Primary school children

Primary school pupils benefit from rigorous, imaginative and interactive challenges in the classroom. The Kalisher Trust education outreach programme has developed two short educational films to do just that, bringing the world of the law and civic responsibility into the classroom in an appropriate way for the under 11s.  If you’d like to read more about our two short films, and see extracts, please click the link above.

The Trial of Mr Bear

The first short film, ‘Trial of Mr Bear’, was conceived by a children’s writer and filmed at the Old Bailey with a cast of judges and barristers bringing to life the central dilemma: did Mr Bear occupy beds and eat porridge when he shouldn’t have?

The script was developed in consultation with primary school heads, judges and barristers, a Hollywood script writer, and a Yale PhD philosophy lecturer; the film prompts reflection on issues of ownership, trespass, and knowledge of the law.  If a bear doesn’t know something is wrong, is he guilty? How can we be sure? Why are barristers, judges, solicitors, police officers and jurors important?

Crown v Goldilocks

‘Crown v Goldilocks’ was the Trust’s second short film, starring Sir Brian Leveson, then President of the Queen’s Bench Division, as ‘Judge Grumpy’ and Max Hill QC, now the Director of Public Prosecutions as ‘Daddy Bear.’

The two films are designed for use in PSCHE (Personal Social Citizenship Health Education) lessons, we can see at first hand how sophisticated legal concepts and procedures can be embraced, processed and absorbed by children as young as Year 3 (7 year olds), who watch the films and then decide, as jurors, how they would assess the alleged crimes they have seen.

Humour is an essential ingredient, but the overall message is clear: the verdict of each jury member is crucial to ensure that justice is done.