Kerry’s schools enjoy their work on the big screen

PUPILS and staff from all over Kerry were at a high pitch of excitement in Siamsa Tíre last Friday morning as they gathered in the foyer of the Tralee venue for the local screenings all of the various schools entries in the Fís Film Project.

The Fís Project, organised in collaboration with the Education Centre in Tralee, PDST Technology in Education, IADT and Kerry Film Festival, is designed to help celebrate the art of film-making in schools.

FÍS (literally translated as ‘Vision’) is a Department of Education project designed to introduce film to the Primary School Curriculum.

The project has been going from strength to strength over the past number of years with a big increase in the number of participants from local schools taking part with a number of teachers reporting that children love working with this medium and are being highly stimulated by the range of creative opportunities it provides.

Each year, the Education Centre in Tralee works in collaboration with the team at the Kerry Film Festival to ensure each school that enters a project to Fís is invited to present their films at local screenings such as the one that was held in Siamsa last Friday. This then provides students and teachers involved in FIS with an opportunity to share and celebrate their work.

This year’s local screening of films in Siamsa saw nine different schools from around Kerry taking part on the day; they were CBS Primary School, Tralee, Spa NS, St. Joseph’s NS, Ballyheigue, Scoil Realt Na Mara, Tuosist, Holy Family NS, Rathmore, Moyderwell Mercy Primary School, Killury NS;, Scoil Muire Gan Smal, Lixnaw and Ardfert NS.

Organisers of the event were on hand to congratulate all of the schools, including all of the hardworking teachers and students on the extraordinary work and success that they have undertaken in the course of their project; two of the schools in Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Lixnaw and Ardfert NS went on to win awards at the National FÍS Film Awards in the Helix in November of last year.

All photos by Fergus Dennehy. Pupils and staff from Scoil Realt Na Mara pictured enjoying the trip to Siamsa for the Fís Film Project local screenings last Friday morning.

Pupils and staff from Ardfert National School pictured in Siamsa Tíre on Friday for their Fís Film Project entitled ‘Treasure Earth’.

Pupils and teachers from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Lixnaw pictured in Siamsa Tíre last Friday morning for the local screening of their Fís Film Project entitled ‘Time to Change’.

Pupils from Scoil Naomh Iosef in Ballyheigue enjoying the trip to Siamsa for the Fís Film Project.

Rory McMahon, Chanelle O’ Brien, Mark Llyod, David Donavan and Eoin Bradshaw of CBS Primary School pictured at Siamsa Tíre.

Tom Stack, Timmy McElligot, Jamie O’ Shea and Aaron McGowen from Ardfert NS pictured at Siamsa on Friday.

Seán Kennedy, Shane Guerin, Thomas Moriarty and James Moran from Moyderwell Primary enjoying themselves on Friday.