School trips to flicks are a big hit

Youngsters from Foxdell Junior, Hadrian Lower and Beech Hill Primary schools were transfixed by Kirikou And The Sorceress, an animated feature about a West African boy who saves his village from an evil witch.

The screening, held at Luton Library Theatre, was the culmination of NSFW’s week in Luton and organisers hope that by providing a powerful student experience together with online resources, they can enhance classroom teaching.

Foxdell deputy head Jane Morton said: “The NSFW week provided quality stimulus for students’ writing and other literacy/art-based.”

This year sees NSFW, which is the world’s largest festival and reaches over two million schoolchildren per annum, celebrate its 15th birthday.

Nick Walker, NSFW director, thinks the festival will continue to pioneer classroom development.

He said: “We hope that teachers and students feel engaged in the Festival and realise that attending a NSFW screening is far more than a nice trip to the cinema.

“We do this by giving schools added talks and on-line resources to contextualise the film; to empower teachers by giving them the opportunity to programme which films they feel tie in with school topics at their local cinema and finally to encourage students to explore new worlds by seeing films they wouldn’t ordinarily choose.”