Third year pupils at Knox Academy have spent the past seven months working on a short documentary film called ‘It Gets Better’. The film focuses on homophobic bullying in schools and gives hope to young Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender people that ‘It Gets Better’.
The pupils were part of the Panasonic Kid Witness News project, a Global contest, which asks young people to create an engaging short film with Global importance. Pupils and staff had travelled to the Panasonic awards ceremony in Derby on 4 May 2011 and the Knox Academy KWN Team were awarded the ‘Best Global Citizenship’ Award.
Out of the fifteen schools involved in the UK, the Knox Academy team were one of only two Scottish representatives.
To see the award-winning film and read more about the KWN project - click here.
Some comments about the film can be read below...
'The judging team was deeply impressed by the commitment of the Knox Academy students in bringing such a loud and proud message to the competition. Their film encapsulated the spirit of KWN through placing citizenship at the core and leading the audience through a challenging, yet optimistic, narrative. We loved the film. Well done! We will ensure that this film reaches as wide an audience as possible. Panasonic supports KWN in 679 schools across 26 countries and we will ensure that this film reaches as wide an audience as possible.'
Gill Brigg, Education Director for KWN
'I hope this team of motivated and intelligent young people will inspire others around the world to speak out about homophobic bullying; a problem that destroys lives. I was delighted to work with such a passionate group and I’m thrilled that the panel have recognised their efforts.'
Laura Ferguson, Education Officer at Stonewall
‘It’s been such a fun day; we didn’t expect to get any award. Some of the final films were really good. I was just pleased that our work has been recognised. I’ve learnt so much about film production from doing this. It’s a great project.’
Maura Drew, S3 Pupil and KWN Member
‘This has been an amazing opportunity for our young people and I am so proud of them. Homophobia is a serious issue in schools and I want to thank these young people for getting the message heard that ‘It Gets Better’. This is our first year in the contest and to come away with the Best Global Citizenship award is really special, I’m truly honoured to work with so many inspirational people.'
Mr Campbell, Drama Teacher at Knox Academy
