Episode 2 Goodbye Year Six

When you get to year six, you're the top dog in school.

I'm never going to be 11 again.

It's a year that's packed with emotional highs...

Uh! Oh, my Gosh!

Yes!

..and dramatic lows.

I'm just going to sit next to him.

-No. Oh, really, that's the wrong attitude.

-Ah!

They're going to take me to the hospital cos my hand's hurting

and I can't move it.

And as year sixes start their last ever term at primary school,

there's a lot to look forward to.

The limos, the glamour

and the party of their lives at the end-of-year prom.

The challenge of stepping into the spotlight

and showcasing their talent.

The adrenalin rush and wild nights of the first trip away from home.

Pillow fight!

But this also a time when their life changes forever.

Year six is about getting them ready to move on,

moving on up onto that next stage.

They have to say goodbye to their friends for the first time.

I spent five years trying to find a friend as good as her.

And year sixes get ready to become the new kids again

as they have their first taste of secondary school.

-Well done!

-Yay!

Leaving behind everything you know can be nerve wracking.

I want to sit here. She's the only person that I know!

But it can also be something exciting and new.

I thought I was going to make no friends, but I made at least one.

One thing's for sure, the final term at primary school

will be like nothing they've ever experienced before.

There's so much still to learn.

Kinda like don't want to mess up for anyone,

and I want to do my best.

And to laugh about.

And after that, it's time to say goodbye, year six.

Hip hip! HOORAY!

Coming up, the pressure's on for year six as they get ready to

sit the dreaded SATs exams.

And will Jerry be able to pull it together

and get it right when it matters?

Come on, Jerry, come on! Makes one, one, one!

Will nerves get the better of the students

at the year six talent show?

No, you can't do it.

And most importantly, what's Tate done to his hair?

-Yeah, it used to be like there.

-That's Justin Bieber.

At Heavers Farm School in South London,

the summer term is well underway,

and for year six, there's only one week until they face

one of the most important times in their school lives,

their SATs exams.

Oh, my gosh, when this month started, I was like, oh, my gosh,

this is the month of SATs, and I was really scared.

So I don't know how I'm going to be on the week.

I hope I do well, but I'm not quite sure,

I mean, it's not exactly like I'm a mind reader.

It's really serious.

Like, you've got to be totally silent, and if you're not silent,

then they'll take away your test paper and throw it in the bin.

Yeah, and there's no second chances!

The first lesson of the day means only one thing,

heads down for more revision.

Everyone's desperate to do well in their SATs,

because the results will be sent to their new secondary schools.

Right, OK, what we're going to do today... We've done lots and lots

and lots of SATs reading, I think we've had enough with that now.

What we need to do is do a little bit of writing, OK?

The year six form teachers, Mrs Cousins and Mrs Shekar,

know exactly how nerve-wracking these major exams are

for the children.

It is stressful, they're all my babies and I want them

to do well and I just...

It's tough for them and it's tough for us as well.

To be honest, we panic a bit. We're quite scared when the paper comes.

There are only a few days of revision left, and some

students are worried they aren't going to get the grades they want.

Like Serennur, who's dreading the English exams

because her family only speak Turkish at home.

I'm going to feel nervous and scared, I think,

but I hope I won't, then I will get a high mark, yeah.

But there are one or two students who aren't letting the nerves

get to them, like school heart throb, Tate,

who's actually feeling pretty good about things.

Literacy, I'm all right. I'm not saying I'm the best. I'm all right,

cos I can use like sophisticated words, but mostly I'm good at maths.

Think about how it looks, feels, sounds...

But there's one pupil who has a huge challenge ahead of him.

Jerry only arrived in the UK from Nigeria a year ago.

He's struggling with the SATs work, so today he's trying to answer

some test maths questions with the help of year five teacher,

Mr Ovindon.

What time is it ten hours after 8.00pm?

So 8.00pm, what hour...?

What time will it be ten hours later?

In maths, he has taught me division, multiplication.

If you ask me what is nine times two, he teaches me

with the fingers, and I'm going to miss him if I go out of school.

Here we go. Number line time.

Oh!

-You love the number line, Jerry, don't deny it!

-No, I don't!

You do. Jerry, the number line is your best friend.

What time is it ten hours after 8.00pm.

How many hours did you have to add on?

-Ten.

-Ten. How many fingers do you have?

-Ten.

-How many hours did you add on?

-Ten.

-How many fingers do you have?

-Ten.

-No excuse! Use your fingers.

