Llanishen High School has entered the movie business. As an extra-curricular activity the pupils have been writing and producing films in foreign languages to promote enthusiasm for language learning. They have also set up their own TV station, which pupils run themselves as a company. The project encourages independent learning as pupils take responsibility for organising filming schedules, meetings, and rehearsals. The group discuss ideas for plots, which are turned into scripts by the writers, then with support from their language teachers these are then translated into the target language.

The first film was made entirely on-site in school, but when a sequel was planned sights were set a little higher and they decided to film in “Cuba” – thus a trip to the seaside. Once made the film was shown to the rest of the school as an end of year activity.

The ambitious project even has a marketing manager who has sought sponsorship from local companies and is involved in marketing the scheme to other pupils, their target audience.

Language(s): French, German, Welsh, Italian, Russian, and Korean

Llanishen High School is a mixed comprehensive school of approaching 1,700 pupils, including around 300 students in the Sixth Form. They serve a number of communities in the north of Cardiff, including Llanishen, Heath, Thornhill and Lisvane.