School's Not for Me

CHATTERING AND SHOUTING

What the fuck is this, then?

Michael, language!

Argh!

Argh, Susan!

Don't, now. I mean it.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Guys!

One centre is a GrEW organisation

which offers places to kids like me

who have been excluded from school

or who have opted out of normal lessons.

The film crew are going to be here for a year.

Ah, remember when you threw that apple at that teacher?

I don't remember it, but he said,

"Oh, yeah, you threw an apple at the teacher," and all that.

The only part I remember is, like, being naughty

and setting the fire alarm off

cos they wanted me in for food in the hall.

Yeah, I want to get a good education,

but I can't be arsed.

Too much effort. Yeah, it is.

That's me on the left. My name's Liam.

I come to this centre in Caerphilly every day.

I'm on the first floor of this building.

I don't go to school any more.

It's part of an organisation called GrEW Wales

which run centres like this for kids like me

who have been excluded from classrooms.

My school pays for my placement here.

Don't copy her word for word.

Read through it to help you understand.

'I knew that they were going to be challenging kids,

'cos I dealt with some of them during the summer,

'but it was an eye-opener the first time I came.'

No, stop it. Stop it. Ah, ah, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pffrt.

No, they're doing work now, so don't wind them up, please.

That's for fish.

Filleting is like, get in and removing the bones.

'Sometimes it can feel like it's a babysitting service.'

'It might not look like it, but we do get some qualifications.'

'It can be really rewarding job, but hard.'

Susan!

Argh!

'I've broken down the lessons to a half hour.'

Just to get them to sit down for a half hour,

just to write a little bit, is quite difficult.

This is the boss of our centre.

She's Levi, and I think she's 25.

Behavioural children want attention.

They will do anything so you're focusing on them.

Social and emotional children I find are vulnerable.

They like to keep themselves to themselves.

They won't really approach you

unless they desperately need something.

But the behavioural kids will be in your face.

I fit into this category.

The good thing is, with the job, it's never a dull day.

Two days are never the same, and that's what I enjoy about the job.

Although it can be difficult,

it's a challenge,

and sometimes you think to yourself, "What am I doing here?"

INDISTINCT CHATTING

Ryan's an assistant tutor here who was excluded from school himself

and attended a centre like this, so he has some idea of how we feel.

Maybe at home they can't be the child that they want to be,

so they come here and that's their time to let off the steam.

Now, I know that's not what we're here for,

but we've got to look at backgrounds

and look at things from their perspective.

Oh, don't break that. Oh, you cock, like.

What the fuck? We all wanted to do something with that.

All of us, and then you just fucking...

I've been coming here for two years,

and as I'm 16, I finish here this summer.

Liam, he has ADHD.

He finds it difficult to sit down for long periods of time.

There you go. Thank you, Liam.

I'm trying to train, I am, right now. Cos I'm, like, skinny.

I'm trying to train and get fit so I can go into the Army.

He does try his best, love him.

He does try, and he does explain why he's feeling like this

or why he feels angry one minute, why he feels happy the next minute.

But then I get more angry at you and I start to swing a punch at you and...

Cos he sees his dad as being hard, he sees him as a role model.

The camera's, like, right on you.

It's different from school. The girls can do beauty here.

Just file them a little, you can do the rest.

I'm just helping you out a bit.

This is Susan. Her school sends her here three days a week.

Talk to your client, Susan.

How are you, Shanice? You all right?

Yeah. You sure?

'I started struggling in year eight, I think it was.'

I used to have really bad attitudes.

Didn't want to go to lessons,

didn't want to do anything.

It's not very professional.

'Sue can be quite hot-headed at times.

'She speaks before she thinks'

and can come across quite aggressive to people that don't know her,

but underneath she is a really lovely girl.

'I've got a really bad temper.'

Teacher tells me to do something,

but I won't do it until, like, five minutes later,

and I keep on, like...

having attitude, and then I end up kicked out.

Oh, you don't have to file these down, do you? Well, it depends.

Are you going to have a colour over it?

