Budding actors, directors and writers from primary schools in Peterborough are hoping to be rewarded with the local equivalent of an Oscar for their film-making skills at an award ceremony next month.
The Peterborough Children's Film Awards, which have been taking place annually for more than four years, have proved so popular with many primary schools in Peterborough that producing work to enter for the awards has become a staple part of their curriculum.
To enter the awards, children from reception year upwards have been putting their creative energies into producing films of up to three minutes long. At Gunthorpe primary school, two groups of children from reception have made films.
'We enter the awards every year, because it so popular with the children,' explains ICT facilitator Kerry Jepson. 'This year is the third year that children in reception have taken part, and so many wanted to be involved that we had two separate groups from reception - the Loopy Lions and the Helpful Hippos.'
The groups have produced two films based loosely on nursery rhymes - one of the two themes this year for Foundation Stage children. In one film, called 'The Magic Book', children read nursery rhymes and find that the things described in the rhymes start happening to them.
The second film is based on the rhyme, 'The big ship sailed down the Alley Alley O', and in these children's version they discover that the ship from the story was sunk by pirates.
BENEFITS
Ms Jepson is very enthusiastic about the awards and believes that the children gain an enormous amount from producing the films.
'First, there is the ICT side,' she says, 'with children learning to use the cameras, and then you have the children working together to develop the story for their film, which helps their language skills and their social skills.
'There are also benefits for their creativity, which they used while making the filming and which they then took with them into the classroom. For example, one of the children suggested that they make treasure maps, based on the pirate theme of their film. After designing maps, which helped their pencil control, the teacher organised a treasure hunt for the children to search for gold coins in their play area.'
An additional benefit was the change seen in children who were often too shy to take part in school plays or perform in front of an audience.
'As filming was very relaxed, and there was no audience, the children felt more confident and at ease and really came out of their shells,' says Ms Jepson.
As they progress through Gunthorpe primary school, the children continue making films to enter for the awards, but at a more advanced level.
Ms Jepson says, 'The children in years one and above are much more involved in decision-making. They work in small groups or as individuals to create a storyboard which is pitched to all of the children, who then vote for their favourite idea. They also elect a director who has the casting vote.
'Once the storyboard has been chosen the children work as a team to develop the story and write the script. It is excellent for their comprehension, structure and language skills. They work together to make any props, which is a great art and design project.'
LINKING STORIES
At Oakdale Primary School, reception teacher Alisdair Stubbs and his class have been busy transforming a classic rhyme and tale into what they hope will be turn out to be an award-winning film project. The children linked the stories from both 'Humpty Dumpty' and 'The Three Little Pigs' to create a hybrid of the two.
Mr Stubbs explains, 'To come up with ideas for a plot, we did a quick survey of the children's favourite nursery rhymes. In our film Humpty Dumpty tries to build a house, first using straw, then with sticks, and finally with bricks. The Three Little Pigs watch him building his house and try to steal some of his materials. At the end of the film he falls off the wall, and can't be put back together again, as everyone will recognise from the traditional version of the rhyme.'
The children at Oakdale School were given the choice of acting in the film or taking part in another way.
Mr Stubbs says, 'Most of the children say they do want to act, but the children who didn't want to be in front of the camera had the opportunity to do other things, like filming or voiceovers.'
Mr Stubbs is an enthusiastic supporter of the film awards, which his school enters every year, and which he thinks has numerous benefits for the children who take part.
'Making the films is a very powerful learning experience for the children,' he says. 'The filming is all done using digital cameras, which is fantastic because it meant that we could look at everything immediately afterwards. We played back scenes to the children and asked them for their opinions, making sure that they considered things such as whether you could hear everyone's voices, and whether all of the characters were roughly in the middle of a particular shot. They picked up ICT skills while filming and editing, and they would reshoot scenes again and again until they were happy with them.'
He adds, 'Making the film also helped to boost the children's literacy skills. We all sat down together to write the story for the film, which helped to develop their storytelling and their writing. Also, working in groups, developing the script and talking things through was good for the children's personal and social development.'
OSCAR CEREMONY
The schools now face an anxious wait to discover who will be judged the winners at the awards ceremony, which is to be held on 8 July.
The Children's Film Awards are divided into four age groups - Foundation Stage, Years One and Two, Years Three and Four, and Years Five and Six.
Ms Jepson says, 'Everyone is very excited about the Peterborough Oscars, although it can be disappointing for very young children if they do not receive a nomination. However, the evening is a really special event and the children will still be proud that they have taken part in it.'
'We have done well at the awards in recent years, so I have my fingers crossed for this year as well,' says Mr Stubbs. 'It would be fantastic to win an award after all the energy that the children put into making the films.'