Nothing to Be Scared Of Our School

Each September, half a million children begin

the most important year of school so far.

Year seven.

Boom.

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?

-What they learn here...

-# A, B, C, D, E, F, G... #

-..will stay with them forever.

-ALL CHANT:

-You've got the...

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 BURPS

How can you do that?!

One of the great things about year seven is making new friends.

-IN A FUNNY VOICE:

-I'll be your best friend.

It's important to make friends

because you need someone to be there

like when you're feeling sad.

You can't just sit by yourself all the time.

Having a mate can make all the difference

as starting at secondary school can be really scary.

Yeah, I just feel really sick.

You don't really know anyone and you...

You don't know what it's going to be like.

I'm right at the bottom of all these big people

and it scares me a bit.

I thought it would be bad and scary and...

..eurgh.

It's actually fun.

This time, we're getting to know three pupils

who have found it harder to settle in...

..Reece, Mae, and Corey.

Back on the first day of term,

Reece didn't want his mum to leave him at school.

I wasn't used to it.

It was a brand-new big school, which just made me

really scared, and I cried.

He got really upset

and his mum asked assistant head Mr Skerry for help.

Morning, Reece. Hiya.

I don't know if you want me to pick him up at lunchtime,

just give it half a day.

What you need to do, if you're feeling a bit uncomfortable,

I'll let your tutor know, OK,

that she just needs to check that you're all right.

And then we'll contact Mum if we need to.

He would get into the car OK

but then, when we started to get closer, he'd start to panic

and say he's not getting out the car and, "I'm not going in.

"It's too scary. It's too noisy. I don't like it."

Reece is the only one from his primary to come to our school,

so he doesn't know anyone and feels totally alone.

The fact that it was making me upset made me quite...

I don't really know, more upset with myself,

cos I'm getting upset, which could actually...

People might start bullying me for crying a lot...

..and that wouldn't be good.

So, Reece has a problem, one that the school has spotted.

Clare's saying he's really struggling, which he is.

Yes, he will be.

Possible progress group?

Yeah, are we OK to do that move if things go OK?

-Yes, all right. Thanks.

-All right, thank you.

The progress group is a class of year sevens who need

extra support from the school for all sorts of reasons.

I'm weird, weird and weird.

One of the group who always a big impression is class clown Corey.

Show time.

# Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?

HE MIMES

# Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?

# Janvier, Fevrier, Mars

# Janvier, Fevrier, Mars

# Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? #

When I'm with different people

that are, like, silly,

I kind of like start getting funny, you know, and getting silly.

What I want you do is to ask somebody around your table,

in French, how old they are.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, ding, dong.

HE LAUGHS

Sometimes Corey's joking around can go too far.

Excuse me. Sh, Corey.

Yeah, miss...I mean, sir.

Can I have your attention?

I get mixed up with the names.

Corey, not good.

Corey has something called ADHD,

which means he can get hyperactive and find it hard to concentrate.

# Talimantastic Mr Bombastic.

# Come on, mister Roll, roll, roll

# Talimantastic Mr Bombastic. #

You might be surprised to hear that Corey

was just as nervous as Reece when he started here.

Just three words that describe you, OK?

Funny.

-Silly.

-Is cheeky two words?

-Cheeky's one word.

-OK, that'll be good then.

You had funny, silly. Think of one more.

-I'm a bit shy.

-All right, a bit shy, that's fine.

Bugsy. Hello Bugsy.

Corey is a lot quieter at home.

Because he can be really shy, he found his first day at school

a big challenge.

Who's a good guinea pig?

I was really nervous around moving there,

I didn't want to leave my mam.

I was like, "Don't leave me. No!"

-WHISPERS:

-He's kind of smelly.

SHE LAUGHS

But Corrie managed to get past his fear.

Just about.

I was like sitting on the bench next to my mam saying,

'Don't...not what to do this.'

She went, "You're going to have to. You know Caitlin, your cousin,

"she's already done this, so you'd better."

So I just went, "Oh, fine." I got my friend, went in.

So maybe the progress group can help Reece just like it helped Corey.

Put your hand like that.

Die, fingers. Uh! Uh!

So slow.