She is really capable. She's quite good with all things

with beauty treatments,

and she doesn't have to be supervised constantly

cos she does know what she's doing.

Shanice travels 10 miles each way to the centre.

I got kicked out of school and now I come here five days a week

to do theatrical make-up and English and maths.

School wasn't for me. It was boring.

Shanice and her friend Annabell were sent to the centre

by their school at the same time.

They've only been here for a little while.

'Misbehaved, like, nearly every lesson.'

We weren't allowed to smoke in school and that,

and we were smoking. Us two got kicked out.

We were a danger to all the year sevens and all this.

We wasn't a danger. We just weren't setting the right example.

Can't be a danger to little kids by running round school.

CHATTERING Oi-oi!

Today we're taking the students boxing

up in Merthyr,

to burn off some energy that they've been building up over the weekend.

And as you can tell,

they're very boisterous at the moment, and excited.

Doo-ba-doo-ba-doo-ba!

You took the wrong exit!

No, we go the A470 way.

Michael!

Speak to it. No, I'm driving, Michael.

Michael, it's dangerous what you're doing.

I will do a U-turn

if any of you have got your belts off,

and I mean it.

Put your belts on now.

Look.

You've been in the first aid box.

Even though the students were very boisterous in the minibus,

you could tell that they were very excited.

But to see them, actually, all six students,

give it a go, have a try, put the gloves on...

You could also see that they encouraged one another

and they worked as a team and they were supporting one another

when they were in the ring.

Liam, he was very eager.

SHE LAUGHS

I get confused, like, two, four, two!

He wanted to get straight into the ring with a trainer,

but we had to tell him first of all he has to warm up.

Myself as a youngster, I didn't do too well at school.

Boxing was a way of life for me,

and I'll try and pass on the knowledge that I got.

Keep them focused in life,

give them something to aim for.

Yeah, one more. There we go.

Me and Annabell are going to go in the ring together.

I honestly believe that it helped calm them down

and it got all their energy and frustration out.

That's it, protect yourself, Michael. Move around!

You could see that Michael was really trying,

putting all his effort into it.

After the two minutes were up,

he was sick.

Their behaviour was excellent,

and I am very, very, very proud of them.

It's not always a good day for the staff.

Everything was going fine.

We had a very good morning,

the students did their work when asked.

We took them out for them to play football, do a bit of teamwork.

That went really well.

So we decided to take them to Morrisons

to go and have ice cream.

They were fine on the bus until Shanice and Annabell

started shouting out the windows.

Go on! Go on!

'Being very abusive to passers-by.'

You! Start raving!

Annabell! Annabell, done.

Ryan and I warned them a few times.

Do not shout at people, please.

THEY KEEP SHOUTING The police, guys. Guys! Guys!

They saw a police car go past,

and they were abusing them, shouting "pigs" through the window.

Fuck the pigs. Fuck the 5-0.

Fuck the 5-0.

So I thought the best option was to take them

straight back to the centre, because if they're like that

in the van, what are they going to be like in the shop?

I just could not risk that.

They pure shit themselves.

Hiya!

Whooo!

Start raving with your...

Annabell, you know you're on your last legs. Don't.

I'm turning this van around.

'And that's when the students started to kick off.'

Liam was punching the chair and swearing.

BANGING Fucking shit.

'Not one of these children scare me.

'I think it's because I play rugby.'

Fuck off. Liam, I mean it. Watch your behaviour.

'From the day I started here,

'I was not going to let any students make me feel threatened.'

Do you think it's clever to abuse people out the window?

Ah, my leg. One last chance.

Look at her, she's going on a rave.

Ryan! Are we having chicken curry?

My legs have gone all week.

Are we having chicken curry? Why?

HE SHOUTS

You told me yesterday that's what we were having.

'When we got out of the van then,'

the students thought it'd be OK then to pick up the cones

that another company uses and were shouting through the cones.

THEY SHOUT AND WHOOP

Get in there now. Why?

'It's been a difficult outing, but it's not over yet.'

You OK, Ry?

Oh, my God, Annabell and Shanice are going off site.

