Christmas is Coming Our School

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Each September, half a million children

begin the most important year of school so far.

Year 7.

Bo!

CBBC have rigged this secondary school with loads of cameras,

so you can see exactly what happens....

..as they make new friends and get into trouble.

If you wish to find out how strict I can be,

then break the rules I set down.

I'm not spotting make-up there, am I?

But what they learn here...

..In a chair...

..will stay with them forever.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Hello, there.

I'm Mr Thoburn and I'm a science teacher here.

If you've ever wondered what secondary school's like,

here's your chance to find out.

This is Our School.

HE BELCHES

How can you DO that?

BELL RINGS

It's December and there's a festive feel at our school.

You can't normally chuck a wet sponge

at our assistant head, Mr Skerry -

or any of us teachers, for that matter.

But it IS nearly Christmas and this IS for charity.

CHEERING

CHEERING

LAUGHTER

And not even a bucket of cold water can dampen everyone's spirits.

CHATTERING AND LAUGHTER

PIANO PLAYS

Music teacher, Mr Dunn, has escaped the wet sponges.

# Oh, holy night

# The stars are brightly shining... #

He's leading the rehearsals for the end-of-term Christmas carol concert.

# Divine

# Oh, night divine. #

I'm not connecting with you guys that much,

because I'm not seeing you look up and kind of look at people

and give them some eye contact.

It's something that Delight is keen to take part in.

It helps with our harmony,

when we sing together. Some people can sing lower notes,

some people sing higher notes. Together, it sounds really good.

Sit down.

Soaking the teachers and singing carols

aren't the only special events going on.

Mr Glendenning has got a challenge for 7AG.

Right, guys. You'll be really glad to know

we're going to be holding a talent competition for all of Year 7.

CHEERING

And he's got total confidence in his tutor group's star quality.

We're going to win the talent competition, aren't we?

Aren't we? CHEERING

Across in 7CG,

Miss Gibbons is holding auditions for her tutor group too.

Right, so, can we have the proper singing as well?

Just so you all know your perfect timings.

THEY BEAT THE SONG'S RHYTHM

# I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed

# Get along with the voices inside of my head... #

The best performers from each class in Year 7

will go through to the grand finale at the end of term.

Where do you find a no-legged dog?

Right where you left him.

And there's no shortage of volunteers.

Do-do-dum, do-do-dum, do-do-dum, do-do-dum,

ooh, ooh, ooh...

-Good tekkers, Harry.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Y-M-C-A... #

-But I'm not so sure about this act.

-# Y-M-C-A... #

# Baby, I've been, I've been praying hard

# Said no more counting dollars... #

-Ah, that's more like it, JJ.

-# We'll be counting stars. #

-Well done, JJ.

-Go on, JJ!

Libby's up next and she wants to make a "good impression".

IN ESSEX ACCENT: I've just had my nails done, my false tan done,

my hair done, and I've also had my lips done.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

She's followed by aspiring magician Sam.

..Magic. MAGIC.

-Whoa.

-APPLAUSE

Sam has been impressing his mates with his magic skills

since week one.

So, just split the pack in half anywhere you want.

Right, so, think of any card.

I like magic a lot!

-Pick two of these piles.

-That one and that one.

It's so, like, people...just getting a "wow" on people's faces.

Three of hearts.

Whoa! APPLAUSE

Amelia's turn. Looks like she's bending over backwards to impress.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Next is Chloe,

with twin sister, Holly, providing support.

# I believe there's children crying

# I believe there's soldiers dying now. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Next, we have Delight.

# Same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now

# Cos my heart breaks a little when I hear your name. #

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Pretty good reaction.

Well done, Delight.

And finally, it's Varda.

Her Bollywood routine is obviously a hit with Adam and Tom.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, the results will be announced on Friday.

Howay, man, the suspense is killing me!

Varda's act is based on one of her favourite hobbies.

Bollywood dancing is obviously one of the first hobbies

I started when I was young

and I've continued it from then cos I've enjoyed it so much.