It's the best method there is in the whole wide world.

It's a real sort of comical kind of working relationship that's...

It works for them.

They do remind me of an old married couple sometimes.

Jerry, Jerry, you're holding a pencil, you're holding a pencil,

that means you're obstructing you from your best method.

There we go!

I think Gary's very quickly, for such a new teacher,

got a real grasp of what Jerry's about and what Jerry needs.

If ten times seven is 70, nine times seven is going to be...?

Oh, thanks for teaching me this.

-You're welcome!

-52.

No, 53, I mean.

No, no, no, no, Jerry. Nine times seven is...

64.

63! How many sevens in 63?

-Nine.

-Nine! Huh! How many sevens in 630?

Oh... 90.

High five! High fives, there we go!

Lovely, right.

And as Mr Ovenden marks Jerry's work, it seems that he is improving.

There you go, 21 questions, 14 right, woo hoo!

But when it comes to the exams,

will Jerry be able to cope without Mr Ovenden by his side?

No, no, no, no, nothing like that.

It's the start of lunchtime, and the canteen rush has just begun.

But for some year sixes, their break will just have to wait.

The detention room is where no-one wants to be spending their lunch,

but if you do the crime, you have to do the time.

Detention is part of our behaviour policy,

so if children are given a certain amount of chances during the day,

and they've had a certain number of warnings, they will either

get a 10, 20 minute, or a whole lunchtime detention.

Well, most of the time, it's just for foolishness, what I'd classify

as foolishness, giving the teacher attitude or for being late.

Being late to school is a sure fire way to end up here.

However many minutes they are late, it's double that in detention.

Really bad behaviour could cost an entire lunchtime.

Right, Patrick, ten minutes starting now. Six minutes starting now.

Keep an eye on the clock.

With their lunchtime at stake,

year sixes are experts at trying to wriggle out of detention,

but supervisor, Mrs Colomb, has heard every excuse in the book.

Glen, nice of you to come!

Yes, Miss.

Come here, please. Where've you been?

-Business.

-Sorry?

-Business.

You did know you had a ten minute detention?

-No, not really.

-So you didn't remember coming in late?

Yeah.

Go and sit down. Ten minutes, Glen.

I do love your stories.

Glen may have failed to get out of his detention,

but Nicole has put a little more thought into her excuse.

I was ten minutes late this morning,

but I'm saying it wasn't my fault cos my mummy was driving.

Did you help your mum get ready in time to leave the house in time?

Or was it you who made your mum late?

-Well... Well, yeah.

-Yeah, go and sit down, ten minutes!

It seems that when it comes to getting detention,

no-one does it quite like year six.

Have you ever had a day where there's no year six?

I have to think back. No!

Out in the playground, there is an extra buzz because the end

of exams will be celebrated with a year six talent show.

Classes Amethyst and Aquamarine are full of performers,

and having this chance to show off their talent

in front of the whole year

is a big deal, so everyone's practicing hard to be the best.

Mariam, Marine, Molly and Megan are hard at work rehearsing

a complicated Beyonce-inspired dance routine.

THEY SING "ALL THE SINGLE LADIES"

And wannabe rap star, Patrick, or Patronic,

as he likes to be known, is getting his beats on and, as usual,

performing well is part of a bigger game plan for Patrick.

-HE RAPS:

-Come on, on the mic come on, everybody, look at me.

You look like Bugs Bunny.

In year five and onwards, we've been winning talent shows for rapping

and beat... He's beat boxing and I'm rapping.

In the future, I hope to be famous.

Yeah, me, too.

-HE RAPS:

-Coming in the place dressed up nice,

which everybody says,

Ah, Patronic in the place. Cor!

With less than a week before the show,

will Patronic get his rapping right on the night?

The playground may be all about song and dance, but in the dining hall,

there's only one thing people are talking about - the SATs.

-I'm scared.

-I'm not.

-I am.

-No, cos....

-SATs is hard.

-Scared, but I think...I'll do well.

-I love...

-I'll try my best.

I'm scared of the writing paper, cos I'm not that good at writing.

I'm not good at literacy, OK?

To help the students combat their exam nerves,

Mrs Shekar's got a few unconventional tricks up her sleeve.

This is cream.

I'm getting the children to put this on their hands before they leave.

It's quite a nice smell for them, it sort of relaxes them.

Oops.

Spraying lavender water everywhere.

I'll try not to spray on the ceiling, because it comes right on the paper!