Annabell and Shanice are going off site. Have a look.

'We're not allowed to leave the premises during school hours.'

Yeah, but you know you'll get yourself into more trouble by going.

'Ryan went to get them back.'

'Annabell's already on her final warning because of her behaviour.

'This could mean big trouble for her.'

'We've tried a lot with Annabell.'

We've given her chance after chance,

but there are times where I think

she feels that she can rule the roost.

If Annabell was to leave, yeah, I would be disappointed,

because I know that she is capable of going far in life.

Annabell, is this your last day?

SHE LAUGHS

We don't like to just push them out the door.

That's not what we're here for.

We signed up to the job knowing that we were going

to be working with behavioural students.

They came up the other day, the teachers from our school,

and they were like, "Annabell, if you get kicked out

"you're not coming back to school," and stuff like that.

I don't think she realised that it was her last chance.

Although I explained to her, I don't know if she realised that

there was going to be consequences this time to her actions.

Hey, try.

Watching but not joining in is Courtney.

It's her second day here.

She was bullied in school and got into fights.

Since, like, year seven, I got picked on.

Being called fat and, like, lesbian

and four eyes and granny and stuff,

cos I had a hearing aid.

And it was hard to hear certain stuff in class,

cos I'd be sitting at the back

because I didn't want to sit at the front,

cos that's where people would throw stuff at you.

The school thinks that I'm not smart enough

to get qualifications and GCSEs,

and they push more towards people with higher grades

so that the school has, like, a good reputation.

I want to go to college to do drama,

so I can be a drama teacher,

but I can't do it if I'm here.

Levi is writing a report on Annabell's behaviour.

Her school will decide her future here.

I know I can get through to these children.

It is difficult, and it can be draining,

but when you have a good day with them, sitting down,

doing a bit of work,

that is a sense of achievement, in my eyes.

Annabell was excluded from the centre

and her school refused to have her back.

Since then she has been taught by a community tutor.

Levi's days at the centre were also numbered.

The end of the summer term brought some bad news.

Changes at GrEW meant that centres across South Wales

would have to close.

In June 2015,

due to falling student numbers,

Caerphilly centre closed.

It was tough, because I spent a year

building up a relationship with my students,

to be told then that

I won't be going back to that centre.

It's quite hard. That was quite hard to take.

Levi is still teaching,

but in another school-based project with younger children.

When the Caerphilly centre closed,

all the students left, like Courtney and Susan, came here,

in the headquarters of the organisation

that is near Pontypridd.

At the beginning of last academic year,

we had four centres open.

This September we will start with one super-centre in Gelli-Hirion.

So Caerphilly,

Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend centre have now all closed.

We simply couldn't afford to keep all the centres open.

It's the same story throughout secondary schools,

is they simply haven't got the funding or the money

to be able to pay for a provision like ours,

even though there is a demand for it.

Over the summer,

staff worked flat out to create the super-centre

ready for the new term.

Ryan from Caerphilly is running the kitchen.

It's an exciting day today,

because we have our new students

coming down from Bridgend.

Right, stop spraying her.

They've come here for a look at the new facilities

and to meet fellow students.

Suzanne, a student from Caerphilly centre,

has chosen one of the catering qualifications.

Along with catering, hygiene and social development qualifications,

a number of practical construction courses are on offer.

There is also a theatrical make-up course.

Courtney, who'd come across from Caerphilly, has sat her exams

and now has the equivalent of two GCSEs.

Literature, English, I had a C,

and on my maths, I had an F, something like that,

but I'm going to redo it and then I've got my maths tutor,

so I can get a better score, because I want to work with kids,

so I wouldn't be able to get the opportunity to work with them.

Shanice, Leanne and Chloe left because they were older than me,

so I was like, I was on my own, and then I made friends.

I'd be happy to speak to anyone, like,

when the people come for food,

I'd be more than happy to ask what them they want

and have a conversation with them, whereas before I wouldn't.

I'd let other people do it but now I'm more upfront

and I'll say stuff and if I want to say something, I'll say it,

so I'm more open, coming out of my shell more, like.