So slow. So fast.

Ooh!

It's Reece's first time with the progress group.

Being new in class can feel pretty awkward.

I could tell he was nervous cos my mam can always tell

I'm nervous, and I know how I get nervous.

Right, Reece, do you want to come and sit here? Yeah?

Have a seat.

Hiya, Reece.

How come you're in here?

The group has been together for a while now,

so there is a lot to get his head around.

All right, everyone, so let's stand up, please.

Everyone needs to stand up and salute the captain.

One, two, three, salute the captain. Thank you very much. Sit down.

So...

Just like, "Where... Where... Where am I?"

It was just as if I was in a prison.

Oh, what am I doing here?

Uh, uh, uh. Let me out.

But Reece isn't the only nervous one in the group.

Meet Mae.

Mae has a condition called dyspraxia

which can make the world seem very frightening.

What's the matter, Mae? What's the matter?

Are you all right?

Is it just the thunder? Is it the thunder?

Don't worry, it'll be perfectly fine.

Miss will take you out and you can take a deep breath. Don't worry.

When we were in science, the thunder went off

and she was like really, really scared and started crying.

Why was you scared, Mae?

Just because, like, when I was born, I had sensitive ear things,

I don't know why. I just came out as having sensitive ears and that.

So when it, like, gets stuff, it gets quite loud into my ears.

Right, the ghost story thing.

Reading a ghost story can be fun, but not for Mae.

Ghost stories?

-Right, Mae.

-Goodbye.

If you just wait outside for just a moment, OK? All right?

Oh, it's so...

Sit. No. No, Rosie.

I had to go out the room cos, like, he knew...knows

I don't like that cos it scares me.

One night, I'm... I couldn't sleep.

So I'm, as you do, turning over in bed

and trying to get comfortable and stuff

and, at one point, I opened my eyes

and about that far away from my face was someone grinning at me.

Perhaps the progress group will help Mae feel more confident

about both school and life.

It's English, and Corey's trying to get his head around verbs.

-Is 'dogs' a verb?

-It's a noun.

I'm so dumb. SHE LAUGHS

It's a noun.

"Grandpa is getting a pie for his grandchildren."

MAE TALKS HUSHED

-What? Who's wrapping a present? Is it for me?

-No.

-Aw.

-Why would it be for you?

Cos I've been good.

I've been a really good boy.

But maybe Corey has spoken too soon.

Sam, can you use one of those two examples and write down

and explain to me why that's subtext?

PEN CLICKS

Stop clicking pens.

Me and Lauren were clicking the pens,

-just going...

-HE CLICKS

..like an indicator.

Underneath the...thing for subtext, do that now.

HE CLICKS

What should you not be doing?

Playing with your pens.

Put it down.

He went, "I'm going to ask you one more time. Put the pen down."

I was just still doing like that.

Now I can click my pens.

PEN CLICKS

Don't click the pens, otherwise... Then I'll take it off you

and give you a pen that doesn't click.

I've got loads in here that don't click. Oh, no, they all click.

-Corey. Corey.

-Yeah?

Is that an appropriate thing to be doing

when a teacher's talking about things like this?

You're making matters worse.

Right, you may not understand that you are, but you are.

-Lauren.

-Mm-hm?

Don't laugh.

You need to stop doing that.

It's inappropriate.

Do I need you to speak over the top of me?

No.

No, then don't.

You will do a detention, both of you, with me.

Where?

I will write it in your planner and you will turn up.

OK.

So Corey and Lauren are both in hot water.

You will not do that again in my lesson.

You didn't work your best, you didn't try your hardest.

That is not acceptable in this school.

You'll turn up tomorrow, am I clear?

Yes.

And I will not have to speak to you again.

Good.

Off you go.

They'll have to see Mr Smith for detention tomorrow breaktime.

I did feel bad about getting a detention a bit,

because, really, I didn't... I don't really like detentions.

The next day, Mae and Corey have art,

and his looming detention is the hot topic.

-How do you feel about the detention?

-Well, I'm used to it.

-I had detention all the time in my old school.

-Did you?

-Like 15...

-I did not know that.

-..50 times.

