PUPILS from local schools are invited to engage and explore, courtesy of National Schools Film Week (NSFW).

NSFW, from October 13-21, aims to support classroom teaching by providing schools with a powerful experience for their students that links directly to elements of the curriculum. This is also supported by an online library of resources related to individual films and more generic topics – essentially an extension of the classroom.

Over 473,000 students and their teachers attended the festival in 2010 and for this, the 16th year, things are even bigger still. There will be a total of 2,500 screenings taking place at 570 cinemas across the UK including the Basingstoke screenings in both ODEON at the Leisure Park, West Ham, and in Vue at Festival Place.

The selected films this year include Attack the Block, Black Swan, Cars 2, Tangled and Kung Fu Panda 2.

Nick Walker, the festival’s director, said: “The festival is an incredible opportunity not only to build the adventurous, film-loving audience of the future but also to develop the kinds of passion in young people more likely to make them more receptive to this collectively experienced art form.

“This is achieved by in-cinema talks and on-line resources, which give teachers the tools to encourage students to explore and understand new cinematic worlds.”

Sarah Russell, a teacher from South View Junior School who attended last year, said: “Our pupils may not get the opportunity to go to the cinema often, and for some it was a completely new experience.

“It was great that the film we saw tied into the fiction module the children were studying as we could follow up on the film in class.”

Teachers can book their tickets online and find out more at nationalschoolsfilmweek.org.