RCET Practitioners Conference 2015: book your place
Education Programme: find out more about our work
Grants: apply for support at College or University
COBSEO AGM: CE meets HRH The Prince of Wales
Colinton Primary School: Pupil design medal for Armed Forces families
Support Scottish Armed Forces Children: help raise vital funds
News
Sam Forsyth meets pupils at St Mark's Primary School in Edinburgh who have been inspired with the help of MOD Support Teacher, Helen-Marie Tuiwaiwai, to express their feelings and have their voices heard about life as an Armed Forces child. L to R, Charlene Maitland (P7), Molly Rufus (P7), Sam Forsyth, Irena Roan (P4), Helen-Marie Tuiwaiwai (MOD Support Teacher) and Eroni Taoi (P6)
30 June 2014
Film-Maker Turns Teacher After Making DVD with Armed Forces Children
A change of career for film-maker Sam Forsyth
A film-maker has swopped his camera for the blackboard after being inspired to become a teacher while making a movie with Armed Forces children.
Sam Forsyth, 42, decided to change careers following the making of the Royal Caledonian Education Trust commissioned short film, ‘Forces Kids - This is My Life’
The 26 minute film, titled ‘Forces Kids –This is My Life’ features the real life experiences of over 30 primary and secondary school children in Scotland who have a parent or family members serving in the Armed Forces.
Mr Forsyth visited 6 schools in Scotland in the summer of 2012 capturing the emotional highs and lows military children experience when a parent is deployed to combat zones. The film covers how the children deal with separation and loss, the support military children give each other, and coping mechanisms such as talking over concerns with friends, family and teachers.
The experience proved to be life changing for Sam who, following the film, decided to enroll on a year-long post-graduate teaching diploma at Durham University last year. He has just completed a two-week placement with the RCET to see what impact the film has had in schools across Scotland and to meet Armed Forces communities in Inverness to develop his understanding of the issues that affect military children in the classroom.
The film has also inspired some children to create their own short films and poetry and during the fortnight the film-maker turned teacher was able to see first hand how the film has inspired young Armed Forces children at St Mark’s Primary school as well as other schools in Scotland.
Commenting he said: “It has been very interesting seeing how the film has been used in schools that have a mix of Forces children and children from civilian families as the children from civilian families are now very aware of some of the emotional complexity that is going on in their friends’ families and lives, and it’s been very interesting getting their reflections.”
Mr Forsyth, who lives in Teesdale in north-east England, will start work at Polam Hall Junior School in Darlington on June 19, the day after he graduates.