Meet the Teachers Our School

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Each September, half a million children begin the most

important year of school so far...

Year Seven.

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

will stay with them forever.

Hello, there, I'm Mr Thoburn and I'm a science teacher here.

If you've ever wondered what secondary school is like

here's your chance to find out.

This is Our School.

HE BELCHES

How can you do that!?

It's the start of a new school year,

and along with 221 Year Seven students,

there are some fresh recruits amongst the staff too.

Today on Our School we meet

two newly-qualified teachers keen to impress.

Miss Gibbons, who's joining the Creative Arts team,

and Mr Glendenning, who will be teaching Design and Technology.

We'll also be exploring school life with more experienced staff members

like myself, Mr Thoburn. I teach Science.

And our wonderful Head Cook, Julie.

Feet together and everybody looking here.

Both our new teachers have been given responsibility

for Year Seven forms.

And it's not just the students who get nervous.

This is my first real teaching experience.

Um, I'm sure I'm sharing the same sort of emotions

and feelings as all of the new Year Sevens.

A bit of excitement, a bit of nervousness,

probably a lot of sleepless nights.

We're all in the same position, which is brilliant.

They're new, I'm new so, yeah, no, I think we're all in it together now.

For students who get dropped off early,

the school runs a breakfast club.

It's run by Head Cook, Julie, and what better way to start

the day than with one of her cooked breakfasts?

-Two sausages, bacon, beans and toast?

-Yeah.

The food that they have is to die for, to be honest with you.

It's also a good place for a bit of a sing-along.

-Aren't you supposed to say something?

-What?!

# I like mine with a kiss! #

-JULIE LAUGHS

-Have you heard them singing?!

She makes people laugh, she's just really funny.

That's the main thing.

No, you've got to start with...

# How do you like your eggs in the morning? #

There's always a few that stand out,

and when you get young Daniel that comes in on a morning...

I mean, we've even got them singing cos we always have a bit of a

natter and a bit of a laugh, because it's quite laid back on a morning.

# How do you like your eggs in the morning?

# I like mine with a kiss!

# Boiled or fried?

# How do you like your bacon in the morning?

# I like mine with a...

# I like mine with a hug! #

JULIE LAUGHS

With a hug!

The other bit - "how do you like your toast in the morning"?

# I like... # No, hang on...

How's it go?

Well, Julie, it goes something like this.

# How do you... #

All right, actually, on second thoughts,

I'll leave it to the experts.

# How do you like your eggs in the morning?

# I like mine with a kiss

# Boiled or fried?

# I'm satisfied as long as I get my kiss

# How do you like your toast in the morning?

# I like mine with a hug

# Dark or light?

# The world's all right as long as I get my hug

# I've got to have my love in the morning

# Or the rest of my day is positively mayhem

# I'm a regular monster

# How do you like your eggs in the morning?

# I like mine with a kiss

# Up or down?

# I'll never frown!

# Eggs can be almost bliss

# Just as long as I get my kiss. #

By the time most people arrive at school,

Julie's already been on duty for a couple of hours.

So it's time for a break and a bit of a chat.

Are you doing anything nice over the weekend, guys?

Yeah, playing on my iPad, playing on my iPhone,

watching TV, playing on the Xbox, playing on the PS3 - that's five.

-I think that's it.

-What about outdoor games?

OK, hmm... No.

'It must be quite daunting for them

'coming in to a strange place, you know.'

I'm hoping that they can come to us if they need to as well

as the teachers, we want to be part of that, part of the school.

So if they've got a problem, come to us too cos we want to make it

so, you know, we're quite accessible for that.

Cuppa tea!

I'm getting into trouble, I'd better go.

Ah, do you know what? I've been here 16 years, you know?

And I still don't know my way around the school, all of it.

-It's quite a big school, isn't it?

-Hmm.

I'll have to go now because that dragon in there,

that dragon in there in the red, is giving me evil eyes.

Julie's quickly broken the ice with some of the new Year Sevens

and everyone's beginning to find their feet.

So, are new teachers Mr Glendenning and Miss Gibbons

overcoming their nerves and finding their feet as well?

Who likes my to-do list?

-Very nice!

-Thank you.