Do you think it'll be boring or exciting?

It'll be boring.

Detentions are always boring.

I don't care about detention.

It's only detention.

Chairs under there, please, year seven.

I wonder if he's more bothered about it than he lets on.

Uh, can we not set a bad example to the younger years, please,

by being ridiculous?

It's time for Corey and Lauren's detention.

Well done for turning up.

Now, I do not want...

..silly behaviour in my classroom, OK?

It disrupts everyone else's learning.

It stops everyone else from being able to learn.

OK?

That's why you have the detention.

Do you understand why we're here?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, cos we were being silly in class.

Right, OK. I want two things

you're going to do next lesson that you didn't do last lesson.

-Give me one.

-Be silly.

OK, so you're not going to be silly,

-or you are going to be silly, which is what...

-Not.

Not going to be silly, excellent.

We're going to forget about it, start again, clean slate.

Fair enough?

Done? Done?

Good, you can... Off you go.

Will Corey manage to turn over a new leaf?

Boys, pick it up or I take it from you.

After break, it's maths.

Reece is starting to settle into life in the progress group.

Rise, my evil goblins. Come on, rise.

-I'm not a goblin!

-I'm not evil either.

Never mind. Right. I know.

I feel like I really want to stay in the progress group

for basically as long as possible.

Here we go.

Today, Mr Waterston is using a game

to teach the class about something called probability.

Uh, should I be sensible or should I risk it?

Right, have you got some points so far?

Yeah.

I would probably bank right now,

but I don't know what's going to come up next.

BACKGROUND CHATTER

Erm, sorry. Sh, here we go.

Ah, no, I'm banking.

Sensible.

Oh, yeah!

We've made the right choice there cos we've got a 'one'.

Right, names at the back.

Start at the back and shout your name out to me, please.

And Reece has been getting a lot of encouragement from his form tutor.

Class, quiet, please!

She wants him to get tough with his nerves.

What have you got to do with your thoughts?

-Um.

-Switch them, turn them...

-To back off, to go away.

Tell them to go away and think positive things, yeah?

Cos we've got to get through this, yeah?

It's got to happen.

Instead of being, "Ah, Reece,"

she's being more, "Come on. Toughen up."

"Yes, Miss Ferrari.

"You're the best teacher in the world, Miss Ferrari."

SHE LAUGHS

Probably the better way to do it!

# I miss you... #

That rubber's rubbish.

My rubber is not rubbish.

That one.

Oh, yeah, it is.

Meanwhile, Mae seems to have found herself a true friend in Lauren.

Mae, do you want some help?

Yeah, I think.

OK.

It's a bit of a small one, but you don't mind, do you?

No.

Lauren is very confident,

and that's something that will encourage Mae too.

Do you get it? It's going up by one and you're adding one.

Where does... Does that go to six?

Six. And you're adding one every time, OK?

Two, three, four...

Lauren wants to help Mae not get scared any more.

When you get scared, Mae, just try and cover your ears

and block out the noise, so when you go outside, there'll be no noise.

Cos, like, block out your ears.

And, if you hear it, just pretend it's gone

and pretend it's gone to the moon.

My best friend. We're going to sit together for lunch today.

Yeah.

The only thing is they may never stop laughing.

I want to look after Mae because...

THEY LAUGH

I want to... I want to...

MAE LAUGHS

Sorry, Lauren.

Uh... Um...

I want to look after Mae because, um...

Mae, stop it.

THEY LAUGH

Just keep talking.

I want to look after Mae because I don't want her being scared

and being really scared like about big noises,

and I like just to be there for her

because I don't want her to be really upset and lonely.

MAE LAUGHS

Turn that way, Mae.

The progress group is helping Reece feel more confident,

but he still hates making the trip to school and saying goodbye to Mum.

Will he make it in today without getting upset?

Do you think you'll be OK today, then?

Well, I'm not that sure.

You're not sure?

I think my mum sometimes gets quite worried and stressed,

because if I'm starting to cry just going in school,

then she might feel quite guilty for leaving me in school,

which then makes me feel guilty for making her feel guilty.

Are you feeling worried now, Reece?

-Yes.

