THE film club at one secondary school in North Lanarkshire has had a significant impact on pupils.

Launched three years ago as one of a number of pilots funded by Into Film, the club at Cardinal Newman High School, in Bellshill, now has more than 300 members and weekly after-school screenings are always popular.

Teacher Michael Crawford, who runs the club, said it had exposed pupils to films they would not otherwise have seen, as well as motivating their learning.

The pupils have chosen a variety of films to watch from black and white 1933 Marx Brothers comedy Duck Soup to the 1938 classic James Cagney gangster film Angels with Dirty Faces.

He said: "There is no doubt our film club has encouraged pupils to become more engaged and motivated.

"The pupils are encouraged to think about the themes of the films once they have watched them as they write their reviews and we have had some excellent pieces of work."

Mr Crawford said the film club was also crucial because of the deprived nature of some of the areas around the school.

"There are some pupils who have not had a cinema experience and this gives them that opportunity to be exposed to the culture of films for the first time."