It certainly looks like it!

Were you asleep yesterday in assembly?

-I think so.

-Right, fair enough.

Can you tell me what your first name is?

-Right, keep it a secret.

-Even I know it.

If people find out my real name, I might have to kill you!

I would like a volunteer.

Sh, sh, you don't even know what I'm going to say!

I might say, "go clean the bins!"

Seems as if he's making a good first impression.

I wonder what his students will think

when they discover that outside of school he's a bit of a hero!

For the past seven years Mr Glendenning's been

a volunteer for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution -

a charity that responds to coastal emergencies 24 hours a day.

I was first joined with the RNLI through a friend.

He'd been part of the lifeboat crew for quite some time

and one day he said, "Why don't you come down meet the crew

"and see if you want to join?"

So I thought, "Why not?" and I've been with it pretty much ever since.

The crew get called out an average of 100 times a year

so they need to be at the top of their game,

which means they take their training very seriously.

When he's not teaching, Mr Glendenning is always on call.

He has to be ready to drop everything

and use his lifesaving skills.

As volunteers, we come down twice a week for training.

Everything from man overboard exercises...

First aid is quite important.

Man overboard!

It's important to keep the skills fresh.

The man overboard is not something which we commonly come across,

but they are important skills to keep, just in case

something like that does happen, cos it could happen.

Two metres!

'You always do feel good

'when you've been able to do a successful rescue.'

I wouldn't say I'd go out and have a party

but you do feel happy.

Casualty on board!

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Back at school, the other new teacher, Miss Gibbons, isn't letting

any of her class out of her sight.

Follow me all this way, OK?

The worst thing I'm dreading is they all get lost.

Um, I don't want them to be panicky, I don't want them to be worried.

To help them, she sets her form a challenge.

In your planner, there is a map.

Who can find the map first? Go!

Is that the map of the school?

Not the map of the world, the map of the school.

Um, I don't remember there being a map of the school in the planner.

Come on, an easy way would be starting from the front

and working your way back.

I hope they've printed it in your planners

now you're all searching for them!

Well...

It should look like this on the board.

Should be looking for something like this.

Please say it is in your planners after you've searched for this long.

Can I borrow your planner?

It might not be in there, they must not have printed it.

Right, that was a little game for you!

I was just putting you to the test,

to make you look through your planners.

She may still be finding her feet in the classroom,

but like Mr Glendenning she has an amazing hidden talent.

Wow! I was not expecting that!

# A little party never killed nobody... #

A gymnast since the age of four, she's still part of

an award-winning display team called Question.

# A little party never killed nobody

# Right here, right now... #

'Gymnastics has been my passion for years.'

You can't even describe it, it's...

The amount of adrenaline that you get when you're going on the floor,

It's just immense.

If the routine's been amazing, having the huge crowd cheer you,

it is... It's a brilliant feeling.

As well as dancing, sports-acro involves a lot of balancing.

And that involves such close team work from the base, all the way

right to the top, everyone has got to be exactly in the right position.

I think it helps that we're all best friends.

We've all grown up together.

It doesn't matter if we drop each other then.

Stop shaking!

-I was like that!

-She was stood there like that!

Yeah, just don't put it in. Don't put the balance in.

That's just dangerous.

To be a good gymnast, I think you need to be confident,

you need to have that drive to just throw yourself up there

or throw yourself down a tumble track, in case you do fall.

If you ask me, teaching a group of Year Sevens is a bit like throwing

yourself down the tumble track - you can end up dizzy

and unbalanced, so I'd say it's perfect training for her new job!

SHE SCREAMS

LAUGHTER

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

It's the first lesson of the day, double science with me, Mr Thoburn.

What could be better?!

Yes, yes, yes!

YES!

That's the kind of enthusiasm I like to see!

All I've got to do now is learn this lot's names.

If I pronounce your name wrong...

tough, that's how we pronounce it from now on.

All right?!

-Isabelle.

-Yes, Sir.

OK, do we use Isabelle or Izzy?

-I don't mind.

-Fair enough, I'll call you George!

Where's Donna?

Crossleigh-Knights, what a magnificent surname.

You sound like you should own a very posh restaurant.

Salma? Yes, hello, very good.

