My name's Ash Williams and I’m the Senior Teacher at Burnham Market Primary School. However, I'm also filmmaker and animator.

From 2008, I have been heavily involved in media production and have produced a number of short films, documentaries and animations that have gone on to win awards and be screened both nationally and internationally. Additionally, I’ve had an extensive career of teaching film and animation and have supported hundreds of young filmmakers to create movies and animations of their own. As part of this, I was involved with establishing and promoting the Film Northants Youth Awards category, as well as producing a number of short films for national bodies including the BFI, Into Film, Childnet and National Lottery’s ‘First Light’.

Many of the films I’ve helped students produce have been made in schools and colleges, with some involving big budgets and extensive casts, whilst others have been small-scale and made with Lego. In recognition of my support of young filmmakers, I was nominated as Northants educator of the Year in 2012 and then nominated at the National Into Film Awards 2022 for ‘Teacher of the Year’, where I was shortlisted to the final 3-teachers in the UK.

Since moving to Norfolk and starting at the Burnham Market Primary, film making has become an integral part of our school’s provision, with even OFSTED recognising our ‘moviemaking’ as an outstanding element in our school’s personal development offered to pupils. In the past two years, Burnham Market Primary has been nominated for two national awards and has won one! A pretty amazing accolade for such a small school.