.
What inspired you to start your club and what do you enjoy most about running it?
I teach a year 14 class who have been involved in the Film Club since joining sixth form in September 2021. I have a small class of eleven students, some of which will be leaving school at the end of this academic year and I think film club has been a fun and exciting motivational tool. The power of film is undeniable. They get to go on a journey with a character and become totally absorbed in the story. I love hearing them discuss each movie. It unites the students when they are able to chat about the story and the parts they liked or didn't like.
How does your club engage with Into Film+ and which are their favourite films on the service?
Into Film+ is brilliant and it's so great to have such a wide choice and to be able to easily stream it. My students would recommend The Iron Giant, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Clueless.
Which other parts of the Into Film programme does your club enjoy?
We try to consider all the things that Into Film can offer the school. In March this year, Into Film arranged for 31 of the sixth form students to attend an Autism Friendly screening of I am Greta at the QFT in Belfast. Everyone had a fantastic experience and one of our students even won an Amazon Dot for his excellent review. We are now just starting the Film Buff Challenge and one of the Into Film team came to the school to show us how to take part. Our students are very excited about this new resource and are looking forward to watching the short films and engaging with the Curriculum-linked activities. My class are especially motivated knowing they can achieve awards and win prizes!
What are your future plans for your club?
As part of the Film Buff Challenge, we will be watching some of the short films and doing verbal reviews. This is new to us but I really like how it ties in with the curriculum allowing for a relaxed learning experience. I'd also like to use some of the Into Film resources to allow the students to research the films before we watch them and help them understand more about each movie we watch.