-Where's Connor?

-Yes, sir.

-Is your last name Jinks?

-Yeah.

-That is sweet.

That is a quality name, I'm jealous.

-Tandy Humour, who's that?

-Me.

That's like my favourite name ever, I'm going to name my kids that!

-Mr Thoburn's funny as!

-Really funny, like.

-He's the best teacher.

-Yeah.

-He's my favourite teacher.

He's really cool.

I really like Mr Thoburn because he's very funny.

-AS YODA:

-Learning science, we are!

LAUGHTER

-And he's very crazy.

-Like you!

-And you.

-I know.

I understand that Chloe, you tried to bring me some work in,

and I have marked it, but that sort of...

Yeah, that looks like it's been through the digestive system

of a cat!

He's probably the funniest teacher I've ever met

Stop enjoying yourself, remember you're in school.

And cos he's a Geordie it makes him even better

I don't even know if he even knows that we're twins!

Very nice, look at you, highly skilled Bunsen burner enthusiast.

Excuse me, who's is this?

Why is there a smouldering stick on my desk?

-What's this called?

-A fire mat.

A heat-proof mat, which means it's heatproof

so you can put that on there.

Table's burn, that doesn't.

If I burn myself, it's me own stupid fault.

If one of the kids gets burnt, it's still my fault.

So I take it very seriously.

And it will come to that point when I'll stop a lesson.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, oi!

It's not there to protect your fringe, is it, chief?

Pay attention. My friend here, who has a very protected forehead,

but his eyes are at risk.

'If I see something that's sort of going on that shouldn't be,'

'I'll stop a lesson and just get everybody to just turn around'

and we'll talk about what's happened

and what should happen and what I don't want to see,

and so on and so forth, and then I'll let them get on with it again.

'They might think I haven't noticed, but nothing gets past me.'

Most of you did extremely well. I was very impressed.

You're so safe you're still wearing your goggles.

Erm... Does everybody think it was perfectly safe?

Or were there mistakes that might have been made

that we can think about for next time?

What do we reckon?

-Erm, not to have two people lighting the Bunsen burner.

-Yeah. OK?

What I did was, I saw two people lighting a splint at the same time.

One person to light the candle, and one person for fun.

Gentlemen.

But I'm fairly sure the person I caught lit it and just blew it

straight out again, for the fun of lighting stuff. OK?

Now, friendly warning, all right?

When we trust you to do practical work,

we expect you to be safe, OK?

OK.

OK.

7AG are turning out to be a loud bunch, but when they do push it,

Mr Glendenning has a secret weapon up his sleeve.

DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

Nobody wants to experience the wrath of the angry face.

GROWLING

-Is that what it was? Is that you're angry face?

-No, I try to stop it.

He goes like this.

He goes like that.

I didn't see it. What did it go like?

He really clenches his face and then

his cheekbones, like, wobble, wobble.

His cheeks go...

I can't do it, but he goes like that then shakes his face.

Dead weird.

-I can't do it.

-He goes...

The only problem with the angry face is that the kids find it

so funny, they're not really taking it very seriously.

Calm down.

-Angry face, angry face!

-I nearly did, I nearly did.

Do it, do it! We didn't see it.

I only save that for special occasions.

Meanwhile, over in 7CG, Miss Gibbons has her own rowdy pair to deal with.

Kyran and Alex have discovered that

there's more to their new teacher than meets the eye.

-Do you do gymnastics?

-Yeah. I used to do it with his mum.

You can hold your handbag and then do backflips down the stairs,

-and then, and then you can, like, cartwheel all the way home!

-No.

Or, like, you know that thing where you run and then you

flip in the air and turn around and land on your feet, can you do that?

-Yeah.

-Swanky!

OK, then.

Ben is going to go next, OK, so if we can all be quiet.

Close your mouth.

He said swanky!

Kyran looks like he's a bit of a handful.

He's pushing the boundaries at the minute.

He's seeing what he can get away with during tutor time, definitely.

Just does not be quiet. His mouth is always open.

He just makes me laugh, as well,

though, so I feel like I can't tell him off just yet.

You're not meant to laugh, you're the teacher!

He's too cute to tell off.

-Right. Can you two settle, please?