I hated school. I didn't like it, I didn't like going,

because it was just another day of, like, other people and noise

and I couldn't really get on, but here, I prefer it.

I'm a lot happier and I'm glad I'm here instead of in school.

One of the new students is 15-year-old Tiegan.

Tiegan is in with Mr Brooks, doing her maths.

This is the first time she's gone into maths

and she's doing really well.

Really proud.

So she's missed Year 10 entirely.

She's come back to us now after a year of being off school.

Sorry to interrupt. OK?

How are you doing, Teeg? Doing really well. I've done maths

and that. Well done.

How do you feel? Good. Yeah?

Did you enjoy it? Yeah.

I like him, he's sound. Good.

I didn't realise how nice that man was. He's lovely, isn't he?

I didn't give him a chance, did I? No. But you have now, haven't you?

But not even in primary school,

I never gave anyone a chance like that. That's a big step for me.

This is the most work I've done in ages in maths. Yeah, I know.

The most work I've done in my life, probably, in maths.

Still don't get it, though.

But I want to go back to school.

Yeah, I know.

And I will go back, trust me.

Have you noticed the school hasn't even bothered to ring me

to see how I'm going? Or nothing.

They would have rang you by now, trust me. They don't care.

We'll keep trying.

I'm holding on to something that's not going to happen.

The only thing I want to do is

have the feeling of being back into the school. Yeah.

Even if it's just once a week, once every two weeks.

That's how much I want it.

I never wanted to leave.

You need a red pen now for the crosses.

Well, let's see if you'll get any crosses first, Missus! Eh?

24 out of 24.

Yes.

Wonderful job.

Stephen is hired to teach maths here twice a week.

Some of them are very bright, very intelligent children.

Others, then, have missed quite a lot of school throughout the years,

they may have been excluded more than once,

they've missed a lot of school,

so they haven't really learnt a great deal of maths at all,

so we've got a vast difference in ability.

You can try and draw a cube to look like a cube in 3D.

So what we find is the most effective

is if you are on a one-to-one

but obviously we can't do that with limited resources.

Right, you don't need your phone in maths, dear. Court, come on.

We had an incident this morning

where one of the girls was very reluctant to come into the class.

No, I'm not going in there, they still have my phone. Where is it?

Nathan's got it. I'll arrange for Nathan to bring your phone.

At this moment in time...

'Normally she's quite keen to do maths

'but this morning somebody had spilled a drink over her

'and that seemed to upset her no end'

and she had to be persuaded to come in by a member of staff.

Quadrilaterals - any idea what that means?

No?

Is it another way of drawing

a four-sided shape that's not a rectangle or a square?

What are we drawing? We call that...

'Some of the kids give the impression to me that'

they want to do well at school,

but there's so many social problems and so on that, for one thing

and another, they haven't really had the greatest of opportunities,

but some of them do actually really want to learn.

'Once she was in, she was absolutely fine. She got on with her work.'

She was asking questions. She was taking part in the lesson

and everything was really good,

but it's an example of how easily distracted some of these people are.

The slightest thing which happened

and that can divert their attention from the work.

All right?

What are you doing?

OK, then, you can...

Do I look sexy in this? Oh, I don't know about that.

I don't want to make those kind of comments.

I like English. I don't like maths.

I find maths really frustrating and it's hard

and I just don't enjoy maths, but I'll do it if I have to.

One of the issues at the centre is that a number of students smoke.

I don't, for one.

We don't want them to smoke, obviously, because

it's not good for them, but if we tell them -

you can't smoke - they will just run off or go somewhere and hide,

they'll find places, they'll run away from you, so the best way to do

it is to control it, so if they want a cigarette, we go out with them.

The day starts off with a piece of toast and a glass of pop.

Ryan is no longer running the kitchen,

as he left a few weeks ago.

I'm not doing it.

Come on then, guys. Let's go, please.

Thank you. I'm wearing this, right?

It's really important if we can... Obviously, you know...

That they're here to do their courses,

so you've got to keep them as calm as you can.