Bang on the side and with full energy. OK, ready?

BOLLYWOOD HINDI MUSIC Five, six, seven, eight.

One, two, circle,

four and down.

Round, down.

Round, one,

two, three and four.

Bollywood dancing makes me feel, like, relaxed, happy, excited.

One, two, three.

-I feel very dizzy now.

-Yeah.

Back at home, and things are a lot calmer.

Sit up straight.

ALL: Oh...

Varda and her family are Hindu and meditation and prayer

are an important part of their family life.

Can we do the prayer now? Come on then.

We need to do the morning aarti. OK?

My mum's parents are religious and then my mum's religious

and then all of my family's religious as well,

so then I'm religious.

I sometimes pray before eating my dinner

or when I wake up in the morning.

THEY RECITE A HINDU PRAYER

As well as daily prayers,

sitting down to eat together is also important to Varda's family.

It gives Mum a chance to find out

about the friends Varda's making at school.

Do they all like Indian food?

-You've never asked them?

-Nope.

Whenever you take your food to school, do they ask you, no?

-I think I should send some food over.

-No.

-No.

-VARDA'S MUM CHUCKLES

-Er, yeah, I'll have some.

Over in 7AG, Mr Glendenning has the eagerly awaited results

of the talent show auditions.

Today is results day.

THEY SHOUT IN EXCITEMENT

Whoever is chosen will make it through

and perform at the grand finale at the end of term.

First of all, I'd just like to say absolutely well done to everybody.

Now, it was a really hard, difficult decision...

..but there was only one decision to make. OK?

And the winner for 7AG is...

I thought you would say there were two...

Oh...

NERVOUS SHOUTING

-..all seven of you.

-What?

-What?

LAUGHTER

You were all that good, it was the only fair decision.

Well, I suppose it must have been a tough job choosing between this lot.

CHEERING AND SQUEALING

All right, calm down, 7AG. It's not like it's the actual final!

SQUEALING AND CHATTERING

I want to see yous going from being this good to THIS good,

and then this talent show,

we're going to absolutely blow them out of the water.

-Do we agree? ALL:

-Yeeeeees!

-Yeah, I think they agree!

-Right, guys, can you all tidy up your bags?

It's hard to believe that Year 7

have only been together since September.

Ah, the start of term. It seems like ages ago now.

-Good morning, Year 7. CHILDREN:

-Good morning.

Everyone's got a little butterfly in their stomach,

but you should also feel happy about where you are.

Haven't they all changed?

CHATTERING

Whoa!

AS MILITARY CHANT: Are we sitting in a chair?

Are we sitting in a chair?

# Oompa Loompa, diggety-doo... #

I'd say that I've grown more, like mentally and physically.

A certificate of merit... goes to Varda.

Obviously I feel a lot more confident now.

I feel as if I've known this school for ages.

Do you want to put a bit of gel on your hair to rough it up?

I'm different

-because I've got a girlfriend...

-Hey up.

-..and I've matured in life.

LUKA LAUGHS

Quack quack.

LAUGHTER

Ah, hug over Jess, ah.

I've come all this way and I'm really loud now.

SHE CHANTS: Panini, panini, panini.

I'm really, really loud.

All right, you got it? Good lad.

This school has become a bit more normal.

Before, it was a bit, like, I'm not used to this.

I'm used to my primary school.

But now every day,

when I get on the bus, it just feels like second nature.

SHE SNEEZES I thought I needed to sneeze.

Get in!

Dumma-dum-ding, dumma-dum-ding-dong.

Oi!

Konnichiwa.

-Yeah!

-Give a round of applause, please.

Yeah, buddy.

I really like being in a big school.

I think I might be more mature.

-Who do you like in your class? Tell us.

-Who do you like?

I'd say I have matured more,

but I think I've got a bit more, like, cockier.

Je m'appelle, je m'appelle. Do you like my show...?

I feel like I've changed a lot.