-OK.

-Yes.

-Settling down.

Because you will be split up, I'm not lying.

-I can't stand quietness.

-I love it. So let's be quiet.

Over in the canteen, something strange has happened to Julie.

Je m'appelle Julie.

The school is holding an international languages day.

The canteen will be serving European food

and no-one will be allowed to speak English.

Voulez-vous...

-Is that voulez-vous or vol-au-vent?

-SHE LAUGHS

That's the one. Hey, we should dress up as ABBA instead, shouldn't we?

I'm going to try and learn a bit of French to talk to the children.

"Je voudrais" is "I would like." OK?

So you say...

If you would like a croissant, OK, that is just croissant.

Yeah, cos it's French.

If all fails, just do the accent, OK?

PUPILS IMITATE FRENCH ACCENT If you get stuck...

-BOY, IN FRENCH ACCENT:

-I am a French King and I would like a pain au chocolat!

-Fantastic!

-Oui, oui, oui!

-I thought you were French.

How good's that?!

Right. If all else fails, make sure you do that accent.

If you would like a hot dog, that is German, so you must say "hallo."

Well, OK. I suppose I'd better get into the spirit of things!

Je m'appelle Monsieur Thorburn

et je voudrais un croissant, s'il vous plait.

JULIE SPEAKS FRENCH:

Buongiorno. Vorrei un pezzo di pizza, per favore.

-Oh, right!

-JULIE LAUGHS

That didn't last long, then!

If they're going to speak in English, so am I.

Oui, oui, oui!

Oh, and by the way - love the hat.

Voila!

Bonjour.

Does anyone know the French for biscuit?

Er, biscuit...

Bis... Bis...

Oh, it IS biscuit.

Biscuit.

That'll do.

So how do you think you did, Julie?

Ooh...

I'm no good at speaking French or German.

Merci!

No more for another year, please! SHE LAUGHS

International Languages Day doesn't stop at the canteen.

And, for some students, learning a new word,

like hello in Japanese, for example,

gives them a chance to be...slightly irritating.

Konnichiwa, Georgia.

Konnichiwa!

Konnichiwa.

All right, shut up!

Konnichiwa!

You're getting well annoying now, kid.

I think we can safely say that hello in Japanese

is one word this class won't forget in a hurry.

Luca, konnichiwa.

Shut it.

Today, 7AG and 7CG are off on their first school trips.

Miss Gibbons' form are heading to Gymworld

whilst Mr Glendenning's are off on a tour of the local lifeboat station.

It's a chance to find out more about their new teachers.

Will the excitement prove too much?

So far, 7CG seem to be behaving like angels.

But Mr G's lot on the other hand...

Are we nearly there yet?!

What a rowdy bunch!

Yeah!

Poor Mr Glendenning.

Miss Gibbons really wants to impress her class

and show them what a great hobby gymnastics can be.

And this is the ideal place,

with everything from balance beams and monkey rings

to a very bouncy floor.

OK, guys!

Excuse me.

OK, guys, so we're at Gymworld.

We need to be very sensible.

OK? There's a lot of dangerous equipment here.

What we're going to do is mainly be based on the floor, OK,

and we're going to do some kind of team building and group activities.

-Can you stop bouncing?

-Sorry.

It'll be a good chance to actually see what they're like

outside of the classroom.

So, yeah, I think it was just...

give them an opportunity, see how fun it is,

and to see what kind of things that you can do with it

rather than just dancing around, kinda thing.

OK, this is a massive part of my life.

So, I've been doing it since I was four, OK,

and I will show you some later on, OK,

and I will get involved with you. OK?

So make me proud. I want a class full of gymnasts!

OK?

Everyone's letting off a lot of steam.

Miss! My feet can't touch the floor!

For someone like Kyran, it's a dream come true.

-Are you like this at home, Kyran?

-What, hyper? Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Do you bounce around the house?

-Mm-hm.

How many beds have you broken from bouncing on them?

-About two.

-Two?

-Yeah.

That's quite good going, actually.

I thought it would be a bit more than that.

# She's got me dancing

# She's got me dancing

# She's got me dancing... #

It looks like 7CG are having a whale of a time.

