Schools Content

British Pathe News Archive

Building on the recent Schools Licence between British Pathe, the Regional Broadband Consortia (RBCs) and UK partners, JANET(UK) has enabled direct access to the British Pathe Archive via the schools broadband interconnect to the JANET network.

The agreement between British Pathe and the RBCs allows schools free access to high-resolution digitised clips of news film dating back to the 1890s. The collection includes 3,500 hours of film and 12,000,000 stills. The Archive is also being made available to all schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales via the JANET network.
The connection, funded by DfES, links the archive database in Milton Keynes to the SuperJANET backbone via a high-speed link. This enables teachers and pupils to download media files with the speed and reliability that is essential for the use of these materials in the classroom. This development facilitates the use of moving images within schools in support of learning whilst also providing access to unique cultural and social resources.

The archive records 75 years of change from the death of Victoria to the birth of space travel. Society, culture, economics, politics and war are recorded with national and international stories appearing alongside regional and local news items. Reviews and documentary features are available as well as clips of unpublished film. Therefore, it represents unique opportunities for teachers and students alike to enhance teaching and learning across the curriculum.

Classroom 2000 (C2K) have negotiated a licence for all schools in Northern Ireland to access the Archive via the JANET interconnect to the Northern Ireland Learning Network.

Through funding from the Scottish Executive, a national licence for access to the British Pathe Archive has been acquired by Learning and Teaching Scotland for all Scottish schools. The Archive is intended to be accessed through the broadband connections in place to support the Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN).

NGfL Cymru has negotiated a licence for all Welsh schools to access the Archive via the JANET interconnect to the Lifelong Learning Network for Wales.

British Pathe projects and exemplar resources

The interconnection of RBC, LA and national networks encourages sharing and collaboration and makes using large media files more effective. These are some of the projects and exemplar materials that have arisen from British Pathe Archive based work that are available over the national networks.

E2BN British Pathe Project Area

Provides access to projects and exemplar materials from 80 schools – primary, secondary and special – in both Primary and Secondary and supporting many different subjects in the curriculum. The Pathe Library

Using Pathe - the London Grid Primary Pilot

Eight teachers have been working to explore the use of the Archive in the Primary classroom. Read the lessons, see the work...point others to the excellence of teaching in the schools! Hasten now to Using Pathe

Newsreel

This teacher produced resource is created from British Pathe Archive clips edited to a soundtrack of Cecil Day-Lewis's 1927 poem Newsreel. It's presented as a 'flash' movie and includes teacher notes discussing the context of Day-Lewis's poem. The notes also detail the copyright issues associated with making this film and provide valuable information and awareness for teachers and students alike. Newsreel

Southwark Key Stage 3 Pilot

Southwark LA (part of LGfL) have published lesson plans and resources based on news film from the Archive following a collaborative development programme. See the work and the resources at LGfL Southwark Pilot

Beyond Pathe

West Midlands RBC has launched a major project for it's LAs using the Archive to stimulate Art and creative work at Beyond Pathe

Support

The support website for the British Pathe Schools Licence is at www.shapesoftime.net