Primary school children can take part in the world’s largest film festival for schools when it comes to Richmond next month.

The free festival is designed to support classroom teaching by showing films that directly link to the school’s curriculum.

Films such as Mirror Mirror, Puss in Boots and Hugo will be shown at Richmond’s Odeon in Red Lion Street.

A number of schools in the borough took part in the film week last year including Richmond Methodist Primary and Meadlands Primary.

Jane Hines, the deputy headteacher at St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School took children from the school to some of the screenings last year.

She says: “Last year we took our year 3 class to see Turtle’s Tale. It fitted in very well with our science topic of animals and habitats and the children were able to make references to what we had seen in the film during our lessons.” 

Festival director Nick Walker says the festival aims to educate children about a wide range of issues and help teachers see the benefits of using film in teaching.

He says: “This is achieved by in cinema talks and online resources, which give teachers the tools to encourage students to explore and understand new cinematic worlds.”

National Schools Film Week; October 15 to 26; Richmond Odeon; Red Lion Street. Tickets available from nationalschoolsfilmweek.org.