Brae school lands leading role in national filmmaking education scheme

BRAE High School is taking a starring role in a programme giving young people the chance to learn about filmmaking.

Brae is one of five secondary schools in Scotland taking part in the curriculum development programme run by Screen Scotland.

It is another step toward Screen Scotland’s ambition to introduce film and screen as an expressive arts subject within the Scottish school curriculum.

Other secondary schools taking part are Charleston Academy in Inverness, Drummond High School in Edinburgh, Grove Academy in Dundee and Rothesay Academy in Bute.

Locally the programme is being delivered by videographer Keiba Clubb, who used to attend Brae High School.

Brae headteacher Logan Nicolson said: “Working with Screen Scotland and our screen educator in residence has been a real positive for our school, and being involved in the film and screen curriculum testing has been a brilliant experience for our staff and pupils.

“The approach taken by Screen Scotland is in line with our school values of creativity, aspiration, relationships and equality.

“Staff are full of praise for the work that our screen educator is doing with pupils, reporting increased engagement and motivation in their classrooms.

“From ELC-S6 pupils are keen to be involved in and it has helped some pupils find strengths and interests they may not have discovered without this work.

“Pupils who were struggling to find their niche have found a discipline where they shine. Seeing a disengaged learner smiling for the first time in a number of months is a benchmark of how much this project means to children who may otherwise struggle in school.

“Likewise, one of our teachers reported seeing a group of learners with additional support needs working as a team, feeling valued, and finding their tribe, another magic moment for the programme.”

Fi Milligan-Rennie, Screen Scotland’s head of education, said by “engaging with the process of practical filmmaking pupils will learn about content creation, the craft and technical elements of making film and screen content, build skills as visual storytellers and develop capacities as collaborative and creative individuals and through the practice of film and screen production”.

Screen Scotland, which is part of Creative Scotland, drives development of all aspects of Scotland’s film and TV industry, through funding and strategic support.