We have water bottles, lavender, candles,

-all that stuff like that. Music, everything.

-Lavender?

-Yeah.

-Why?

-Just to calm us down.

And Mrs Shekar's lotions and potions have given Cookie a great idea.

-Math Spa!

-Yeah!

When I'm old, yeah, I'm going to open up a business

called Math Spa, so everyone has to do maths, yeah, in a spa.

You know it's SATs, not spa, right?

Math Spa! Spa Math!

Spa Maths?!

The exams are all Cookie and the M's can think about.

But the boys are much more interested in Tate's new look.

He's just had a drastic haircut.

Who do you think Tate likes to look like?

-BOTH:

-Justin Bieber.

-PUPIL: Innit? No!

-So what happened with your hair?

-I went to this shop, and this...

I was just sitting down, and this Russian lady was like, "Yes, please!"

And she walked in, then she was like, "Woooooo."

-He has a mop.

-Yeah!

-It goes down like that.

-His hair used to be all the way...

-Yeah, it used to be like there.

-That's Justin Bieber.

-That's Justin Bieber's son!

-Mini Justin Bieber!

-Justin Bieber's son.

But Tate might get the last laugh, because it's not long before

the biggest event of the school calendar - the end-of-year prom.

And he's already planning what he's going to wear.

Erm, I've got my suit.

Yeah, it all matches, obviously, and I've got like shoes

that you can slip on, instead of shoes that you tie up.

I'm going to gel my hair up, cos when I went and tried it on,

I looked really good, so I'm just going to gel my hair

and try and look similar to what it...I looked like before.

And his new style doesn't look like it'll ruin his chances

of getting a date for the big night.

A mystery love note has got the playground all fired up.

Oh, my gosh, Julia!

Oh!

It says, "Dear Tate, I love you.

"You're the love of my life!"

LAUGHTER

-I drew the love heart!

-She drew the love heart!

I drew the love heart.

And with the prom in just a couple of months,

there's not long left to decide who's going with who.

It's the last lesson of the day,

and knowing year six will be facing four SATs exams next week,

three on maths and one on literacy,

Mrs Cousins wants to make sure her class are feeling confident

-about the big task ahead.

-Right, are you ready?

UNENTHUSIASTIC MUTTERING

-We were born ready!

-Thank you, Shayla! Are you ready?

-ALL:

-We were born ready!

-Excellent, well done.

There's just time for some final preparations

before the exams next week.

Like making name cards for their desks and arranging the classroom.

Mrs Cousins has a special seating plan for the exams,

so no-one's distracted by their mates.

Tyler, I'm going to put you with Miss Papas,

so if you can go over to the music room.

But Serennur's upset about where she'll be sitting

for her English exam.

Sweetheart, honestly, I'm going to put you out there cos it's quieter

and it gives you time to concentrate. OK?

As English is your second language, you need a bit of time

to concentrate, and you want it really quiet. OK?

Mr Sylvester's been working with you a lot, hasn't he?

So I thought you'd feel quite comfortable. OK? You'll be there,

-and I'll be here.

-Oh, OK.

I'll come out and smile at you now and again, all right?

So you know I'm here, OK?

As the students head off for the weekend,

at least Mrs Cousins is confident they're ready for their exams.

My class have gone into what I call "The Zone."

They're ready. We're ready for them. We're in The Zone,

we're in the SATs Zone. You can see in their face,

they just want it to happen tomorrow.

That class next door seem a little bit nervous, you can see

they're a little bit more tetchy, but every class is different.

It's Monday morning, and a really important day for year six.

Months of revision and hard work

have been building up to this moment.

-SATs.

-Aaagghh!

-We're going to have SATs today.

I hope the week goes very fast,

and I hope the test and questions are easy.

I had a dream that I was... I didn't pass,

and then when I went to secondary school, I was in the low group.

-Low, low, low, low, low!

-I believe I can pass.

And for Jerry, the reality of having to face the exam paper

without his mentor Mr Ovenden to help, is really hitting home.

Scared today.

-Why are you scared?

-Because we're on our own.

And they're not going to be helping us today.

How do you think you'll be without people helping you?

Mm, I don't know.

And when he gets in the classroom,

Jerry's nerves start to get the better of him.

OK, you're not lazy, are you? You come in and you work hard.

So you're going to be fine.

The more you stress, the more you lose your focus, OK?

So just keep calm, and just do your best today, all right?

