Find Your Focus Our School

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Meet Year 7.

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...

-Oh!

-Miss, 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!

Secondary school. It's big.

There's loads of people and lots going on.

Sometimes...

BOY BURPS

..it can be tough to focus on just one thing.

It is far, far too loud in here!

And with all the noise... THEY YELL

..it can feel hard to be heard.

-Can we go there?

-No, no!

Listen!

Today, you'll get to know two pupils

right in the middle of all this madness.

This is Misty, who's pretty loud herself.

SHE YELLS

'And this is Izaak, who never sits still...'

This is not a dance session, this is a maths lesson.

'..and who has some big emotions.'

Have you spoken to Mr Maddox about it?

I don't want to talk to any teacher right now.

Here we go, it's time for school.

Meet Izaak.

So what's special about you, then?

I can open my mouth so wide,

you can see that dangly thing

at the back of it.

Now, that's a talent.

Izaak is very easily distracted...

Izaak, that's not what you should be doing right now.

I'm going to take these off you,

cos it's getting on my nerves a little bit now.

..with loads of energy.

-Lesson's over.

-Yay, woohoo!

He can't even sit still for us.

-Right.

-Izaak!

Izaak...

Izaak!

Izaak.

You're coming with me!

Once, he even started interviewing one of the CBBC team.

-If you could choose to be a boy or a girl, which one?

-Girl!

Actually, he's not bad. There might be a job for Izaak there.

That's a wrap.

I've always wanted to say that.

So when do we think Shakespeare was alive, then?

Right now, Izaak's in English.

What is it, Hamlet or Omelette?

-Not omelette, that's the one with eggs.

-Hamlet?

-Hamlet.

-Hamlet.

It doesn't happen often, but when Izaak does focus,

he can be really good.

-Mainly, where did his plays get performed?

-On a stage.

-Which city?

-London.

-Why London?

-Cos it's a big city.

-Lots of people.

When I'm focusing on one thing, I can get really good at it,

but if I have to, like, focus on two things, I'm, like, really terrible.

Anything can distract him. Today, all it takes...

..is a bottle of water.

He wants to take it apart...

wave it around...

I find it very hard to concentrate

when there's other things on my mind.

Like, I find it very hard to do stuff.

'Izaak, just leave it alone!'

In some lessons, all Izaak's energy can get him into trouble...

Fantastico.

TEACHER SPEAKS SPANISH

..like this time in Spanish.

Izaak, yellow card now.

Thank you. Very quickly. I'm teaching a lesson.

You're now distracting it. OK...

Feminine nouns tend to end in an "a".

Could you take a step outside for me, Izaak?

I need to have a conversation now.

OK? They tend to always end in "a".

Can you write that in your books, please? OK.

OK...

I don't know how many times I need to speak to you about this, OK?

I gave you a first warning and you knew that.

-Then you carried on distracting the learning...

-How?

By drawing on your hands, messing with your bottle,

talking when you're not supposed to be talking.

You're making noise when I'm trying to teach.

And if you get into trouble too many times...

OK, back into the back corner, please. Thank you.

..it means spending your lunch time with Head of Year 7 Ms Richardson.

She doesn't pull any punches.

Do you understand why you're in isolation today?

Izaak has the potential to be such a happy Greenwood Academy student.

He just needs to make sure he stays on track

and remains focused in lessons.

So you really were disengaged.

OK, so what are you going to do next time?

Uh, listen and engage.

And show respect as well.

You've seen that Izaak can get hyper and distracted,

but there's another side to him.

He's very sensitive,

with a head full of feelings that sometimes explode.

It doesn't take much to set him off.

Getting into trouble with Ms Richardson today

has really upset him.

HE CRIES

Sometimes I can get, like, really happy to really sad,

or really happy to really angry, very quickly.

When Izaak gets in a state like this, he goes to see Sean,

one of the school's youth workers.

What's happened?

I don't want to speak about it.

Come on, come on...

control the tears.

'He's very emotional, he always takes things to heart'

and he says he can't control that, so we are looking at...

'we have been doing breathing techniques,

'counting backwards from 10.'

