Welcome
So, who is Matthew Major Lindley?
Well, I'm a film-maker… that’s how I introduce myself in those awful “let’s go around the table” moments during meetings, feeling as if I’ll mispronounce my worms.
Always happiest behind-the-scenes - quietly getting on with the job in hand. When I say films, I mean commercials and digital content for brands like Bosch and M&S.
Sometimes I feel that ‘film-maker’ sounds pretentious, because we’re not talking feature films here. But then again I do write, produce, direct, shoot, edit, dub and animate – which is a mouthful… and more worms to fluff.
Born and educated in Barnsley, I’m very proud to have helped school children in my home town to create award-winning films of their own. We were acknowledged in Parliament once – it's in Hansard, look it up!
I love doing this, and it’s the one occasion where I’m happy addressing an audience. But unless they’ve seen it for themselves, most people wouldn’t imagine this introvert is any good at working with large groups of children. So at the bottom of the page there’s a couple of endorsements.
And out of school?
In my free time I tinker with synths, trying to emulate my musical heroes... Stock, Aitken and Waterman's flair for melody and catchy chord changes that no-one else can find. Do I come close? I Should Be So lucky. And say what you like about Rick Astley, but that guy never gives up.
Three things I couldn't live without:
1. 80s music, obviously.
2. A project (professional or domestic)
3. Spreadsheets. Arithmetic isn't my strong point. But give me Excel and I'm Carol Vorderman + Rachel Riley.
I also love autobiographies from those whom I admire in the world of sport, music and entertainment. 'The Writer's Tale' by Russell T Davies is a fascinating insight into the world of a TV writer.
And in no particular order, a fan of ASMR, space, nice walks, country pubs, cooking, dining out, Italian food and Formula One (rooting for Hamilton).
Anyway, enough waffle from me… that’s around three minutes of your life you’ll never get back.
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I had heard from teachers who had already worked with Matt - and they told me how well he worked with the children. Although their children were older, I had no doubt that Matt would be fine working with our Year 2 class.
The children took to him straightaway because he is so friendly, patient and gentle with them. He doesn’t mind answering all their questions and explains things in a clear and simple way that they understand. If he hadn’t told me, I would never have guessed that he had never worked with children so young before.
Because of Matt we have also learned a great deal and I believe our film would not have turned out so well if we had not had Matt’s advice and support throughout our project.
Another outcome of our link with Matt was how much fun we all had. I know this because my class want to do it all again!
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As part of my role as Assistant Headteacher at Wombell Park Street Primary, I have responsibility for our creative curriculum. We are an Arts Mark Gold school and pride ourselves on the highest standards of Arts Provision. A large part of this is possible due to the expertise and talents of our creative partners. Matt has been one of those partners since 2009, where we worked together on a Creative Partnerships project, where our pupils had the opportunity to work on a collaborative dance and multimedia project with Matt and Qdos Dance group. Matt worked alongside staff and pupils teaching all aspects of film planning, shooting and editing.
The benefit of working alongside a professional like Matt has been that all our film projects have been of the highest standard.
His advice on the best equipment to use and purchase (hardware and software) has been invaluable. As well as working professionally with pupils Matt has also helped upskill our staff who are now much more confident to support and deliver multi-media work with the children. The opportunity to capture projects on film has also enabled us to share our work with parents and the local community.
Further projects have included a play about the local area, which was part live action and part film made by our pupils supported by Matt, Year 5 created a film as part of a project on Teamwork and Year 6 created documentaries about natural disasters.
All our pupils have thoroughly enjoyed working with Matt, he has a thorough and professional approach which brings the best out of the children. Matt sets incredibly high standards which challenge pupils and ensure the highest standard of work is achieved.
Staff have found Matt to be a brilliant resource and he has been proactive in the planning of a number of projects. The standard of our arts provision with specific reference to multimedia was found to be outstanding by Ofsted during our last inspection.
I would wholeheartedly recommend Matt to any school looking at developing multimedia skills.
Mrs. Louise Longden
Wombwell Park Street Primary