A TOUCH of Hollywood glamour came to an Oxford school as pupils enjoyed their very own version of the Oscars.
Eight classes at Windmill Primary School, Headington, spent months working on short, three-minute animated films.
The school rolled out the red carpet and the children arrived by limousine dressed up to the nines to celebrate their big moment.
Eleven-year-old Ben Goodall, who helped produce an animated film about drinking problems in teenagers, said: “It has been great fun and it has really encouraged me to do more animations.
“The Oscars night was amazing, seeing all the finished products of all the animations and seeing people’s reactions to them. I felt very proud.”
Ella Allison-Drake, also 11, was part of a team which made a film called The Monkey’s Heart which told the tale of a monkey in search of the Creation Tree.
Ella said: “It was really fun doing everything and I really enjoyed making all the Plasticine models.”
She introduced one of the other films to the packed-out audience and said: “I think all the films were brilliant.”
A total of 240 children aged between seven and 11 were involved in producing the films, with the younger classes using PowerPoint to animate their pictures and the older groups using stop frame animation, working with Plasticine models.
About 400 people attended the ‘Anim-oscars’ last week, but the teaching staff decided not to hand out awards — after being unable to agree on a best film.
Headteacher Lynn Knapp said: “This gave them the opportunity to be creative and they ended up with something which I think they will always remember.
“Coming in their posh dresses, having the limousine there and walking up the red carpet, and being able to share that with their parents, made it a really memorable occasion.”
Mrs Knapp said most of the classes also used topics they had been working on as inspirations for their mini movies.
She added: “It makes the issues that we talk about in class become real.
“They look at them in a different context and to create a story around something makes them think more deeply about the issues involved.”
fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk
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