You've become a different person and you know a lot more.

Go, Holly, it's your birthday.

I've grown. I'm almost as tall as her now.

I think I've changed better

cos I'm more mature.

My hands are high, my feet are low

and this is how I bungalow.

I'm worse cos all my laughing has got worse.

HE LAUGHS

That was then...

..but this is now. They've got through the auditions.

Now, the butterflies are starting to kick in. Chloe is having doubts.

-I'm a bit nervous of the talent show this week.

-Why?

Because I'm singing...I'm singing this song that I've wrote.

It'll be good.

It's about charity.

Not a charity...

No, no, it's not... It's about helping people.

# Oh, shout it, be proud of it

# No-one is going to stop you... #

It's called I Believe. Booyah. You wasn't expecting that, was you?

# Oh, I believe, I believe

# Oh, I believe, I believe... #

It's about soldiers dying and children crying,

but it's not, like... SOLDIERS. It's not like that, I promise you.

# Oh, I believe, you believe, we believe. #

I'm really nervous now.

Oh, my God, that's so good. Don't be nervous.

-Yeah, that's really good.

-Libby has been working on her own act.

-AS CHERYL FERNANDEZ-VERSINI:

-Hey, I'm Cheryl, how are you doing?

You might know that I'm going to be on X Factor and everything again...

Looks like it's going to be a decent routine.

But don't get your hopes up,

cos me and Simon have been having a bit of, you know, like, a cat fight.

So, don't get your hopes up. But it'll be all right.

That's really good.

It's not easy doing an authentic Geordie accent, you know(!)

It's not easy being a master magician either.

Just...just tap them into the pack. That's it.

So, you know they've gone right in the centre of the pack.

Luckily, Sam's grandad has got a few tricks up his sleeve.

Can you see what I did there?

But if I do that,

I can just take them back out again.

-Stick that back...

-If you can do that holding them in your hands,

it would be so much better, OK.

And if I just flip the top there, I can just get them like that.

That's amazing.

All across Year 7, things are getting serious.

So, which ones are you going to do then?

Alex and James are doing a bit of online joke research.

And then do the one... Why did the hedgehog cross the road?

Why?

To see his flatmate.

ALEX LAUGHS

THEY GIGGLE It's not funny.

While Varda is giving classmate Poppy

a sneak preview of her dance moves.

Oh, God, are they watching?

Ooh... Oh, my trousers.

What are you doing, Libby?

-Dancing!

-Guys, right.

-She's really mean.

But maybe your form room isn't the best place to practise your act.

MUSIC: Last Christmas by Wham!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's getting more and more festive at our school.

Year 7's first secondary school Christmas is just round the corner.

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart

# But the very next day you gave it away

# This year, to save you from tears

# I gave it to someone special. #

You get days off school

and you have more time to play with your friends

and have a really good time.

For Harry, it's all in the anticipation.

I like the build-up to Christmas

and getting all the decorations up.

What's good about Christmas in school

is that you get to, like... All your work tones down a bit

and then you get to do more fun things

and then activities take place and it just gets really fun.

# We wish you a merry Christmas

# We wish you a merry Christmas

# We wish you a merry Christmas

# And a happy New Year. #

MUSIC: Once In Royal David's City

A carol concert is one of the ultimate Christmas traditions.

# Once in royal David's City... #

Oh, I feel all Christmassy now.

# ..a lowly cattle shed... #

Christmas means, for Christians, having your family there,

and celebrating the day that Jesus was born,

because it's the start of everything, as Christianity.

And it's not just the students

whose lives have changed over the past term.

The idea of being a father is a new dimension to my life.

I reckon it's made me a bit more chilled out with things.

You know, I don't know how he got that Mr Scary nickname.

Don't wake up.

We have so many talented, talented people in our class.

I can't wait, I seriously can't wait.

It's going to be so good to see everyone on stage.

-Oh.

-Yeah.

Back home, Delight is putting the finishing touches

to her talent show routine.

