School near Milton Keynes nominated for two national awards celebrating use of film making in education

The nominees, from Newton Longville Church of England Primary School, will attend a star-studded ceremony at the Odeon in Leicester Square on June 28. It is the only school in the UK with two nominations.

The Awards are hosted by film education charity, Into Film, which engage with over half of UK schools and count Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Lowden, Michael Sheen and Naomie Harris among its ambassadors.

The young filmmakers are nominated for Paper Problem in the brand-new category ‘Changes for a Better World’, which asked young people to consider the environmental crisis and the changes they want to see and create. Meanwhile, group leader, Ashley Williams is nominated for Teacher of the Year.

Made by eight young filmmakers in their Year 6 film club Paper Problem addresses environmental concerns about the use and waste of paper, partly through documentary style filmmaking with useful tips for other schools and partly through the horror genre and a paper zombie monster.

Oscar Duggan, 11, said; “I'm thrilled we have been chosen. Filmmaking is so important to me because I can just escape into it. I love films and so started making my own on my phone in Year 4. When I got into Year 6, I started sharing my films with Mr Williams, who said they were amazing and shared them with the class. This inspired me to make even more.”

Teacher Ashley Williams has been at the school since 2014 and uses film in almost every subject, from scriptwriting and news reports in English to short documentaries in History.

He said: “Filmmaking has always been incredibly important to me. For as long as I've been teaching, I've used film and filmmaking in the classroom as a tool to inspire and motive children, bringing them together to make something truly unique”.

This year’s films categories cover a wide range of themes and topics including the impact of lockdown on mental health, the intersection of race and beauty standards in the UK, Ukrainian cultural identity, climate change and environmental protection, managing OCD, anti-bullying, the importance of kindness and the anniversary of integrated education being introduced in Northern Ireland.