CHILDREN in the Okehampton area will be among young people going to the cinema free of charge throughout the UK during National Schools Film Week.

The festival's goal is to support classroom teaching by providing schools with a powerful experience for their students that links directly to elements of the curriculum – supported by an on-line library of resources related to individual films and more generic topics – essentially an extension of the classroom.

More than 473,000 students and their teachers attended the event in 2010 and this year the festival, which operates on a scale and with a degree of sophistication unknown in any other country – 2,500 screenings at 570 cinemas across the UK – celebrates its 16th birthday.'

Kim Tucker of Hatherleigh Primary School said: 'Attending film week is a fantastic experience that some children had never had before. It was lovely for the whole school to be able to do something together.'

Nick Walker, festival director, National Schools Film Week, said: 'Our hope is for teachers and students to feel massively engaged in the festival, as it 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.

Films being shown at Shebbear College Cinema are Despicable Me on October 10; Persepolis on October 11; The Chorus on October 12; Kirikous and the Sorceress on October 13 and Source Code on October 14.

At the New Carlton in October, Winnie the Pooh will be shown on October 17, Gnomeo and Juliet on October 18 and Rio on October 19.