Summer holidays are almost a distant memory, and Term One is underway. It's suddenly that time of the year again: teachers around the country are meeting their new students, and working hard to establish shared values and expectations for classroom behaviours. If you are looking for engaging short-form content to explore these issues with students, look no further than the ACTF Education shop. 

Now available as a digital download, our factual entertainment series MY:24 includes a number of 12-minute documentaries about the impact of bullying, how to handle conflicts with friends, and valuing differences. These include the episodes 'Jake', 'Dave', 'Faith', 'Justin' and 'Dominic', which are ideal for secondary students. 

The fictional short film First Day (2017) is relevant to students just beginning high school, as it follows main character Hannah as she finishes primary school and begins her secondary schooling. Hannah experiences all the excitement and fear associated with this transition, but her first day of high school is even more significant: it’s the first day she will wear a girl’s uniform to school and go by her chosen name, rather than the boy’s name she was given at birth. 

Our free First Day Teaching Toolkit will support Year 7 teachers and students who are using this important film in the classroom. The resource explores key themes from the film, and helps students to prepare for, process, and reflect on their own transitions to secondary school. The learning tasks encourage inclusive behaviours in the classroom, and reminds students that we are all more alike than we are different.

For middle to upper primary students, Little Lunch is always a hit. In the episode 'The Germblock', Tamara accuses Melanie of not washing her hands, and she is ostracised as a result. This episode is the perfect provocation for conversations about inclusive behaviours at school, and our free Little Lunch curriculum resource includes suggested learning tasks for the episode. 

And for our youngest students, check out Little J and Big Cuz. This unique animated series was created by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to support the transition to school for Indigenous children and their families. However, teacher feedback tells us that the series is relevant to F-2 students in many classroom contexts, helping them to learn about the routines and expectations at primary school. The complete series can be streamed online, and teaching resources are also freely available. 

The ACTF Education team wishes you and your students a wonderful start to the school year. 

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