As head teacher, Mrs Papas delivers today's English paper,

Mrs Shekar unleashes her secret weapon,

the calming lavender hand cream.

Are we having the ritual of the lavender hand cream?

Yes! Mrs Shekar's had a bath in lavender!

-LAUGHTER

-And that's not all she's got.

OK, mascot coming! Give it a pat, pat for good luck.

There's a class mascot for extra luck.

-Give it a pat.

-SHE LAUGHS

Can I give monkey a hug?

Does that mean you'll all do very well now, if I hug the monkey?

-PUPILS:

-Yes.

You're going to have 15 minutes to read the booklet,

which can start now.

These exams are everything year six have been working towards

for months.

They must keep calm and stay focused.

Come on, you can do this. You're going to do a good job.

You've got 20 minutes of writing left.

OK, pencils down, please.

Reece, pencil down. Jerry, pencil down, please.

And breathe!

-Don't worry...

-The literacy exam is over,

and it's time to let off some steam in the playground.

-Hallelujah!

-Praise the Lord!

I... I was so stressed out that I drank my whole water bottle

in five seconds.

I put it in my mouth, glug-glug-glug! Oh, it was hard!

But the big question is, how did they do?

Tate was confident going into the exam.

Literacy, I'm all right, cos I can use sophisticated words.

But now he's not so sure.

It went rubbish, cos I missed out like three questions,

which is all together about eight, seven marks.

Serennur was scared she would find the English exam really hard.

I hope the week goes very fast,

and I hope the test and questions are easy.

But it wasn't as bad as she'd feared.

They were not, like, that easy. It was kind of like medium.

Yeah, some questions were kind of hard.

And Jerry was feeling nervous. How did he get on?

I almost felt like crying in that place,

so they had to stop me from crying.

It was a bit hard, and I couldn't finish everything.

With one exam down, it's time for a well-earned break,

and focus turns to the year six talent show.

This will be the big chance

to showcase their skills in front of the whole year.

Two of the best dancers in the class, Shanade and Shardia,

are in the hall running through a dance routine

with their friend, Tabitha. But Tabitha's struggling with the moves.

MUSIC: "Dance With Me" by Olly Murs

I'll give you some secret... I'll give you some...

So wannabe choreographer Autumn steps in to help.

Jump back!

THEY GIGGLE

Now do that, but backwards.

It's just not happening for Tabitha. And with that, they call it a day.

Now it's time for year six to get back in the zone,

because there's more SATs to prepare for.

And next up, it's Jerry's biggest worry - maths.

Jerry, Christopher...

Determined to nail numeracy once and for all,

Jerry heads over to Mr Ovindon's for some emergency maths practice.

Come on, Jerry, come on!

It's one, one, one...

-Three into 90. Three into nine three times, zero goes up.

-Oh, yeah!

No, no, no, no! You can't add on a zero,

that question is unfortunately incorrect. You said three.

Anyway, this is not what I want. I want the eight times table.

TEACHER CHUCKLES

I don't think you're going to get tested on the eight times table.

I'm going to copy this and take it.

No, Jerry, you won't have this exact test!

But I'll just tell them I'm working on that...

No, Jerry, cos I'm going to keep this, you can't keep this.

This is for me.

-But that's the answers I'm going to be writing tomorrow.

-No!

If you write those answers tomorrow, you'll get them all wrong,

because they're going to be completely different!

Jerry, look how many we've done. Never once have I asked you

the same questions. The questions change all the time.

-So it's this one...

-With Jerry still struggling with his sums,

-can he pull it out the bag when it matters?

-Bye!

-Bye!

It's the morning of the final exam

and with three now completed, everyone's looking forward

to seeing the back of the SATs.

I'm just wishing that it's over now.

One more test. One more and it's over!

-Hallelujah!

-'Lujah!

-I don't know, looking at them,

I'm not too sure they are taking it seriously, actually!

But the mood changes once they get inside.

Good luck, guys.

Thank you.

-PUPILS:

-Good luck, everybody. Good luck, everybody!

For the maths exams,

the students have to do one paper with a calculator, one without

and a mental maths paper where the questions are read out to them.

Question three - divide 42 by 7.

After four long days and four challenging exams,

year six can finally breathe a big sigh of relief. SATs are over.

-PUPILS:

-..four, three, two, one!

CHEERING

MUSIC: "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida

# Sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah

# I get a feeling that I never, never never had before, no, no

# I get a good feeling, yeah

# Yes, I can, doubt that I leave I'm running with this plan

# Pull me, grab me Crabs in the bucket can't have me

# I'll be the president one day... #

So how do you feel now you never have to do another SATs exam?