# You see that pretty face

# Well, she's got it all

# High fashion She's like a Barbie doll

# So, while she shakes it all and makes it

# It's not hard to do, oh

# She ain't everyday girl

# Ain't everyday... #

It's getting close now

and in art, Year 7 are finishing off the decorations for the talent show.

Harry, please can you do the T yellow?

Well, we're going to do the C a different colour.

How we doing? Are we nearly done?

-Yes.

-Right.

MUSIC: Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin' Stevens

Our canteen Big Cook has had a Christmas overhaul

and some brand-new serving staff.

Every time that Santa ho-hoed, it was so scary.

We just kept jumping up all the time.

Ho, ho, ho!

Ho, ho, ho!

Christmas dinner is a hit with most of Year 7.

I thought it was all right, like, once in a while,

because it was really different compared to what we eat at home.

It was really nice. I think that was the first time I'd ever had turkey.

-But not all.

-There was this figgy pudding thingy.

It wasn't figgy pudding, it was Christmas pudding.

-Yeah, and it's uuuurgh!

-It was really bad.

I didn't try the pudding.

But the turkey was really nice

-and the gravy and the stuffing was really nice.

-I liked the turkey.

Christmas dinner means everyone can wear what they want.

And the teachers are making the most of the casual dress code as well.

The teachers' outfits were really funny.

The one with the chicken head.

-It was actually a chicken on his head.

-I know, I saw.

But style-conscious Year 7 aren't impressed with every outfit.

-He just went all out.

-Oh, God, Sir.

-KYRAN BLOWS A RASPBERRY

-Poo.

-Poopy.

It was like a woolly Christmas tree

with lights and tinsel and everything.

I really thought Sir was looking really silly in his outfit.

I kept trying to tell him to take it off

because it looked really, really bad on him.

Finally, it's the event all Year 7s have been waiting for.

I felt sick, literally.

MUSIC: O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

Inside, I got really nervous.

They've passed the auditions, they've been practising for weeks.

There's a tough audience waiting for them.

I wanted people to laugh but not in a bad way, if you get me.

It's the big end of term talent show with host Mr Smith.

You're about to be amazed, entertained

and you will be astounded by the talent the college has got.

You will be applauding your hands till they are red raw.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

There's an impressive line-up -

and that's just the three festive-looking judges!

First up...

-AS STACEY SOLOMON: Oh, Cheryl...

-Is that Stacey Solomon?

-Oh, you're so lovely.

-Oh, my God.

Well, I mean, there was this guy in Middlesbrough,

he was so nice to me,

he said to me, "I can make your eye twinkle."

And I said, "How are you going to do that?"

And he said, "Shine a torch through your ear."

How lovely is that? LAUGHTER

Oh, that's what you get when you're from Dagenham. Bye.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Tremendous performance, really impressed. Very good.

-Nine, eight, eight.

-Next is Varda's Bollywood routine.

BOLLYWOOD HINDI MUSIC

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's a hit with Mr Skerry.

I've never been to see a Bollywood movie

but after that performance, Varda, I think I probably should.

There's a lot of competition.

# Everybody look to their right... #

# I'm doing this for you... #

MUSIC: Hall Of Fame by The Script

There's JJ singing and playing the keyboard.

# Yeah, you could be the greatest

# You could be the best

# You could be the King Kong banging on your chest

# You can beat the world, you can beat the war

# You can talk to God, go banging on his door... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

There's a bit of comedy.

Police arrested two kids yesterday.

One was drinking battery acid and the other was eating fireworks.

They charged one and let the other one off.

LAUGHTER

A woman gets on a bus with a baby and the bus driver says,

"That's the ugliest baby I've ever seen."

She walks to the rear of the bus, fuming.

She sits down and says to the person next to her,

"The bus driver's insulted me."

So he goes, "Go on, then, go and tell him off.

-"I'll hold your monkey for you."

-LAUGHTER

And lots of dancing.