-You normally start to feel worried

when we see the windmills, don't you?

Yeah.

If I see the windmills,

then I know we're about two or three miles away.

The school is trying a new approach with Reece.

One of the teaching assistants will meet him at the gates

to walk him in.

They hope this will make saying goodbye to his mum easier.

Here we are, Reece.

I think Miss Whitethorpe is standing there.

Yeah, she's standing there.

This is it.

Will Reece make it in OK?

Morning!

-Right, have a good day.

-I will.

Right, say bye to your mum. Tell Mum to have a good day as well.

-Yeah.

-Right, say bye to mum, then. Go on.

-Bye-bye.

Have a nice day. Mwah.

-Bye-bye.

-Right, come on. Watch there cos it's busy here.

So, Reece wobbled but he's done a lot better this time.

How are you feeling today?

Nervous.

A bit nervous.

So we'll sort that out at break.

-Morning.

-So how do you feel that you've come out of the car

and left your mum this morning?

Did you feel a bit better?

Yeah, I feel a little bit better.

You feel a bit better today?

What's making you feel a bit better today?

Cos I've been trying to turn the negative thoughts

into positive thought.

Good, that's great.

# One, two, three, four... #

The class is in the library today,

and everyone has been told to wear this cloak

and make up a story on the spot.

The monkey's eating his hand.

He's very hungry. Where's the popcorn?

One day, in a school called Larsen, everyone was hearing rumours

about zombies.

Zombies.

There was a little boy called Robert.

And he went to school one day

and he saw a puddle of blood in the play...in the playground.

Get off my monkey's feet!

-Corey is not the ideal audience member.

-Ssh!

Don't shush at me.

And then, suddenly, a hand grasped over his mouth...

Not you, not you. It's OK, turn around.

The end.

Thanks for that, you just scared my monkey!

-Rrargh!

-This capped village just got longer and longer.

SHOUTS: Guys, quiet!

This monkey's black, and my hand's really hot and sweating.

There was a boy and his dragon.

They went through a portal, came to the age of the dinosaurs.

Then he, like, broke a tree and died. That's my story.

It's Reece's turn.

Thinking of a story and standing up to tell it

is a massive challenge for him.

My story's going to be about a chicken nugget.

There was once a chicken nugget who was sat in the freezer.

Then somebody got him out and dropped him in water by mistake.

So they picked him out and put him in the oven.

The chicken nugget started dancing in the oven

and then he flew away. The end.

APPLAUSE

That's a big breakthrough.

There's nothing shy about what he just achieved.

COREY: Monkey didn't like it, but I did.

Does anyone want to buy a cake?

It's lunchtime in learning support,

and a friendship has sprung up between Reece and Corey.

Reece, calm - it's only a cake.

I'm hungry for cake.

-Well, go and...

-Oh, pink.

Ah, pink!

I like Reece because he's funny, he's nice, he's...

I really want to say it but I'm not going to.

Say it.

OK, OK, I'll say it. He is goofy.

Said it.

But he's not that goofy. He's funny, though.

So, do you need help with it now?

-Yeah.

-Where is it?

-In my bag somewhere.

-Come on, then.

Corey looks out for me a lot

because if I lose my homework, or my homework gets crumpled,

or if I need help with my homework,

he's always there to help me and stuff.

Didn't... Have you took it out?

No, I didn't take it out, that's annoying.

-What are you looking for, Reece?

-My art homework.

Right, take everything out.

Oh, no, please, don't do this to me.

Reece loses a lot of stuff and I... Me...

Well, we have a search party looking for his pens.

We had a search and rescue pen... Pen rescue.

That's a really good name. We should start calling it that.

There it is, there!

Phew, panic over. Nice one, Corey.

Everyone's noticing how much the class clown has calmed down.

It's nice to see the sensitive side of him coming out

and the caring side that he's actually looking after the others

in that group.

-Yay! We found it.

-Yay.

Mae has gone back to Lauren's house after school

and she's a much happier girl than at the start of term.

Let's see if I can thrash you. I start.

Oh, yeah, like that.

I'm going to go here now.

THEY LAUGH

I would say that Mae is a really good friend,

because she's always there for me and she always sticks up for me.

