Change Your Ways Our School

Meet Year 7.

-Awesome!

-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!

-Pfft! LAUGHTER

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!

-HE WHISTLES

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

There are different challenges for everybody.

We're in 7 and 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...' Ha-ha!

'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.'

-BELL RINGS GIRL:

-I need a wee!

All right, keep the noise down!

There are lessons going on.

The first six months of Year 7 are a pretty exciting time.

HORN BLOWS, CYMBALS CLASH

But there's one thing no-one's been looking forward to.

-Final warning to you!

-That is your instant detention.

-Pfft!

-This time on Our School,

we'll find out what happens when you step out of line...

I want to see you lined up showing me Year 7 behaviour.

-..and get into trouble.

-Face that way, do not talk!

Whoo!

We're going to catch up with Thomas.

Sir, why did the teacher go crazy?

Cos she couldn't control her pupils. Oh!

And Vanessa.

My new resolution is to concentrate.

# It's all about the bass About the bass, don't...

# You and me, you and me... #

These two are capable of grabbing the headlines

for all the right reasons...

-Well done, Vanessa.

-..and the wrong ones.

You're on your yellow card.

-How am I on a yellow, miss...?

-Because you're turning round

and you've got pens in your mouth!

This is Thomas.

Thomas lives with his stepdad, mum and his little brother.

-See you later, love ya.

-See you later, love ya.

He came to Our School from slightly outside the area.

'Starting secondary school'

on your own, it's kind...it makes you nervous at the beginning.

Thomas is settling in fine, in terms of making friends...

GIGGLING

..but discipline-wise, it's been less LOL and more OMG!

Thomas, can you stop talking, please?

-Tom, you've got the wrong attitude, I think.

-Thomas?

Your focus is not trying to do the work, but trying to misbehave.

All the mucking around means he's now on the radar of Head of Year 7,

-Miss Richardson, for all the wrong reasons.

-'He started off'

really well, then started to get himself into a bit of trouble.

The first warning for you.

If you cannot be respectful, you will be carded.

I believe a lot of his behaviour and silliness in class is just

due to being bored, because he's so clever.

Reflex angle is not 360, innit?

No, it's anything over a straight line.

The teachers do think I'm cheeky, but I don't think I am.

I think I'm intelligent.

BELL RINGS It's period three and 7A are

in Mr Elliott's English class.

Let's get started, please. Thank you.

-Sir, when you say, "Thank you," we ain't done it yet.

-Yes.

Sir, when you've got, like, got one certain song in your head,

and you really want to listen to it, it's just hard.

Yeah, it's also hard trying to get people to write down something

that's right in front of them.

-What am I doing, sir? I'm doing it!

-Thank you, Thomas. I appreciate it.

-So, Thomas, what's your plan for today?

-Jake?

-Of course...

-Slam dunk!

-..basketball!

-Oi, Jake, I bounce it and it just hits all of them.

-Thomas!

Stand up and move or you will have a yellow card.

First warning, and Thomas is on the move,

away from Jake and next to Leo.

Lucky Leo(!)

After hearing the witch's predictions,

Macbeth is initially hesitant...

The thing is, beneath all the silliness,

Thomas has actually got something to add to the lesson.

-What is her role?

-The over-powered wife.

Lady Macbeth's role is as the over-powered wife.

I like it, write it down, everybody.

Sir, is this good? During the play,

-she acts as the stone wall her husband relies on.

-Sure.

She pushes him to action, Thomas, you want to get that in there too.

The only reason I'm really naughty is because, like,

because I'm really smart, me being naughty disguises the fact

that I know a lot of things, so...

I'm going to stand on this side, actually,

because what I've written on that whiteboard is important as well.

Someone tell him PE is this afternoon!

THOMAS SHOUTS

Thomas, I will take that now!

I think Mr Elliott just got himself a new basketball.

Give it to me immediately!

Five, four, three, two, one. You now have a detention.

Don't worry, Thomas, he'll give it back...eventually.

