British Pathe Archive
The British Pathe Archive is one of the oldest media companies in the world and this online resource contains over 3500 hours of digitised film and about 12 million digitally enhanced stills. It covers news items on sport, history, entertainment, fashion, politics and much more from 1896 to 1970. The resources can be downloaded and edited for creating presentations and other learning resources.
Searching this vast collection couldn’t be simpler. Just enter your keyword in the search box and click Go or you can perform an advanced search if you are looking for something specific. There is also the option to browse by theme and the Anniversary finder allows you to find out what was happening on this day 40, 50, 75 or even 100 years ago.
There is plenty of help online to get you started on using this resource and the FAQ section has information on using the site, copyright issues and answers to any technical questions you may have.
Using British Pathe in the classroom
You can use the resources from the archive to bring classroom projects to life. Pupils from Riverside Primary School in Stirling worked on a project based around the Titanic. One of the tasks they were set was to become news reporters from 1912. Footage from the British Pathe Archive on the Titanic was downloaded and edited to create a clip lasting approximately 1 minute. In small groups, pupils watched the footage and compiled a news report around it. The activity allowed for individual and group work. Individually they worked on their scripts and then worked in pairs to help each other carry out the recordings, paying particular attention to the timings. However, they quickly worked out that they could record while watching the footage, making sure they kept within the minute time limit. The end product was a PowerPoint slide showing the film with their recorded news item and a picture of themselves as the news reporter.
Curriculum relevance
In this activity the children could access information that took them back in time to extend their knowledge and understanding of life at the time the Titanic set sail. The activity was challenging but motivating and had strong links to literacy and numeracy. Pupils of different levels and abilities found the activity enjoyable as they were able to base their narration at their own level and pace.
Some of the children were not as confident as others in the recording but once they had completed their PowerPoint slide they found that it gave them another way to communicate to others without having to speak in public. This increased their confidence and some even asked if they could do the recording again to improve on it.
Other examples
The London Grid for Learning has some examples of schools using the resources from the British Pathe Archive for projects such as Titanic, World War II and the Holocaust.