IVE & SHINE Launch Transmission, a New Filmmaking Project to Improve Literacy

IVE, with SHINE are launching a 2-year project, Transmission, to improve literacy, attainment and wellbeing for secondary school pupils using filmmaking and film analysis.

Transmission starts on the 9th of July, during transition week, where all incoming, new, year 7 pupils at Temple Learning Academy in East Leeds will get a chance to make a film with filmmaker Raj Madaan of Madaan Media. Following this, 2 groups of 30 students will have ongoing filmmaking & film analysis lessons throughout the academic year culminating in a series of student-written, directed and performed films.

There is extensive evidence that film literacy and filmmaking has educational and personal benefits for young people, many of which we discuss in our piece “The Benefits of Film Education in Schools.”  Children and young people receive much of their education, information and entertainment via still and moving images on screens (mobile phones, notebooks, ipads, tvs or cinema) and thus it is crucial to educate young people in film literacy for the same reasons literacy as a whole is essential.

More than that though, educating in film literacy has also been shown to improve literacy. The expectation of this project is that pupils in the filmmaking groups will see a marked improvement in:

Improved educational attainment – students will develop their cognitive skills (including problem-solving, team-working, risk-taking and creative confidence), which will positively impact their attainment across the board.

Literacy – via their development of story-telling skills, vocabulary acquisition, persuasive writing skills, descriptive writing skills, and speech, punctuation and reading skills through film analysis and writing and performing for film.

Attendance- this programme will re-engage disengaged students back into their learning environment by using popular technology, including mobile devices and iPads, as tools to enhance and innovate learning. Students will be motivated, enthused and excited to use film as a tool to approach and engage with core curriculum subjects.

Wellbeing – the completion of a project and the accompanying exercise in problem-solving & creativity is expected to boost confidence, self-esteem and positive outlook.

In year 2, teachers and teaching assistants at Temple Learning Academy will be equipped to deliver the ‘Temple’ Curriculum, a project-based curriculum that runs throughout the year, and which will expand these filmmaking projects to the whole school. Teaching staff will be upskilled in filmmaking techniques, will understand how they can use filmmaking & film analysis as a teaching tool and will gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to embed the approach across the whole school.

IVE Associate Dave Herbert said:

“This is such an exciting opportunity. Young people are experts in reading films but often they don’t realise how much they know. Our work exploring Film Literacy has demonstrated how understanding film can improve their literacy attainment. The chance to work on a project where we explore the creative process of film-making and how that impacts on learning is such a privilege. I can’t wait to get started.”

Raj Madaan added:

“I can’t wait to get started.  It’s a credit to IVE that they’ve secured funding and forged this partnership with Temple Learning Academy to oversee the delivery of this unique project.  I feel this is a rare opportunity to really study how filmmaking can be used as a vehicle to engage with young people to develop their literacy in the classroom and boost their attainment.

“We are developing an idea to study the adaptation process; from studying a novel, to its transition into a shooting script to finally its presentation on the screen.  We will delve in detail at each stage for the young people to be confident enough to also go through the same process to produce their own short stories, shooting scripts and film productions to demonstrate their creative talents.

“I look forward to learning from the young people, seeing how well our sessions are received and study their development over the year.  I’m confident that by the end of the year we will have developed a much deeper understanding of how film can be used effectively in the classroom. More importantly, the young learners will have more confidence in their creative abilities whilst forging a much more positive relationship with education.”

Funding for this project has been provided by SHINE trust, an education charity that gives children the opportunity to acquire the skills and confidence they need to turn their potential into success at school and beyond. SHINE have funded this project for 2 years as an extended piece of action research to explore the impact of ongoing film education on standards of literacy on Year 7 pupils.

Transmission is the first SHINE grantee since they moved to the North of England and established their new funding priorities for the region earlier this year.

Fiona Spellman, CEO of SHINE, said:

“We are delighted to have awarded funding to IVE to deliver their project which will have such a hugely positive impact on the literacy, attainment and wellbeing of students at Temple Learning Academy.

“Research currently shows that too many children from low income homes in the North of England who may have been struggling at primary school fall further behind during their first few years of secondary school, and this often leads them to get stuck in a spiral of poor progress and low motivation. At SHINE, we want to make sure that all children are supported from primary through to secondary school and are given the opportunity to succeed and achieve their potential. Projects like Transmission will contribute to this goal and we’re very much looking forward to continuing to support IVE in the delivery of their project.”

Transmission is part of Shaping Creative Futures, IVE’s overall program that inspires young people to engage and explore their creative potential through personalised and wide ranging opportunities to engage with professional creative arts practitioners and organisations.

For more information visit our Shaping Creative Futures page.