Uh, what was I going to do? That.

-Oh! I'm just losing the game!

-LAUREN LAUGHS

I think my problem's improved loads

because, when I started, I was, like, shy and nervous,

I didn't know anyone, I didn't know where I was going or anything.

Winner!

This is not fair.

Mae has come on leaps and bounds.

Once we've got over the...

The shyness, she's actually... She's...

She'd be fierce!

-Why are you letting me win all the time?

-Oh, my God.

Being in the progress group has made a big difference for Mae.

It's changed me since I started,

and I've been, like, not alone and I've got loads of friends now

and I can talk to them and not be alone anywhere.

Oh, yeah! Oh!

It's Friday morning,

and Corey is waiting at the school gates for a friend.

Meanwhile, Reece is on his way in.

Will he get upset today?

You've probably guessed it, it's Corey who's waiting for him.

-Hi, Reece.

-Hi.

Right, have a nice day. Don't forget homework club.

-Oh, yeah.

-OK, bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Thanks to Corey, for the first time ever,

Reece has left his mum without any tears or teachers.

I was trying to text you

but my phone, I had no credit at all.

It had one pence.

It helps that Corey meets me because now I don't really get upset

-because I have more support.

-Yeah, cos if you cry, you make me cry.

And I don't want to cry.

I just actually snapped the branch.

It's about half the size of that big branch there.

-What did you do with the branch, jump on it?

-No.

When I walk down, I have someone to talk to

other than my boring mum, you know.

-THEY LAUGH

-Your mum's going to hear this.

Whoops, I forgot about that part!

What a difference a friend makes, eh?

Ooh, balloons!

It's the last lesson of the week...

..and the progress group has come together for a big sendoff.

It's a chance to celebrate their achievements

and wave goodbye to anyone leaving the group.

After this, a lot of people will not be here again, aw.

-But some people will be here again, hooray!

-STUDENTS: Yay!

It's always, always fun, isn't it?

It's the end of an era, as many of the classmates are shifting

to the main school and leaving the progress group behind them.

First of all, we have to do the hat.

We have to celebrate what everyone has done.

We will start off with the...

-Indian cap.

-Which one's this one?

-This is for somebody who has been...?

-Indiana Jones.

The one that was shy.

That was shy, that was quiet, that hasn't spoken much

and then suddenly has done.

And this one this week...

goes to Reece.

Reece. You get to put your hat on, Reece.

Reece is Indiana Jones.

Reece seemed very shy when he moved into the progress group

cos I don't think he had any friends in there. Now he does.

You have worked really hard, and that's a really brilliant thing.

That's fantastic.

That shows me that you're ready to go into Conyers school.

You're all going to be superstars.

Cos we don't let anybody else out of this room who is not a superstar.

And all the best parties...

-..have a massive cake.

-Goodness me!

It's been an important term for Corey and Reece.

I think me and Corey will be friends forever

cos we're such good friends now.

Um, I don't understand how it could like go wrong

and we could just like stop being one friends one day.

Don't know how that could go wrong.

Yeah, we will be friends forever.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Forever, and ever, and ever...

-BOTH: And ever, and ever.

-And it goes on forever.

OK, everybody.

One last time together, all of us.

ALL CHEER

The progress group family is together one last time.

This is a class that they'll never forget.

THEY CHEER

Ciaran, I know your secret.

Next time on Our School, love is in the air.

Do you like any boys in our form?

-I know Jess does.

-Ooh, Ciaran.

Is he fit?

Connor doesn't like Isabelle.

-Why would Connor?

-Exactly.

-Ah!

You and Livvy sitting in a tree,

K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

He said he would love to snog you.

-You can start.

-No, you start.

-You.

-You.

-You.

-You.

You're wasting time, it's you..

SHE SNEEZES

Really, if we made a mistake, they would cut it out, like edit it?

-Yeah.

-And then like redo it, redo it, redo it.

-Yes, Lauren.

-My teeth feel like glue.

-Your teeth feel like glue?

I'm not quite sure what to say to that.

Redo it, redo it.

I'm innocent, I tell you!

You are going to cut that, aren't you?

ALL LAUGH