MUSIC: Earthquake by Labrinth

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-I do NOT envy the judges.

Next, it's Chloe, with a song she's written herself.

# Oh, shout it, be proud of it

# No-one is going to stop you

# You're on your own, you're on your own

# Don't let them get in your way

# Don't let them get in your hair

# They're just going to get you down

# Oh, I believe, I believe

# I believe there's children crying

# I believe there's soldiers dying now. #

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-That's amazing.

I think anyone who can write and sing as well as that -

tremendous - will go far.

Can Delight follow that?

# Your world don't mean a thing

# I'm not listening

# Keep talking

# All I know is

# Mamma told me not to waste my life

# She said, "Spread your wings, my little butterfly"

# Don't let what they say keep you up at night

# And they can't detain you cos wings are made to fly. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The audience seem, well, delighted.

I think that with a voice like that, Delight,

you will, um, fill much bigger arenas than this in your future.

-Well done.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

When I started singing, I wasn't as nervous,

cos it wasn't as scary when I was singing

cos all I could hear was myself.

I felt as if I was going to just collapse

onto the floor.

Then I'd done it and I felt good afterwards. At least I had a go.

'I was a bit nervous at first'

but then it was OK. KYRAN MOUTHS

I kind of just went along with it.

KYRAN MOUTHS

Judgment time.

HEART BEATS

In joint third place...

-Libby and...

-Chloe.

-Chloe.

Well done, Libby and Chloe. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

In second place...

JJ, well done, JJ.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And in first place with her superb vocalist act there at the end,

-well done, Delight.

-She's done it. Well done, Delight.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-A great end to a great first term.

'It was a really nice ending,'

like a start to Christmas, and everyone had a really amazing time.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Time for everyone to go out in style,

and for some, that means a whole new outfit.

I've got two dresses at home, you know,

like a purply, burgundy sort of colour. It's nice.

And then my shoes are black with a lace over them and a little heel.

It's the end-of-term disco.

DANCE MUSIC

Argh!

Three months ago, many of this lot didn't know each other.

Now, they've formed friendships that might last a lifetime.

The best thing about being in this school

is meeting new people and getting on with them.

It was really bad in primary.

But now I've got loads of friends.

You don't have to be funny,

um, to make friends

because everyone's got different personalities.

When I was in primary, I didn't have many friends. But now I've come here

I've got people who care about me a lot.

I enjoy school because I've got lots of friends.

Having lots of girlfriends

is just, like, a really nice thing

cos you all like lots of the same things

and you're going to have sleepovers and you're going to have parties.

When I first came to Conyers, I was really shy,

but now I'm a lot more confident and I'll talk to people.

CHEERING

At the beginning, I felt really panic -

"Oh, my God, I don't know anyone.

"What am I going to do?"

I feel a lot more comfortable now, cos I know most people.

What I do like about Lucas

is that makes me laugh.

Look, I'm laughing now,

and he's smirking.

That's how easy it is to make me laugh.

So you don't need to be nervous

when you move up from primary to secondary.

Don't just take it from me.

Here's some words of wisdom from the experts.

Don't worry and it's all just going to be fine.

-Ask girls out privately.

-THEY LAUGH

I'd say to them, if you've got some friends

you've got nothing to worry about.

Even if you don't, there's always places

that you can go and talk to people.

Make friends as soon as possible.

Don't be shy.

Be yourself.

Don't be like - I guess - cocky about it, I guess.

I'd just be yourself.

It's better to avoid being something you're not,

and try and be, like, nice and friendly.

Stay on task. Get your head down.

Have fun at the right moments.

Don't be...the class clown.

It's not scary.

It's not scary. You make loads of friends.

I would probably say, "Get a really big bag."

Looks like Year 7 has been a hit.

-Say, "Bananas."

-ALL: Bananas.

CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS

It's good to say that you're in secondary school.

But I don't...I wouldn't necessarily say I feel grown-up.

I AM looking forward to getting a moustache though.