Educational film about the uses of writing poetry as a creative learning tool in teaching language to primary school children. The film includes footage inside classrooms and some staged exterior scenes with school children, instructional commentary and voice-overs of the children reading their poems throughout. Beautifully evocative of childhood, this teacher training film captures young children in a world of their own. Girls and boys at the primary school in Darlington learn about language...

Educational film about the uses of writing poetry as a creative learning tool in teaching language to primary school children. The film includes footage inside classrooms and some staged exterior scenes with school children, instructional commentary and voice-overs of the children reading their poems throughout. Beautifully evocative of childhood, this teacher training film captures young children in a world of their own. Girls and boys at the primary school in Darlington learn about language through touch, play, daydreams, art and the exploration of nature in their local landscape near the River Tees. The film opens with general views of the streets around the primary school, followed by an exterior view of the school, possibly in Darlington. Credit: Institute of Education. University of Newcastle upon Tyne Title: Language in a Primary School Credit: Photographed by Thelma Watts Department of Photography. Medical School. University of Newcastle upon Tyne Credits: Realised and Directed by the Teacher W.F. Tibbett The Poetry Written and Spoken by Carol Greenwood Pauline Glenning Vicky Humble Brian Robinson Susan Hammat Joyce Woodhouse John Dent Rosemary Raine-Howe Peter Tait Graham Sutton Edna Raedstock Doreen Bond Barbara Clarke Robin Gay Stephen Palming Credit: Recorded in Class In a North East England Primary School A voice-over of school children reading poetry they have written accompanies location shots of the area around the school, painting classes within the school and close-ups of childrens' painting.A child uses touch as a trigger for poetry, as she explores the feel of a fabric dragon the children have made. Various shots record children learning inside the classroom, looking at poetry and art displayed on a classroom board. Shots of the work, with voice-over of poetry. Children play with objects on the discovery table. Close-up of fish and weed in a pond. Children play with soil in a classroom nature display and teaching aid. Shots of nature, with voice-over of poetry inspired by observation of nature in and out of the classroom. Portrait shots of children follow as they write stories in the classroom. Exterior shots of a stream and its banks, with old bicycle wheels laying dumped in the water. A child stands in a stream, silhouetted at a tunnel entrance and throws stones. Litter and leaves lay in a gutter. A boy writes a poem. In a staged scene, schoolboys jump on and off a high brick wall. One of the boys injures himself and his friends cluster around and comfort him. The boys write poetry in the classroom. General shots inside classsroom follow. The teacher speaks to individual pupils about their creative writing work. Close-ups of childrens' paintings. Staged portrait shot of a boy as he sits and daydreams, a book open on the table in front. General views of art classes. One child listens to a tape recorder in the classroom. Then children work with a river model in the classroom. A label on teh model reads: "This is where we were Conicliffe [sic]" The scene then cuts to the farmland and river near Low Coniscliffe. A girl in the mid distance stands beside either the quarry pond or a wide ford in the River Tees. Two boys with a fishing net appear, wading in the pond. There are general views of a flowing river. Back in the classroom, a child looks through a microscope. A girl browses in the "quiet corner" and reads a scrapbook of poems. Children talk with the teacher about their work. The children begin to clear away the crafts equipment and paints. They gather in a group, seated on the floor, for a discussion with the teacher. The teacher reads a poem to the children. He shows the kids a photograph of a local waterfall. There are shots of individual children listening. At quarter past four, the children begin to leave school. A girl walks out of the playground and heads for the streets outside. Title: End. 1965