-Do you know how you don't get to see Ms Richardson?

-Yeah?

-You behave.

-I'm trying!

Yeah, I know you're trying, but there's still little things...

-It's hard, Sean!

-I know it's still hard, mate.

-It's very hard for me!

But if you start behaving in lessons and you start behaving at breaks

and lunch times, you'll never see Ms Richardson.

'I find it really easy to open up to Sean.'

Yeah, I trust him a lot.

OK, good lad.

Come here, give us a handshake.

Yeah? Good lad. All right? Tune up, yeah?

'There's going to be times where I'm not going to be here for him,'

so he needs to learn to stand on his own two feet.

Maybe Izaak just needs to find something to focus on in school,

a way of using all that energy and emotion.

It's very important to me to be in control of my emotions.

So that's Izaak.

Now here's another of our Year 7s.

Alt control. No.

SOOTHING MUSIC PLAYS

Just like Izaak, there are two very different sides to Misty.

One can be quite shy.

# It's, oh, so quiet... #

And her other side is...

LOUD DANCE MUSIC PLAYS

..rather loud!

SHE SCREAMS

Well, Misty's bonkers...

crazy...

Sometimes I think I'm bonkers, but I just think I'm free.

On her first day, all she did was shout.

SHE SCREAMS

We even tried to calm you to tell you to shhh.

-YELLS:

-So?!

Volume control can get Misty in a bit of bother.

SHE MUMBLES SILLILY

Quiet, please.

-Quiet, please.

-I've written mine.

Did you hear me just ask you to be quiet?

But there's a reason Misty can be loud.

LOTS OF SHOUTING

She's part of a very big family.

There's 10 people in my house.

Along with her mum and dad, Misty has seven brothers and sisters,

most of them younger than her.

-Say hello.

-Hello!

This is Harvey.

-Say hello.

-Hello!

Here's Christa.

-This is Dolly, say hello, angel.

-Hello!

'It's very hectic at home...'

..and bonkers.

To get everybody ready in the morning,

Misty and her siblings sometimes get up as early as 5am.

I'm not the oldest, but I'm nearly the oldest

and I look after the little ones to make sure they're OK.

And that's not all. Misty also looks after this iguana and this rabbit.

It gets very loud in my house because there's loads of people

that are arguing over silly things like breakfast.

The noise around here has a big impact on Misty.

I need to be loud to be heard.

-I can't talk like this...

-YELLS:

-I have to talk like this!

Owwww!

But there are benefits, too. Right, Misty?

Best thing about having a big family is...

you're never lonely.

-So that's Misty's family.

-Bye, Misty!

But what about everyone else's?

SCHOOL BELL RINGS

Family comes first

cos family is the most biggest thing you can ever think of.

I think families are pretty complicated.

I've got, like, six cousins.

A brother and a half brother.

15 second cousins.

Two sisters and another half-sister.

A nan, a grandad, an auntie, an uncle.

Two dogs, a hamster.

-I used to have a fish, but it popped.

-What?!

Oh, is that Fatty the fish?

My dad kind of lets me off more than my mum does.

My little sister... she gets on my nerves a lot.

She probably thinks that I'm bossy as well.

I fall out with my brother all of the time.

My bedroom I share with four people and it's, like, crazy,

fun, lazy, messy.

My family are fun.

They're responsible, they're calm, they're nice.

They'll always be proud of you if you've done something good.

I really rely on my family

cos family is the most important thing in the world.

Izaak's family is much smaller than Misty's.

He's only got one older brother and a sister, Grace...

-A, a.

-A, a.

-K.

-K!

..who also goes to Greenwood,

where she's been learning a bit of sign language.

-This is snow.

-Snow!

-This is clap.

-Oh, yeah, clap.

And then...

This is jazz hands!

The other member of Izaak's family is this snake.

The snake eats mice and you've got to hold it by its tail

and the snake will jump to get it.

Mouse, snake.

Most days, Izaak stops off at the shops on his way into school.

Fruitellas, a drink and some bubble gum.

Izaak's sweet tooth can be another distraction in class.

And he has a few tricks to get around our school rules

about snacking in lessons.

HE COUGHS

'Saw that, Izaak!'

Izaak, I've got 10 sweets,

I'm sharing them between five people, how many sweets...

Why would you even share them if you've got sweets?

Like, just keep them for yourself.

Izaak's got maths and he's in an energetic mood.

Izaak, it's not a dance session, this is a maths lesson.

Willy bum-bum, willy-willy-bum-bum.

-Izaak, come on! Questions!

-Wahoo!

When Izaak gets like this, he's often sent out.

Outside, Izaak.

Quiet.

This time, he's still buzzing in the corridor.

What's that tree ever done to you, eh?

But Izaak's mood can change very quickly.

He can easily crash from high to low.

TEACHER SPEAKS FRENCH

By the time he gets to his French lesson after break...

TEACHER SPEAKS FRENCH

..he's suddenly very down.

So, boys and girls, you should have the title written down.

Now, tell me what's up.

Izaak's left his class for some time out.

He's really upset.

HE STRUGGLES TO SPEAK

All right, breathe before you speak,

cos I don't want you to not be able to catch your breath, OK?

There's been a bit of trouble at break time.

Ms Richardson tries to sort things out.

OK, make sure you're calming down your breathing. OK?

Izaak was in quite an emotional state, really.

He was crying a lot, rubbing his eyes a lot.

He couldn't really seem to breathe properly.

You ready?

Right, breathe for a little bit longer. Then tell me.

People keep on taking my bag.

It turns out one of the other boys was messing about with his bag.

It wasn't a big falling out, but enough to upset him.

What we're going to do about that is I think it would be good if,

for a bit, you stay away from the Astroturf.

With Ms Richardson's help, Izaak calms down a lot.

What I want you to do is trust in me now to deal with this, OK?

As I've said, I'll try to deal with it the best way possible.

OK, because you know I will. Right? Feel ready to go back in?

Go do a bit of French, oui, oui?

I don't know any more but "Je m'appelle".

-I don't know what that means.

-"My name is." Goodbye.

Perhaps the rest of Izaak's day will be less emotional.

While he calms down, let's check in on Misty, eh?

Misty is part of a class at school called Accelerate

for kids who need a bit more help.

Right, so, let's go to the back of the book.

-Why do we go to the back of the book?

-We read the blurb.

To read the blurb, well done, Misty.

The class are practising their reading skills,

which can be tricky for Misty.

I have, er... What's it called?

-Dyslexic. Dyslexia.

-A-ah...

-Dyslex... I can't say the word!

-Dyslexia.

-Yeah, that one.

Yeah, and it's where you can't read or write properly.

Um...

-What's that word called?

-Caldor.

"'Caldor,' Edward yelled..."

-OK, so what're we going to do? He yelled it.

-YELL!

You don't shout yelled, what do you shout?

When I read a book, I just make up the words cos I can't read it.

-High five!

-I basically make up my own story.

-Sam, where am I?

-Edward, there.

-Edward yelled...

-Scrambling.

Well, dyslexia makes me feel stupid,

because you can't do stuff that other people can.

Misty's definitely not stupid,

but she can really lack confidence in herself.

-I done it!

-So it's a poem about football.

-Yeah.

So have you done everything I've asked you to?

-I don't know.

-Well, you have.

You have, you should say, "Yes, sir, of course I have."

Have some confidence.

Misty struggles with self-esteem and confidence

and I think she doesn't believe in herself.

Teaching assistant Laura is keen to boost Misty's confidence

and has asked her for a chat.

Hello! Just going to have a little session with me,

it's nothing to worry about.

There are definitely two sides to Misty.

Sometimes she can be loud, but then other times she can be quite quiet.

Right, so what I'm going to do is...

This is something called a mind map.

We write your name in the middle, Misty.

'I just think she needs to find her way'

and build on maybe hobbies that she has.

What interests do you have?

Anything.

And it can be anything, like, out of school, is it computer games,

is it pets, is it friends? You tell me.

Staying with my family.

Staying with your family?

What would you like to do with your life, like, for a job?

-What interests do you have?

-Nothing.

When I was your age, my dream was to be a beauty therapist.

Do you know what a beauty therapist is?

Right, it's someone who does make-up and manicures and nails.

Are you good at singing or dancing or anything like that? No?

Nothing like that? Do you play an instrument?

You do? What instrument do you play?

-Clarinet.

-OK!

-My sister plays it as well.

-Oh, wow, brilliant.

And my brother plays trumpet.

I bet your house is noisy, then,

if you're all practising at the same time.

'I think at home, I think it is just such a busy environment,'

she sometimes might not be heard

because there is so many of them in the household.

I wonder if we could arrange something around clarinet?

A performance.

Not by yourself, cos I know that's a big ask for someone

to perform all by their self.

'She doesn't believe in herself.'

And I think, as a school,

that's something - we can help her to achieve great things.

All right, then, and I'll catch up with you soon, OK, sweetheart?

I'll see you later.

One thing that Izaak and Misty have in common is music.

Izaak gets rid of some of his energy learning to play the drums.

There, good to go.

Me break, you break?

After drum practice, Izaak comes for a catch-up with

Sean and one of their regular games of pool.

Sean is keen for Izaak to take his drumming further,

to focus his energies and help calm him down.

And what's your drum skills like?

Like, really high level for me.

He'd love Izaak to play the drums at our end-of-year talent show.

And do you think, because you're pretty good at it, that we could

maybe look at entering you for Castle Vale's Got Talent?

Maybe.

'As we all know, Izaak has got a lot of enthusiasm and most of the time'

he seems to send it in a negative way.

With the talent show, it's going to be a huge positive for Izaak

and that will then have an impact into his lessons, hopefully.

-But Izaak is not sure about getting up on stage.

-I don't like...

-I've got, like, stage fright.

-You, stage fright?

-Yeah, believe it or not.

-You've got so much confidence!

Not on the stage!

The thing I'm worried about the most is me just messing up in the middle,

'cos I can't play, so I probably won't even do it.'

Just do your best.

But I don't know...

I'd get so embarrassed and, like...

I don't know what to do!

So Izaak's not keen on the talent show,

but the school has a club where the kids get to fix up broken bikes.

Sean's keen to get Izaak involved.

-Did you get your letter about the bike project?

-What is it?

-Isn't it how to build bikes?

-That's the one, mate.

-Can I help build the bike?

-You'll have your own bike to build.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-I don't have a bike at home to bring in.

-No, we'll give you a bike.

-Really? Can it be some awesome one with flames on it?

-Yeah.

Has Sean found something that Izaak can really focus on?

With a bit of encouragement from Laura,

Misty has brought her clarinet into school today.

I play the clarinet and I like it because it makes lots of noise.

And you can squeak it to get on people's nerves.

It doesn't seem to be getting on Dylan's nerves - he's loving it!

We'll put flutes on that side, clarinets this side,

Misty on the end.

At lunch time, it's Misty's first school band practice.

So, first of all, welcome to Elise and Misty, who're just coming

to just join us to have a go to see what it's like.

Maybe this will really help her confidence.

One, two, three.

BAND PLAYS

I like being in band because you can make lots and lots of noise.

That's it!

Finally, Misty has found somewhere in school

where she's allowed to be loud.

I like making noise because you can get heard.

And if you're quiet, you don't get heard.

The school day is over...

If you want to just check the tyre pressures,

what you need to do is just to squeeze the tyres.

Just have a go at that.

..and it's Izaak's first bike challenge workshop.

So we've checked the tyre pressure.

The question is, will it keep his attention?

Give that wheel a spin. Spin it around.

-You're looking at... Does it roll freely?

-Yes.

-And have a look at it, is it wobbling at all?

-Yeah.

Usually you get buckled wheels

-if you're in the habit of bouncing off curbs...

-Me!

-..or bouncing down steps.

-Me.

Over the next few weeks, the challenge is to take a bike

from the scrapheap and get it working again.

-If you do, you keep it.

-Then put it onto this?

-Then put it onto there.

-Yeah?

-And then you've got a third one. You can try a bit further down.

I chose to build a BMX and it's really cool.

Got all the wheels, hasn't got any breaks. And it needs a chain.

So thread your chain through, put it behind the chain wheel, yeah?

Bring it to there. Then put that from the other side.

Amazing - Izaak is actually focused on something.

Izaak! How's it going?

-So what are we doing now?

-Attaching the brake.

-The brakes?

I was proud to see Izaak achieving so much,

even just in his first session.

'He has got loads of enthusiasm and he really showed it,'

so I was pretty proud of Izaak.

Looking good!

It's a bit too tight.

Part of the deal is that, if Izaak wants to keep coming to bike club,

he needs to behave in class and get good reports.

Over the next few weeks of hard work,

Izaak's new focus starts to impress his teachers.

I think it's really great to see Izaak on this bike challenge.

He's really thrown himself into it 100%, he's managing to stay

focused on the project and he's really given a lot of effort in.

-So how was today?

-What do you mean?

-How was today at school?

-Great.

-Pass us that, please?

-Oh, this?

-Thank you.

-And why was today great?

-Cos I'm getting better.

-Why are you getting better?

-Cos I'm working for a reward, basically.

-And what's your reward?

-Coming here.

-Good lad!

I think it helps me to focus on doing one thing,

cos I felt, like, really...

..calm and, like, just...

..focused on the bike.

At last, it looks like Izaak may be settling into our school.

-What have we got third? Is it PE?

-Yeah.

-Things are starting to work out for Misty, too.

-I'm in a laughing mood.

My confidence has grown because of being really, really, really,

really, really loud.

She's kept up the band and started performing in their big shows.

Some people like quiet, but I would rather have it loud

because if it was quiet, it would be boring.

These days, she seems much more confident in class.

-Do butterflies sway through the sky?

-Yeah, that's a good word, sway.

Beautiful. Butterflies are beautiful, aren't they?

-They are, yes.

-It's a butterfly!

But she's also learning that not all noise is good noise.

I can play Mamma Mia on it.

You can play what? Mamma Mia?

# Mamma Mia! Here I go again! My, my, how can I resist you? #

-Sir, I've got an ear ache!

-Oh, dear!

-Meanwhile...

-Tell me the answer.

-Un gato.

..Izaak is taking his bike club focus back into lessons.

-What else can you see? Yes?

-Rivers?

-Yes, the rivers and streams.

He seems more engaged, less distracted

and he hasn't been getting so upset.

-6 x 6 = 36.

-OK, brilliant.

-What does squared mean, Izaak?

-Times it by its own number.

-Times it by itself.

-Yeah!

Once Izaak can get away from all the distractions in class

and just focus his mind fully on what is needed to do,

he is able to go ahead and produce some great pieces of work.

-Call the pocket.

-You can call the pocket for me.

But there's time for one more game of pool.

-You get this down, I'm going to... No!

-Oh!

-How did you think the bike project went last night?

-Great, great.

-Did you really enjoy it?

-Yeah.

-So tell me about today, then.

I think I was really good today.

I only got, like, a first warning today, that's it.

-Right, that's the standard we're at then, OK?

-Yeah.

That's your benchmark.

There's still a lot of work ahead for Izaak,

but with Sean's help, he's made a positive start.

This term, I think Sean's been really helpful because he got me

involved in the bike project and, like, that was really cool.

Ah!

-Where did that come from?!

-Me being epic.

Epic? Epic! Very epic!

Izaak has as much potential as he wants to.

He just needs to believe in himself a little bit more

and he will get there. I believe he will, anyway.

Hah!

Like a lot of Year 7,

Izaak is figuring out how to handle his emotions and he's finding

new ways of getting the most out of school, too.

-Yeah!

-YES!

Yes!

Whooo!

-Next time on Our School...

-Face that way, do not talk.

-..we'll meet Thomas...

-Thomas, can you stop talking?

-..and Vanessa.

-Vanessa!

Yes, that's what I said!

We'll find out what happens when that Year 7 change of image...

You now have a detention.

..gets out of hand and gets you into trouble.

You're on report by my request.

-Yes!

-Yes!

THEY MAKE SILLY NOISES

Do you like my new tie?

Done!