Youngsters from Shropshire are being invited to join others from across the country to watch some of the biggest films at cinemas free of charge.

The initiative is part of Film Education’s National Schools Film Week which last year was attended by more than 473,000 students and teachers nationally.

Films including Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Tangled, and The King’s Speech will be screened on different dates and venues in Shropshire from October 13 to 21.

They will be screened at Market Drayton Festival Drayton Centre, Wem Town Hall, Telford’s Odeon cinema, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, and Much Wenlock Edge Arts Centre.

The festival supports classroom teaching, and includes an online library of resources related to individual films.

This year the festival is celebrating its 16th birthday and will feature 2,500 screenings at 570 cinemas across the UK.

Glyn Jackson, manager of Market Drayton Festival Drayton Centre, said: “It is always a pleasure to host the younger members of the community and our volunteers’ team found it very rewarding to see a new generation of cinemagoers enjoying our big screen.”

Fay McKirgan, teacher at St Peter’s Primary School in Wem, said: “Film Week, apart from adding to the curriculum and supporting visual literacy, is a team unity event and a great opportunity to see children in context outside the school environment.”

Nick Walker, festival director, added: “It is an incredible opportunity not only to build the adventurous, film-loving audience of the future but also to develop the kinds of passion in young people more likely to make them more receptive to this art form.”