Production company Lupus Films collaborated with the UK skills charity ScreenSkills to create the educational resource, based on Judith Kerr’s beloved story.
Picture Credit: Morag MacDonald.
Primary school children in Bristol became the first to enjoy a lesson in animation based on the new animated adaptation of Judith Kerr’s much-loved classic, The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
ScreenSkills, the skills charity for the UK’s screen industries, has collaborated on the educational resource with the production company, Lupus Films, which made the TV special which premiered on Channel 4 this Christmas. It is based on the book published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.
The career lesson plan is designed to excite and inspire primary school children about jobs in the animation industry. It concludes with children creating their own animation based on The Tiger Who Came to Tea story.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea has sold more than 5 million copies since it was first published in 1968. Its author, Judith Kerr, died in May this year aged 95. Channel 4 commissioned the new hand-drawn animated special, produced by Lupus Films in association with HarperCollins Children’s Books and Universal Pictures, and HarperCollins, which aired on Christmas Eve.
Commissioned by the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council with contributions from the animation industry to the Animation Skills Fund, the resource consists of a flexible plan which can be run as a single lesson or a series. It includes teacher notes, a presentation, a project book for the children and additional lessons in maths and science.
“We are delighted that The Tiger Who Came to Tea is featuring in the upcoming lesson plan, and to see such excellent resources being made available for a young age group. We are very proud to offer our continued support to the fantastic work ScreenSkills are doing to inspire the future generation of home-grown animation talent in the UK.”
Adam Jackson-Nocher, Line Producer, Lupus Films.
“We are thrilled that our Christmas special will help inspire young people to discover how animations are made.”
Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama, Channel 4
Picture Credit: Morag MacDonald. 
Picture Credit: Morag MacDonald.
The lesson plan is available on the ScreenSkills website from today, coinciding with the start of Digital Cities Week in Bristol. Digital Cities, organised by the BBC Academy with support from ScreenSkills and others, is a series of workshops, masterclasses and other events that take place at locations across the UK to boost digital skills and introduce young people to new technology.
“This is a lovely way of opening the minds of children to how an animation is brought to life. It is a natural way of encouraging them to develop skills – whether technical, social or creative – that will be useful whatever they do later in life. However, for some young people, we also hope it will plant the idea that animation could be a career. We would love this project to help inspire future generations of British animators.”
Seetha Kumar, Chief Executive of ScreenSkills.
The animation lesson plan is the first in a new series on careers in the screen industries, created by ScreenSkills in association with the Into Film education charity and Arts Council England. The next plans are due to be launched in March 2020.
Compass Point School in Bristol, which has an Into Film club, hosted the launch event, with Year 5 and Year 6 students from Ashton Vale Primary School and Luckwell Primary School also taking part in the lesson followed by a tea party with an adult-sized tiger as a special guest.
“Introducing primary aged children to career possibilities in the screen industries is an important element of Into Film’s work and we are delighted to be working in partnership with ScreenSkills on this venture. We hope the beautifully animated source material, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, will inspire children to engage with the exciting possibilities of careers in animation and that they will be energised by the event in Bristol. We also hope that teachers will feel equipped and confident to use animation in the classroom as an accessible and hugely enjoyable tool for learning.”
Paul Reeve, CEO, Into Film.
Picture Credit: Morag MacDonald.
