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.
Below, we've covered the main dates throughout September and October to help you plan and structure your lessons in the new academic year. 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.
September
International Literacy Day (Friday 8 September)
Our online training opportunities for teachers - such as Teaching Literacy Through Film and Filmmaking for Primary Literacy - can help you support young people to engage with literacy in a unique and creative way.
Our filmmaking courses, including One-Shot Filmmaking for Primary and Curricular Filmmaking for Secondary can also be a really exciting way of consolidating literacy learning (and can be just as effective when engaging with any of the other topics/dates on this list).
Roald Dahl Story Day (Wednesday 13 September)
There are numerous film adaptations of Roald Dahl stories available to steam with Into Film+, including the recent musical adaptation, Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical. Many of these titles are accompanied by film guides and resources to help you further explore the themes of each film. Our Roald Dahl on Film resource also provides some great cross-curricular activities for 5-11-year-olds.
Youth Mental Health Day (Tuesday 19 September)
Organised by charity stem4, which supports positive mental health in teenagers, Youth Mental Health Day allows young people to explore mental health issues in a relatable and accessible way.
Our Moving Minds: Exploring Mental Wellbeing and Moving Minds: Building Resilience resources can be used to do just that. Our Moving Minds projects paired groups of young people with professional filmmakers to explore mental health issues of their choice, and you can facilitate the same activity in your own classroom using the above resources.
Beyond that, our Mindfulness Through Film online training course can give real insight into how film watching and filmmaking can be used to introduce mindfulness principles and exercises into the classroom.
European Day of Languages (Tuesday 26 September)
This day aims to promote the rich linguistic diversity of Europe and raise awareness of the importance of lifelong language learning for everyone.
Take a look at some of our favourite European language short and feature-length films - all available to stream with Into Film+. The list features titles from across nine languages, including French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Welsh, and Scottish and Irish Gaelic.
October
Black History Month (October)
This year's Black History Month is running the theme of 'Saluting our Sisters', a celebration dedicated to honouring the achievements of black women who are often forgotten heroines, and amplifying their voices and challenging the systems that oppress them.
While Black History Month is a valuable window to explore key topics, we also believe that they should be embedded in young people's learning throughout the academic year. That's why our Black History and Experiences programme of films and resources, via our streaming service, Into Film+ , is available and relevant for use in the classroom all year round.
World Space Week (4 - 10 October)
This year's theme is 'exploration and entrepreneurship'. We have a variety of resources that can bring the fascinating subject of space to life, including Big Picture Project: A Beautiful Planet for 7-14-year-olds, Hidden Figures: Pretty Curious for learners aged 11 and above, and BFI Sci Fi: A Trip to the Moon for 11-14-year-olds.
National Poetry Day (Thursday 5 October)
An annual celebration that encourages everyone to make, experience and share poetry with family and friends, this year under the theme of 'refuge'.
Our Exploring Poetry Through Film online course introduces simple strategies to enrich poetry lessons - whether you're aiming to unpick a poet's style or inspire your pupil's own creative poetry.
World Teachers Day (5-7 October)
World Teachers Day is actually a three day online event - a web conference that will include over twenty sessions for teachers and teacher educators, and feature speakers from across the globe.
World Mental Health Day (Tuesday 10 October)
This year's theme is 'Mental health is a universal human right'.
Explore our Mental Wellbeing page to find all of our films, resources and articles around this crucial topic. Of particular interest are our Digital Wellbeing (11-16) and I'm the One - Health and Wellbeing resources, which use youth-made shorts to explore mental health, anti-bullying, prejudice and acceptance.
Beyond that, our Mindfulness Through Film online training course can give real insight into how film watching and filmmaking can be used to introduce mindfulness principles and exercises into the classroom.
International Day of the Girl Child (Wednesday 11 October)
The aim of this UN day is to highlight and address the needs and challenges that girls face throughout the globe, and to help girls find training and education to help create young successful women.
Recycle Week (16 - 22 October)
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Recycle Week, and this year's theme is The Big Recycling Hunt, which focuses on "missed capture": the items that can be recycled but are commonly missed in the home.
Primary schools can visit the Recycle Now website to sign up for an Action Pack to receive all the latest information and details of how you can get your school to take part.
You can also use our free resource, Our Generation vs Climate Change to explore themes of climate change, consumption, recycling, green initiatives, net zero, sustainability, and more.
Please Note - some of the above resources are also available in Welsh and you can find out more detail about these on the relevant resource page or by messaging Into Film Cymru at cardiff@intofilm.org.
Noder darperir rhai o'r adnoddau hyn yn Gymraeg a gellir dod o hyd iddyn nhw ar y tudalennau adnoddau perthnasol. I wybod mwy neu am gymorth, ebostiwch cardiff@intofilm.org.
