IN the two years since Bradford City of Film’s literacy programme was rolled out, following a successful pilot, there has been a rise in writing levels of primary schoolchildren taking part. Film education encourages learning, writing and debate about films and issues they raise. Bradford’s City of Film team launched its Film Literacy Programme in primary schools in 2010 and it continued as a rolling programme to reach as many local primary schools as possible from 2010-2015.

Director David Wilson said data from the rolling programme indicates pupils engaged in the programme have made an average four APS progress in writing in one year, compared with the usually expected progress of three APS per year.

Now, City of Film has launched a website, in collaboration with creative teaching organisation Cape UK and the Curriculum Innovation Service, revealing the full story behind Bradford’s Film Literacy Programme and its aims of increasing attain-ment in literacy and specifically writing.

“As the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, it is important we not only see and utilise the potential of film in education, but also look to lead the way with new and exciting projects,” said Mr Wilson. “In order to do this we must share what we have learned with the world, and the best way to do this is online.”

Bradford became the world’s first UNESCO City of Film in 2009. The designation is used to assist regeneration, focusing on four areas – Make film, Enjoy film, Learn about and through film and Visit because of film.

The film literacy programme in primary schools formed a significant part of the larger Learn agenda, aiming to use film across the whole learning spectrum from early years and primary education, through to secondary, further and higher education and into lifelong learning.

In 2010, it was agreed that embedding the teaching of film literacy into Bradford primary schools would be a fitting legacy for the City of Film status. Bradford Children’s Services funded this pilot year, with support from the British Film Institute which trained consultants to work alongside teachers to see if the use and study of short films in literacy lessons could improve boys’ writing skills. Mr Wilson said the results have been “extremely positive”.

In 2012, the project was rolled out over three years, funded by Bradford Children’s Services and its Curriculum Innovation Service – comprising the Innovation Centre Bradford, the Curriculum Innovation Team and the Bradford Learning Network.

A PhD post was funded jointly by Bradford City of Film and the University of Bradford to monitor the impact of the work on pupils’ literacy attainment levels.

The aim was to extend the model to as many primary schools as possible via school-to-school support. In the second year, CapeUK, with support from Arts Council England, funded the inclusion of professional filmmakers and an Arts Award for pupils involved in the project. In the third year, Bradford Children’s Services funded the project for a number of target primary schools in Bradford and the project is being presently rolled out as a pilot in Wales.

In Bradford, the aim is to take the Film Literacy project into secondary schools and eventually link to film and animation courses at the University of Bradford and Bradford College.

Film and literacy PhD student Franzi Florack, who works for the Bradford-Whistling Woods International Film School, is observing Year 5 classes over 2014/15. She said despite a constant rise in SATs results, “the perception remains that British primary schoolchildren are under-achieving and are reluctant readers and writers”.

“Since its invention, film has continued to affect human beings in a way very few other media can. My PhD discusses the connection between emotions that films can evoke and children’s potential engagement with writing as a result,” said Franzi.

Mr Wilson added: “Bradford wants to move film education on from being a series of disconnected experiences to becoming an integral part of every young person’s life – a systematic process in which confidence and articulacy grow by having the opportunity to see a wide range of films, gain a critical understanding of film and enjoy the creative activity of film-making.”

For more about City of Film’s Literacy Programme visit bradfordfilmliteracy.com