-Happy.

-Relieved!

-CHEERING

We might have free time, like, for a couple of days.

What do you mean, for a couple of days?

-No, in...

-For all the days!

-Yeah, for... Maybe for all days.

Most of year six are feeling good about finishing their SATs,

but Jerry's not exactly filling Mr Ovenden with confidence.

-I didn't do nothing, I just guessed it.

-No, Jerry...

TEACHER SIGHS

-I am guessing.

-No, you're not guessing.

Jerry, go and have a break. You need a break.

-Don't want a break.

-But you need one.

-OK.

-You've finished your SATs.

-I think we should start dancing.

-Yeah. Go on then, you start dancing.

-PUPIL:

-We've finished our exams!

-With the exams done and dusted,

at long last, it's time for this all-singing, all-dancing bunch

to bust some grooves in the year six talent show.

The performers have practiced hard, the audience are ready and waiting.

Kicking off the show, it's Tate and Cookie.

# Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air

# Can't live, can't breathe with no air

# It's how I feel whenever you ain't there

# There's no air, no air. #

APPLAUSE

Next up, it's Glen and Shardia.

MUSIC: "Teach Me How To Dougie" by California Swag District

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The M's perform their dance routine.

THEY SING IN UNISON

Mariam gets the whole room jumping.

# Sayin' ayo, gotta let go! #

And last but not least, it's Patronic.

He wasn't getting his rhymes right in rehearsal.

Patronic in the place. Aw... THEY LAUGH

But will he wow the crowds today?

HE RAPS: Yeah, SATs are over

Now it's like I'm just eating clover now.

I got good luck on my SATs, cos I wanna just wear that good luck hat.

Now, when I done my SATs, I want to do it good,

I want to do it right, like I understood.

Yeah, I want to conquer all of you.

I want to know what's two times two.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-He's nailed it.

When it comes to rapping, no-one can touch Patronic.

The show's been a huge success and it's proved, once and for all,

that year six is jam-packed with performing talent.

LAUGHTER

The long wait for exam results is over.

It's time for the moment of truth for year six.

All their families have come to school to meet the teachers

and find out what SATs levels they've achieved.

These are marked from levels three to the hard-to-achieve level six,

and it seems that some have done even better than expected.

She's got a really, really good mature style about her writing.

You made the school proud by getting a level six.

Oh, wow! THEY CHEER

We've always told him he's a lot smarter

than he gives himself credit for, and now he's got some proof of it.

Exactly. Very few people in the country will be getting six,

and he will be highest.

And Philip, you should be very proud of yourself.

-You got a full mark!

-Are you serious?!

I'm so happy, I'm so happy. I just want to cry!

Although he was confident going into the exams to start with,

Tate felt he'd messed up his exams. How's he done?

I send him back and say, "Think again,"

then he comes up with an amazing piece of work done beautifully

-in writing.

-He has worked quite hard.

Turns out he needn't have worried, because he passed everything.

As for Serennur, she was really worried about the English exams,

because it isn't her first language.

She's come to get her results with her dad, who only speaks Turkish.

When she came here, she was a three. OK, when she first came here.

-Now, da, da, da, da...

-Da, da, da, da...

-Serennur, guess what you got for your reading?

-What?

-Five!

-Oh, my gosh!

You got a five!

A five. She got a five for her reading,

which is really, really good. Really good.

-Are you pleased?

-Yeah!

And what about Jerry, who really struggled with maths?

Has all the extra work he did paid off?

You know when we had Jerry at the beginning of the year?

We spoke, I said I was a little bit worried about his maths.

I'm really pleased to tell you...

-that he got a four.

-Four.

-Which is like a B.

I give credit to Jerry. He's worked really, really hard

and I'm very proud of him and, you know, you should be, too,

cos he has tried really, really hard.

And with that good news,

-there's one very important person he wants to thank.

-Hello.

Hello, sir.

OK, there we go. All right? See you tomorrow.

Victory. Happy!

She's happy, yay, yay!

Next time, year six get to work

on creating a spectacular end-of-year play.

Stop in the name of the law!

-Whose talent will shine?

-Ooh!

And who will struggle under the spotlight?

-Get your head out of my ear hole!

-As the pressure to perform...

-Get out, you go, and you, just go!

-..pushes everyone to their limit.

We're ready to just ditch this.

I'm angry!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd