Helping Out Our School

Meet Year 7.

-Awesome!

-Tu!

It's the most important year of school so far.

You're not here to have a laugh and a good time.

You're here to learn.

With so many changes...

new friends...

-Ah! Ooh!

-Have you got a cloth?

..and new teachers...

You are a Greenwood boy.

..it's an exciting world to discover.

Wow!

It can be fun, but sometimes it can be tough.

There are different challenges for everybody.

We're in Year 7. We're acting like three-year-olds.

We've rigged another secondary school with loads of cameras...

Is this what you see when you look through a camera?

Cos this is awesome.

..so you can find out exactly what happens.

You're on report by my request.

I'm Trev.

I used to go to school here, but now I'm one of the teachers.

Last question, cos you're going to run out of time.

Welcome to Our School.

I need a wee.

Moving up to secondary school is a big step, and it might seem scary.

Get away from him!

But when you look around...

you'll find that help is everywhere.

D'you want me to take you to lessons?

A bigger school...

more students...

and lots of different classes

means that it's sometimes easy to feel a bit lost.

But with friends to look out for you...

-Then what do we do?

-State what colour it is.

..and teachers to offer support...

What's the matter? Can I help?

..life in Year 7 is lots of fun.

HE BELCHES

Today on Our School, we meet Year 7 sports star, Libby.

-Oh, wow!

-They're nearly done.

And we follow Kacey...

Please have one of my cakes!

..who likes to help others so much...

You're saving the children.

..she's become Greenwood's very own charity fund-raising champion.

So why did you start to do the fund raising?

Because when I'm older I want to be a teacher.

-Teacher. OK.

-A teacher.

-Teacher.

I like to raise money for charity, because it's nice to know

that other people in the universe have, like, got a house.

I'm fortunate to have what I have, like clothes and bed and a house.

You know what they say? Charity starts at home.

-Have you brushed your teeth?

-Yes.

-I don't think you have.

And for Kacey, home is a pretty busy place.

And this, that's mine.

That's mine!

Well, I've got my mum, my dad, my little brother,

who's turning five in February, and I've got my sister, Kimberley,

and my sister, Caitlyn, and my older sister, Kylie, who's in this school.

It's sometimes noisy, but we get on.

In such a busy house, Kacey has to pitch in

to help everyone get ready for school.

I wake up and help my mum get the kids ready for school,

breakfast made and everything.

Don't brush my hair while I'm doing breakfast!

At home and at school, Kacey loves helping others.

She throws herself into her lessons, and like all students,

she has her favourites - music, Spanish...

food tech...

-Oh!

-Ethan, have you got a cloth?

..even science. But everyone's got a subject they struggle with.

And, for Kacey, it's English, and especially...

Shakespeare.

So, he compared his lover's beauty to this hot summer's day.

Now, tell me what words you might use to describe this photo?

-Flowertastic.

-That ain't a word.

Flowertastic! It's got loads of flowers.

I think you're just trying to show off at the moment.

Teachers mainly describe me as a bit cheeky, cos I talk.

I'm a talkative girl that talks in class.

-Quiet now. Thank you.

-Shut your mouth.

-Kacey! Thank you. Second warning.

-What?

Because I talk so much, I don't get on with my work,

and don't finish it on time, and then Mr Saunders and Miss Shearer

and everything, has to keep me after school.

I'm, like, "No!"

Kacey, I want words with you outside.

OK, Kacey. Here.

This is serious learning we're trying to do about Shakespeare

and you just make a joke of it and find ways not to do the work.

-I'm not interested in it.

-Well, it's tough, cos you're in school,

so you've got to make the most of it and ask the right questions,

instead of just trying to make some smart comment,

and engage your brain.

While I am speaking to you, that means you're not talking.

It's tutor time for 7D,

and Mr Elliott has come up with a plan to get the whole class

thinking about how they can help others.

We're going to talk about something today

that's a really cool idea. It's called "Pay It Forward", OK?

So, what do you think "Pay It Forward" means?

-Charity.

-Kind of like charity. Thank you, Kiara.

Pay It Forward is, like, where you have to help someone else.

Basically, when you do something nice for someone else,

and then it kind of encouraged them to go on

and do something for someone else, and it's like a chain reaction.

I have this nice and fancy box here with all of your names in it,

and each of you guys has something in here.

We all just got a random thing out of a box, and then

we had a letter with our name on it, and we had to do that thing.

Mine was, "Take the register in my English class."

-Help the caretaker.

-I've got that one, Archie.

Oh, we've got to help the caretaker.

And it said, "You've got to go and help the caretaker in period four."

I got really scared in case I had to clean the toilets.

"Say something nice to everyone."

Not going to happen.

I know it seemed like a lot, guys, but, believe me,

if you do these things, you will feel better.

It's a nice thing to do for somebody.

Oh, OK. You're so beautiful!

As the day gets going,

everyone heads off to get stuck into their challenges.

Caretaker Martin waits for his helpers, Archie and Kiara.

-Are you Kiara?

-Yeah.

Hello, Kiara. I'm Martin.

Who's this smart young man?

-What's up?

-You're Archie.

-Yep.

-Nice to meet you, Archie. I'm Martin.

-Hey, Martin.

I thought he would be angry and all that, like,

"Hello, what are you doing?" But he wasn't.

He was, like, a friendly guy.

He was like, "Hello!"

-These are your litter-pickers.

-Cool.

My nan's got one of these!

Thanks, man. Ooh-ooh!

I guess litter-picking isn't quite as bad as toilet-cleaning.

Bonjour. Bonjour.

Tom, are you eating something?

Why don't you give it to me? You brought crisps for me, did you?

Lovely! Thank you!

In French, Donnel is taking his role

as Miss Summers' helper very seriously.

-No! Sit down!

-Find your name, boys and girls.

-Sit down!

-All right, Donnel, let's not abuse this.

-Right in the front here for me, OK?

-That's what a helper does.

-I know.

I need you sitting properly, and I need your book open.

You don't talk back, either.

-That's an extra minute.

-OK.

-Double cross.

-So...

Repete moi. Hiver.

-CLASS:

-Hiver.

-Printemps.

-Printemps!

All right, here's what we're going to do now...

SHE SHRIEKS

LAUGHTER Careful, Tyrese.

Oh, some cheese here.

Rubber band here.

Outside, Archie and Kiara are getting stuck in.

-Ugh.

-See, people should use bins.

There's a bin right there,

and they're just putting it all on here for no reason.

It is silly, isn't it,

when you look at all the bins that there are around.

'I feel sorry for him, kind of,

'because how much people put all their litter on the floor.'

They just throw the bottles anywhere,

and they throw food anywhere.

Bit of chocolate up here!

THEY LAUGH

See, somebody was saving that for later.

THEY LAUGH

Some of 7D have been given the task of helping another student.

And charity-loving Kacey doesn't need asking twice.

Tempo is the speed of the music.

-Can you hear it?

-What?

-Can you hear it?

-Me?

In music, she's looking after a new student, Eesa,

who recently arrived from abroad, and doesn't speak any English.

Right, so, see these blue dots?

Ah!

You press them down at the same time. One hand.

One hand.

One hand.

I find it frustrating helping Eesa,

because he doesn't speak my language,

and it's kind of tricky.

-Leave it alone!

-You don't have to write that.

-No?

You write the bit in the white,

but you don't write the bit at the bottom.

You write that bit. Look.

'Well, I think that Eesa must be feeling, like,

'frightened and different to everyone else,'

because he speaks a different language,

and he's come to an English school.

Back in the canteen...

Oh, a piece of salami.

..Archie and Kiara come to the end of their mission

to clean up Our School.

-Whoa, there's a hair on it.

-Oh!

SHE LAUGHS

I liked helping him. He was really nice and that,

and me and Archie had a right laugh and stuff like that.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks!

-I hope you enjoyed it.

-Thanks for the experience.

-Pleasure.

-See you later, Martin.

-Any time.

'It makes you feel, like, helpful and proud of yourself.'

Like you've helped someone today.

-And you've made someone happy.

-And you go home feeling happy.

Can we have all bags and coats underneath, please?

Not on the table.

It's Friday morning assembly,

and local youth worker Kirsty

has come to invite Year 7 to a charity event

that will raise money for homeless children in the West Midlands.

It's a sponsored sleep-out,

which basically means you get to have a sleepover

with all your friends,

but outside, in the cold, in a cardboard box.

Does that all sound like fun?

-THEY MURMUR

-Cardboard box?!

It is a challenge, but there's a lot of young people out there

who have to sleep on the streets,

who haven't got a nice warm bed to go home to.

So we give you guys the opportunity to have the experience

to be homeless for one night, so you can see what it's like.

Homelessness is, like,

where you've got no home or no-one to go to if you needed a home.

They're just sleeping on the concrete, where it's cold,

and sometimes it's raining,

and they don't have blankets or pillows or anything

to keep them warm or to make them comfortable.

I wouldn't like to be homeless

cos, say, if it's in the winter,

it's snowing, you would have nowhere to go.

-I'd find it hard.

-It would be cold.

Imagine me sleeping in the streets

in a cardboard box, no food, no lock.

I might just drink the rainwater, that's it.

Every time you see a homeless person, you, like, judge them,

and you don't even know the story of their life.

I saw one in Blackpool the other day, and he only had, like,

one blanket, a really thick one, that he could have used himself,

but he had a dog, and he wrapped it all around his dog,

and he was freezing to death.

I would hate to be homeless,

but it may happen in any of our lives,

because anything could just go wrong, really.

And obviously we don't want it to.

-But that's life, yeah?

-I know.

OK, for number six,

it's when did William Shakespeare write most of his plays?

The dates are right there.

In English, Libby is also learning about Shakespeare.

When did Shakespeare...?

Oh, Shakespeare's dead!

It was 400 years ago, Libby.

Are any of yous going to

sleep in a box for charity?

After this morning's assembly,

Libby's decided to sign up for the sponsored sleep-out.

I probably wouldn't if it wasn't for charity,

but I'm just going to do it cos it's for charity.

Just a few months into Year 7,

Libby has already become

one of Our School's brightest sporting hopefuls.

Not only is she a leading light

in Greenwood's first female football team,

her blue belt in kick boxing

means that whether it's in the ring,

on the pitch

or in the classroom,

she never shies away from a challenge.

I live at home with my brother, sister, mum and my dog.

Over breakfast, Libby's mum's keen to find out

how she's feeling about spending a night outside.

You looking forward to doing it, then?

No?

It's scary, cos I don't like spiders and everything.

It's going to be freezing in February.

What are you sleeping in?

-A cardboard box.

-A cardboard box.

Everyone taking part in the sleep-out

has been collecting sponsorship from friends and family.

You've got loads here.

-You going to try and get some more today?

-Yeah.

A couple of miles down the road,

Kacey's also getting ready for the sleep-out.

It's another charitable project that's right up her street.

I'm doing it so I can raise money for the homeless people,

because we've got all beds and everything,

and all they've got is the concrete and the benches outside.

And Kacey is prepared for the cold night ahead.

I'm going to wear my thermal leggings,

my thermal socks, a pair of tights underneath my socks,

this top, jeans,

two jumpers,

my onesie...

Just have to fix my onesie...

Mittens, scarf, hat

AND a dressing gown.

And my coat's downstairs.

And, almost forgot,

slippers.

Which foot does this go on?

And I'm all finished.

Aah!

SHE SIGHS

This will be Kacey and Libby's home for the evening,

a draughty basketball court at the local community centre.

Our students are out in force,

all keen on raising money for the homeless.

Joining Kacey and Libby for a long, cold night

on the concrete will be Tyrese,

Leo...

-Be careful.

-OK.

-And stay warm, OK?

-OK.

Wanesa,

Ethan,

and his step-brother, Thomas.

I'm quite excited.

It's kind of like a sleepover with my mates.

And quite excited to raise money for homeless,

but it's also a good opportunity to see your friends

outside of school and just have fun.

And looking after them all for the night

will be Our School's youth worker, Sean.

'It was a very, very cold evening.'

I don't think our students knew exactly what they were getting into.

Right, give us a cuddle, cos I'm not going to see you all night.

For some of our Year 7s,

this is their first trip away from home,

and as the mums and dads begin to leave,

they will all have to rely on each other

to make it through the long night ahead.

-You got your hat, you got your gloves?

-Yes.

Be good!

Mwah!

With all the parents gone

and the temperature dropping,

the cardboard boxes get handed out,

and it's time for everyone to get serious

about building their homes for the night.

The girls have decided to work together

and link all their boxes into one big super-shelter.

Morgan, just hold it!

Have it in, like, a big circle, so we can, like...

cos we've got loads of sweets and everything,

so we're going to eat all them in the middle of the night.

Basically, this is my side,

with my yellow sleeping bag.

This is Jessie's. And that's where Morgan's is going to be,

she just needs to set her stuff out.

Tyrese, get started.

Over the other side of the court,

the boys are struggling to get organised.

They're a long way off having anywhere to shelter for the night,

and they're losing concentration.

You going to come wreck the girls' den?

What are you doing?!

Hitting the cardboard.

We can't let them have a better den than us,

so we just dived on it.

Oi, oi, oi, Ty!

THEY GIGGLE

'The boys are acting pretty stupid.'

We set it up and the boys just came and kind of messed with it

and kicked it down and everything. Put it back up, done it again.

No!

I didn't like it when the boys trashed us.

I got really angry about it.

I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill the boys.

Kill them!

-SHOUTING

-No, no!

I think they did it just to...

Like, cos they're boys.

# Don't believe me, just watch... #

The temperature is fast approaching freezing,

so Kirsty has organised Zumba to warm everybody up.

Kacey, Wanesa and the girls have got involved

in an effort to escape the boys.

# Stop! Wait a minute...

# Don't believe me, just watch... #

At least the boys are taking part now.

At the moment they're really enjoying themselves

and they're having a lot of fun and thinking it's great.

However, three or four o'clock in the morning,

it'll get colder, they won't be able to get to sleep straight away,

and that's when they're going to find it hardest.

I think that's when the realisation will set in,

why they're doing this and why it's so difficult

for other young people out there.

It's well past 11 o'clock.

The girls' shelter is rebuilt and looking great...

..although I don't think the boys' den

will keep them very warm at the moment.

If you haven't finished your boxes already,

you've got ten minutes to do so,

because we have a competition

for the best box.

THEY CHATTER AND SHOUT

It's now a race against the clock,

and youth worker Sean steps in to organise the boys.

Where's Tyrese?

Tyrese!

Come and fix your roof, mate.

You've got to live in that tonight.

Finally Sean's got the boys working together,

and their roof goes on with moments to spare.

Look at that!

I just hope it's able to keep the warmth in

and they're able to have a good night's sleep.

All 20 shelters have been built and judged,

and it's Kirsty who announces the winner.

So the winner is, in first place...

..Kacey and Wanesa's team.

Yes! We won!

We won first place!

THEY CHEER

The boys knocked our house down several times,

but now we've won, so it's revenge.

Well done, girls!

It's time to make use of those shelters,

and everyone settles down for the night.

I've got to put another layer on, cos I'm cold.

When it was bedtime, I tried to get to sleep, but I couldn't,

because it was too cold.

It's well past midnight, and everyone's thoughts

turn to the people who have to sleep like this every night.

I feel quite bad for homeless people.

When they're, like, there every night and every day.

I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.

I'm freezing now, so maybe it'd be freezing, like...

maybe coming up to January and December.

And they don't have, like, big onesies like we've got.

And even if you do have a onesie,

it's still a very long, very cold night.

When I was going to sleep, I could feel all the wind coming by my face.

I had my onesie, and then I had my sleeping bag and blanket,

and I was still freezing.

BANGING

Wakey, wakey!

6.30, and Kirsty gives everyone a rude awakening.

There she is. Wakey, wakey!

Rise and shine!

When I woke up I was freezing.

I only had, like, two hours' sleep

because I couldn't get to sleep. It was too cold.

Too cold. Way too cold.

Half of us haven't even been to sleep at all.

Did it make you think about what it's like to be homeless?

-A bit.

-Yeah?

Like, cos we had sleeping bags.

-Most of the time they don't get them, so...

-Yeah.

They would be colder.

Everyone has had a really tough night,

and Kacey has discovered that raising money for charity

isn't always fun.

Never again? Why never again?

-I didn't like it.

-You didn't like it?

But you're going to go home to a nice warm bed, OK?

And you're going to have a few hours, and you're going to wake up

this afternoon and you're going to feel OK.

There are children, or older teenagers,

who do this every night.

And you, with the money that you've raised

and the awareness that you've raised,

you might have prevented a young person becoming homeless.

You should be really proud of yourself.

So you should, Kacey.

And with hundreds of pounds raised,

I think everyone should feel very proud of themselves.

Back in school.

And with their sleepless night behind them,

Sean has called Kacey and Libby to the youth zone.

Right, how would you feel

delivering a little five-minute presentation

-to the whole of Year 7 on homeless?

-No!

-Just me and Libby?

Just you and Libby.

'When Sean asked me, I was quite nervous,'

cos we haven't been in secondary school for long,

so it's, like, our first time

in front of the whole school talking.

So I was quite nervous.

We can do it. Come on.

OK, I'll help you.

I won't talk, but I'll be there with you.

-Yeah.

-How does that sound?

-Good.

-Good.

-Sound good?

-Yeah.

-To stand at the front, in front of everybody?

-Yeah, it'll be scary.

-Yeah, it'll be scary, but...

-But it's good.

-You have to face challenges in life, don't we?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-And the only way to overcome them

is by going to face them, yeah?

It's Friday morning, the day of the presentation,

and as students begin to arrive,

Kacey and Libby are anxiously waiting in the youth zone.

It'll be good.

-Looks like you're a bit scared.

-Yeah.

-As soon as...

-Not scared, nervous.

As soon as I woke up, my belly was going so weird.

-Wasn't yours?

-Yeah, I woke up and I had butterflies in my tummy.

I was, like, "Ooh!"

BELL RINGS

The bell goes to call the whole of Year 7 to the hall for assembly,

and Sean is waiting for his two guest speakers to arrive.

LIBBY LAUGHS

Watch out, Kacey!

Tell me that was there, did you?

Oh, that hurt.

'I was so nervous, I walked into it.'

-She walked into...

-I walked into it and I bashed all there.

-Ah!

-You OK?

What did you hurt? Your nose?

Not the best start,

but things can only get better.

And as Year 7 start to fill the hall,

Sean's got a few last-minute words of encouragement.

Nice and loud, yeah?

Nice and loud, nice and confident.

Head of Year 7, Miss Richardson, introduces the girls.

I'm now going to hand over to two girls that are going to

speak to you about something incredible

that a handful of you did, as well, over the weekend.

So, girls.

When we actually went up, we were nervous,

and we didn't know what to do.

-WHISPERED:

-Go on, then.

-Oh!

Hello, Year 7s.

We're Kacey and Libby, and we've provided a presentation

to show you what we did on 27th February.

But when we started doing the presentation,

I think we were fine.

I think we had a lot of confidence, both of us.

Homeless young people face a range of difficult problems.

More than six in ten young people are not in education,

employment or training.

Everyone's listening, girls. I think it's going well!

Throughout the night, we had soup, snacks and a warm fire,

but people on the streets every night do not get any of that.

Thank you for listening to our presentation.

Low five.

Well done! All right? How was it?

-Scary.

-A bit scary, yeah?

-Do you want to go and do it again now you've done it?

-Yeah.

Gives you that buzz, doesn't it?

Sean came up to us after the presentation.

"Are you OK? Do you feel like you want to do it again?"

And me and Libby just went, "Yeah!"

You've faced just a little fear, haven't you?

You went and done it. You've done amazing. I'm so proud of you.

We were both proud of each other.

I kept saying to Libby, "You done well, you done well."

And she's, like, "No, YOU done well!"

Kept saying to each other, "Oh, I'm really proud of you."

For Libby, the presentation was the biggest challenge she's faced

since moving up to secondary school.

As soon as we got into Greenwood, it was quite scary,

but I've got used to it now.

Like, my confidence grew.

So I just think that it's a normal school.

Kacey found the sleep-out much harder than she imagined,

but she hasn't lost her passion for charity.

I don't know what my next big charity project is going to be,

but I hope it's, like, helping children again.

It's great to see Year 7 are helping each other

settle into life at Our School,

but they've also learned that there are people outside the school gates

who need a helping hand, too.

That's my name.

Molly's fidgeting gets her into trouble.

My legs are stuck!

Molly, come with me, please.

And Spencer gives Rhea some food for thought.

Ice cream with tomatoes.

Now you're talking.

Now we are talking, you get me?

Pffrt!

-Did you just fart?

-No!

THEY LAUGH

Do you mind shutting up now?

OK, OK, ssh!

Shut up now, OK?