But if you get one that's in a mood or not playing ball,

or doesn't want to do their work, then it disrupts everybody else.

So you've got to try and calm one down,

then you have to calm the rest down and try and...

"Come on now. We're doing our work." You know.

They were a bit disruptive today.

Tiegan was taking selfies, I was asking her not to.

Then she went out.

What are you doing? She's fucking... Can you stop swearing?

'With Nathan, because I sent

'Nathan out cos he was just backchatting, being cheeky.'

Go on then.

Aw! Calm down, please.

I was kicked out of school because my behaviour wasn't acceptable

and the help they were giving me weren't enough for me

and I wasn't mature enough to be in mainstream at that time.

Just everything was too hard for me

and I was just misbehaving to get attention for them to know

that I was struggling, instead of telling them

because I didn't want to be embarrassed.

I felt um... I felt let down.

Useless and just disappointment to my family, really.

Tiegan's upset because she's desperate to go back to school.

She's pleading with the staff to help her.

Yeah, I will get there.

Yeah, but to the school, like Vicky said...

I see my sister going to the school. It's horrible, like.

I have to learn the song.

If I wasn't such a failure, I'd be there as well.

Stop now. You're going down that road again. I'm... Just stop now!

Right?

Stop thinking negative, stop putting yourself down.

I'd do anything to go back in to mainstream school. Anything.

Over the next few weeks, Tiegan's behaviour goes downhill and she gets

involved with a serious incident involving a fire extinguisher.

When people are doing stuff, I think, "Oh, I'll do that.

"Looks fun." But then, it's not. The consequences ain't fun.

It's just not fun, it's stupid really.

I...I go...

'one of the boys done it, then I ring all the fire thing out off him

'and threw it, but they seen it on CCTV camera,'

but I don't know what they're doing now about it.

Trying to exclude me when I didn't do it. Oh, well.

'I don't blame 'em if they exclude us all, to be honest.'

The fire extinguisher incident was turning point.

The group manager decided that the behaviour of some students

was a danger not to only the students,

but also to the people working in the building.

As a result, a number of students were told

they could no longer attend the centre.

There are now only nine students on the books...

..and one full-time member of staff.

Tiegan is barely holding on.

Oh, I love this song, guys.

Are you going to take your feet off the chair?

Oh, but I'm starving!

You are always starving, missus.

Gemma is now managing the class alone.

Tiegan's behaviour is excellent as she's knuckling down to some work.

Done.

Well done, Tiegan.

SOUND EFFECTS ON PHONE

Please stand up out of my chair.

Oh, Miss, I can't be bothered.

No, come on.

Come on, 15 minutes, that's all we need to do.

Susan attends three days a week,

but finds it difficult to sit down and work.

I'm not reading.

And a pen, please.

Courtney is much more confident.

She's a different person now and hopes to get her qualifications.

ALARM RINGS

'Six months ago, I had an ambition.

'I was gutted.

'I wanted to go into the Army, I did.'

I, er... I went...

I started doing fitness training

because I really wanted to go into it, cos you have to pass,

they put you through a test they do to see what you're like

and you have to pass it and they practically said to me,

which is quite upsetting, that, er...

I wasn't allowed in the army because I've got ADHD

and that I needed to be off my medication for at least four years

before I could go into the army.

'Now that my dreams of joining the army were shattered,

'I moved on and applied for college.

'I passed, I did, the interview,

'so now I'm succeeding my way through plumbing'

because I'm doing multi-skilling - I'm doing plumbing,

brickwork, carpentry and painting and decorating, I am.

'I now live with my father, my stepmother and my sisters.'

INDISTINCT TALK, CHILD BABBLES

Stop being naughty.

'School wasn't for me,

'but being taught at Grew, I had an opportunity.

'I was there for two years, but now I'm in college.

'I think I miss Ryan out of all of it because I know I argued with him

'a lot, but I actually looked up to him

'because he was, like, tidy to me all the time.'

But with the changes that have happened,

there are only nine students attending the centre now.

They tell me money and education is tight,

so what's the future for kids like me?

Who will have us?