Film festival tickets for primary pupils

Every child at St Columbkille Primary School will enjoy a trip to the cinema next month as the school takes part in the Into Film Festival.

The UK- wide festival, which offers up to 3,000 screenings and film- related events throughout November, has booked 330 Rutherglen children into four film screenings next month.

The cinema tickets have been provided by Into Film, an organisation committed to enhancing the learning and development of young people through film.

It states the 2016 programme of films has been curated with the aim of immersing students in the power of imagination; addressing the importance of diversity; exploring changes in circumstance and transition, and celebrating individuals, movements and achievements that have changed the course of history.

The festival will see St Columbkille’s P1 pupils watch Good Dinosaur; P2 and P3 pupils watch Angry Birds; P4, P5 and P6 pupils watch Alice Through the Looking Glass and P7 pupils watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Chris Wedlock, depute head teacher at St Columbkille’s Primary School said the children would watch the movies on four dates between November 10 and November 23.

He said: “Utilising the medium of film helps make learning accessible for all. It develops pupils’ imagination and literacy skills in a relaxed and engaging environment.

“The film festival is a wonderful opportunity to develop the curriculum.

“The only cost to the school is transport and our parent teacher council is covering half of that so there is a minimum cost for us.”

The film festival is also open to community film clubs and youth groups.

For more information log on to www.intofilm.org/events/festival/ programme South Lanarkshire Council are backing the annual campaign to challenge the stigma of poverty.

The Poverty Alliance’s Challenge Poverty Week is taking place this week with activities and events held all over Scotland to raise awareness and promote action to address poverty and its impact.

To demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the national Stick Your Labels campaign during Challenge Poverty Week, South Lanarkshire Council, other public bodies and third sector organisations will be undertaking an awareness raising campaign aimed at challenging the stigma of poverty.

All frontline staff will receive daily email messages aimed at challenging stereotypes and negative perceptions of people in poverty.

The campaign materials have been developed by the Poverty Awareness and Tackling Stigma Working Group which is supported by South Lanarkshire Council.

This year’s campaign will focus on pledge one of the Stick Your Labels campaign “Poverty Is Not Inevitable” and throughout the week staff will receive myth busting information and key facts. The campaign will conclude with a survey to help assess the benefit and impact of this initiative .

South Lana r k s h i re Council’s head of planning and economic development, Pauline Elliott, said: “More than 900,000 people in Scotland live in low-income households.

“This is just one of the many reasons why as a council we feel it is extremely important to raise awareness of the Poverty Alliance’s campaign.

“Ch a l l e n g i n g the stereotypes that surround people who are trying to deal with the issues of poverty and low income is something everyone should get behind.

“There can be so many reasons why people might find themselves struggling financially and often it is through no fault of their own.

“We have a number of initiatives as a council that aim to help and support people who are either on low incomes or are out of work, such as paying the living wage.

“However, we are aware that there is much more that needs to be done and raising awareness of poverty and the issues it can cause is an important factor.”

Director of the Poverty Alliance, Peter Kelly, said: “When speaking to people living in poverty the one issue that everyone raises is feeling stigmatised and judged, we all have a role to play in not only tackling poverty but also combating the stigma that surrounds it.”

For more information about Challenge Poverty We e k go to www. pov e r t y a l l i a n c e . o r g / challenge_poverty.