# She's got me dancing

# She's got me dancing

# She's got me dancing

# And she's always one step behind

# She's got me dancing

# And she's always one step behind. #

Over at Sunderland lifeboat station,

Mr Glendenning is impressing 7AG with the vast array of equipment

that the RNLI needs to save lives.

Any volunteers who might want to wear this helmet?

Me!

-Yeah?

-Yes!

Right, so what I'm going to do,

you're going to grab hold of that helmet, you're going to put it on...

Mind your glasses, make sure they're going to be nice and safe.

Perfect.

LAUGHTER

Very good.

One vital piece of equipment is the dry suit.

Designed to keep out the water in the harshest conditions,

Mr Glendenning wants to show just how effective it is.

But he hasn't bargained on the power of an 11-year-old

armed with a hose.

Um, Iman managed to somehow get me wet,

even though I was wearing a full dry suit.

Don't know how he did that,

but he's obviously only small,

so he could get in all the nooks and crannies.

That's refreshing!

That was me!

I think Mr Glendenning is making quite a splash with 7AG.

Meanwhile, and here's a sentence I never thought I'd say,

Miss Gibbons is trying to persuade her class to form a human pyramid.

He's going to squish!

You won't squash him, honestly.

He will!

But little monkey Kyran doesn't need asking twice.

Yeah, buddy!

I'm the tallest in the world!

What goes up must come down.

I'm going to fall...

Right, OK, hold my hands and jump down.

-Ow...

-Just come straight off, I've got hold of you.

Keep your arms straight.

Don't jump, just fall forwards, come on.

-What do you mean, fall forward?

-Off.

-Aaah!

-Get off!

Kyran's been brilliant today, actually.

He hasn't played up.

He's a little bit hyperactive,

but he's usually excitable anyway, so it's no different to every day.

So - but he's been brilliant.

They all have, actually.

OK, brilliant. Let's get down. Well done!

Aaah!

With the school trips coming to a close,

there's just enough time left for Mr Glendenning to show a bit of flare.

See what I did, there? "Bit of flare"?

And Miss Gibbons finishes her session

by showing just a little of what she can do.

Make sure you're watching, because I will not be showing you this again.

Go on, Miss!

Ooh!

That was awesome!

When she did the flip, I was amazed like that,

because I've seen it a few times before,

but I didn't think that, like, just like an ordinary person

like a teacher could do something like that.

In class, she doesn't do flips and stuff,

and jump up and down in class. Cos she's wearing heels.

Miss Gibbons is amazing at gymnastics.

She was doing this cartwheel,

and then she did, like, all these weird, like, cheerleading things,

and it was really cool,

and I can't imagine any of the other teachers doing it,

but she was really cool.

Bunny hop over.

I think it went brilliant, I think they did love it.

I think it's made them a little bit closer.

Having them climbing on each other

is breaking that barrier of distance between them...

and having a bit of a bond, really.

Just a few weeks into her teaching career,

and Miss Gibbons has the admiration of all of her class.

Miss Gibbons! Miss Gibbons!

Mr Glendenning has also succeeded in wowing his form.

I think Mr Glendenning is like a superhero, cos of what he did.

Like, you can be anywhere,

and then you can get this phone call to save someone's life.

I think that's just really cool.

He's a big teddy bear.

He's a big lovey-dovey teddy bear.

And he takes care of ya.

Year Seven is a time of great change,

but it doesn't have to be daunting experience.

If you're surrounded by supportive, dedicated and inspirational teachers

you're going to have a lot of fun and create some lifelong memories.

Oh, and hopefully learn the odd thing or two.

Anyone, I'm stuck!

Anyone?!

Next time on Our School...

Ewan's behaviour challenges the teachers.

Where do you think you're going?

Sometimes, like, I can get like really frustrated and walk out.

I'm not staying in school, all right?

He needs to knuckle down and sort himself out,

otherwise his time at Conyers may not last very long.

# Happy birthday to you... #

Thank you!

# You were born in a zoo! #

Pull the toggle, and that will inflate our jackets.

Aah!

That is strong!

Yeah.

OK.

Go.

Why have you got your hair cut like Snape from Harry Potter?

LAUGHTER

He nicked his haircut off me.