Haringey deaf pupils set for red-carpet film awards

By Hiyastar Newsroom | Published 26 May 2026

A classroom project about British weather has put five young Haringey filmmakers on the shortlist for one of the UK’s best-known youth film awards.

Iris, JJ, Leo, Liya and Skyler, all Year 1 pupils at Blanche Nevile School for Deaf Children, have been nominated at this year’s Into Film Awards for their animated short film, The Weather. The children are shortlisted in the Best Animation: 5-11 category and are due to attend the red-carpet ceremony in Leicester Square next month.

The nomination gives the pupils a public platform for a first film made during Deaf Studios lessons, after they turned a topic from school into a short animated story.

Five Year 1 pupils turn a weather lesson into animation

The film began with a familiar subject for any child growing up in Britain: changeable weather. The pupils had been learning about the weather at school and used that work as the basis for an animated feature about a girl who experiences the classic British pattern of “four seasons in a day.”

For Iris, JJ, Leo, Liya and Skyler, the project was also a first step into filmmaking. According to the source information, the children had no previous filmmaking experience before making The Weather, but used their Deaf Studios lessons to experiment with animation, sound and storytelling.

The soundtrack was created by the pupils themselves, using instruments and objects. That detail matters because it shows the film was not simply a classroom exercise assembled around them. The children contributed to the look, movement and sound of the piece, working through several parts of the filmmaking process at an early age.

Blanche Nevile pupils nominated for The Weather

Blanche Nevile School for Deaf Children is a specialist school in Haringey, and the nomination places its pupils alongside young filmmakers from across the UK.

The Into Film Awards receive entries from many parts of the country, with nominated films spanning different styles and subjects, from comedies to documentaries. This year, The Weather is competing in a category designed for children aged five to 11, making the Haringey pupils among the youngest filmmakers being recognised.

For local families, the story is also a reminder of how creative work in specialist education can travel beyond the classroom. A short film made by Year 1 pupils in north London is now part of a national awards programme backed by the UK film industry.

A red-carpet ceremony in Leicester Square

The awards ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday 16 June 2026 at the ODEON Luxe Cinema in Leicester Square. The venue and format mean the pupils are set to experience the kind of red-carpet event usually associated with professional film premieres.

Previous Into Film Awards events have been attended by well-known names from the industry, including Daniel Craig, Gemma Arterton, Olivia Cooke, Charles Dance, Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant, Naomie Harris, Lily James, Eddie Redmayne, Simon Pegg, Bill Nighy and Ruth Wilson.

The awards are run by Into Film, a film education charity supported by the British Film Institute through National Lottery funding. Its awards programme is designed to showcase young people’s filmmaking and highlight new creative talent from schools and youth settings across the UK.

What happens next for the Haringey filmmakers

The next step for Iris, JJ, Leo, Liya and Skyler is the June ceremony, where winners will be announced in front of nominees, educators and film industry guests.

Their film, The Weather, has already reached the nominated stage in a national field of entries. For the pupils, the red carpet now follows a first attempt at animation, a school lesson about changing skies, and a short story built from the weather many Londoners know well.

Source: Haringey Council