Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

CELEBRATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FILM- MAKERS The annual Into FilmAwards champion education and career development through film– celebrating not just emerging talent,but the power of film in education to expand opportunities anddrive the future of our creative industries. Hosted this year bythe actor,presenter and author RoseAyling-EllisMBE, the event honoured themost inspiring and original short films createdbyyoung people aged 5 to 19 fromacross theUK.Reflecting on this year’s event,Rosie says, “I amreallyhonouredtohave been the 2025 Into FilmAwards host and I am so impressedwith the creativityandbrilliance ofall the youngpeople involved.The standard of the films is extraordinarilyhigh,and just shows how important it is togive youngpeople avoice throughfilm-making.” With support fromacross theUKfilm industry, this year’s ceremonywas attended by industryheavyweights and celebrated acting talent includingHughGrant,Eiza Gonzalez,AndySerkis,SharonHorgan,James Norton,ElizabethMcGovern, LennieJames, Olivia Cooke andGurinderChadha. The nominatedfilms addressedbold and pressing topics, such asmental health,AI, neurodivergence,multiculturalism, identity and the pitfalls of social media – powerful themes tackledwith extraordinary authenticityand creativitybyyoungvoices whose perspectives are often under- represented. Entries for theJune 2026Awardswill open on 13thOctober,with further details available at intofilm.org/awards. Bookingsgo live forthe free IntoFilmFestival, exclusivelyforUKschools,on 10September; formore information,visit intofilm.org Creative exercises to get students generating new ideas A F E W M I N U T E S O F D E S I G N #37 EXTENDED FAMI LY Look at this family of symbols. How have the pictures been simplified to make symbols? Are they made of solid shapes or lines? What visual features does each one use? What makes them a family? Draw your own symbols to continue the series, keeping the same visual ‘language’ of simplification, line, shape and style as the original members. Then draw a symbol that does not belong to the family. SonofRodney (viaReddit) I recently heard about a teacher who, instead of trying to circumvent students usingAI (which is impossible), shemade assignments by going ‘ Ask ChatGPTtowrite a report on this subject, and then research howandwhy it’s wrong. ’ Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news The number of private schools [in the UK] has actually increased from2,421 to 2,456” since VATwas put on their fees. No calamitous shift of pupils fromprivate schools to state schools, either. In other words, the scaremongering fromvested interests was wrong. Follow us via @teachsecondary (X) and @teachsecondary.bsky.social Get Into Film TEACHER TAL ES True stories fromthe education chalkface Heathrow calling One of themost difficult and dangerous athletic activities one can teach at school is pole vaulting. Following a prolonged period of disuse, it was decided that our large landing pit on the school field should be converted into an additional long jump area – whichmeant that our foamchip landing needed disposing of. The catch? There was a lot of it... Our on-site industrial bins were no use at all for the quantity involved, so talk turned to ‘burying it all’ or ‘sinking it’ into a gravel pit adjacent to school field – but this wasn’t feasible either, due to the fact that foam floats, to say nothing of the ecological implications. Cue plan B – burn the foam . Early next morning, before students’ arrival at school, I duly set out with a large can of petrol and carefully proceeded to set the foamalight – and the result was spectacular. So thickwas the resulting plume of acrid smoke that the school received a telephone call fromthe authorities at nearbyHeathrow Airport, asking us to extinguish the conflagration at once, for fear that it might present a visibility hazard for aircraft. Easier said than done. It continued burning for some 24 hours, andwas only eventually extinguishedwith assistance fromthe local Fire Brigade – to the accompaniment of safety alerts on local radio warning of a ‘ thick, dense smoke over Heathrow ’ presenting a flight risk... Have amemorable true school tale or anecdote ofyour own? Share the details, and findmore amusing stories, at schoolhumour.co.uk Like and subscribe Who’s been saying what on the socials of late? © Quetzal Maucci, Into Film Awards 2025 09 teachwire.net/secondary N E WS | S E P / O C T