Thomas isn't the first person at Our School to use

Year 7 as a chance to change his image, and he won't be the last.

But the problem is, that change of image can go a bit wrong.

-Vanessa, come sit over here for me, please.

-No, what did I do?

Meet Vanessa.

When I'm old, I really want to be a lawyer. I just...

I love...I love debating as well.

Vanessa started Year 7 well, as a good student...

Lose your chair, dance outside the class.

..with high standards.

In maths, I'm in the top set and, in English, I'm in the second set.

No! No! Not perfect! It's not perfect!

-BOY:

-Sir, I know it!

-The object of the class!

I think my mum's really proud of me,

because I'm always the highest in my grade.

Vanessa has to keep in touch with her mum over the phone,

because her mum works abroad in Dubai.

I was living in London and then my mum was working too much,

so I came to live in Birmingham, cos my nan asked.

Vanessa now shares a bedroom with, not one, not two, not three,

-but four other girls.

-I need to brush my teeth!

-I need to brush my teeth too.

-I need to wash my face.

No, I need the toilet first!

My bedroom, I share with four people,

and it's like crazy, fun, lazy, messy!

There are her cousins, Disleen and Jasline,

her sisters, Dina and Natalie, and another cousin, Alavo,

all looked after by her nan, who only speaks Portuguese.

SHE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE, THEN LAUGHS

CHILDREN LAUGH

It's a busy house, but Vanessa

is determined not to let it stop her getting the most out of Year 7.

In ten years' time, I think I'm going to be in university.

And the Vanessa who started at Our School

stands a good chance of getting to university.

Vanessa, she's just a star student right now.

-GIRL:

-Well done, Vanessa.

But as Vanessa has been getting distracted

by her new life in Year 7, we've been seeing a new side to her.

I'm going to give you a warning, OK?

-I did tell you need to work now.

-I'm working...

-OK, sir.

-I did tell you.

-OK.

I'm cheeky and she's rude.

'Vanessa's a really bright student.'

Unfortunately, at the moment,

I feel that she's yelling out a lot and chatting.

Sir, you look like a little baby.

I think it is trying not to be

really well-behaved all the time, so to not get stick from the kids.

You need to know what these words mean, yes.

-You need to...

-Ow!

-You need to open...

BELL RINGS Today, 7D are in English,

with Miss Hanson.

CHILDREN CHAT

OK, come sit down. Sorry I was taking a little while today.

It's a perfect chance for Vanessa to make a good impression.

When you're ready, Vanessa. Don't mind us.

-CHAT CONTINUES

-OK, the noise needs to come down!

Stop...talking!

So, what's behind this new Vanessa?

'Apparently, I was a goody two-shoes'

and, um, everyone said, look, I need to change, so I changed.

So, instead of excelling in English,

what's the all-new Vanessa working on today?

Vanessa!

How not to spill your slushy, of course!

All right, I come around and I see people talking, I'm going

to be pretty, pretty upset.

I'm open at the point where red cards are coming out right away,

-you hear me? Put that in the bin now, you know better, go!

-Can I...?

Put it in the bin!

GIGGLING

They gave me a yellow card! Oh, my God!

-GIGGLING

-Oh, my God!

Yes, Megan?

I don't know why some Year 7s keep getting into trouble.

But, hey, I'm a teacher, let's ask Year 7 themselves.

BELL RINGS

GIGGLING

You two, first warning, yeah? Any misbehaving, you're being moved.

-SHE GIGGLES

-I don't get in trouble,

cos I'm a good girl.

I get in trouble for throwing stuff, like a piece of paper,

pencils and talking and backchatting the teacher.

-TEACHER:

-Is it because...?

-CHAIR SCRAPES

I'm, like, born like that, I was born cheekiness.

There are loads of naughty people.

They're not naughty, they're just, like, messing about and...

-Mainly boys, innit?

-Yeah.

After, like, they mess about and know they're messing about,

-so, like, they get red cards and things.

-Or yellow.

-Or yellow or amber.

-You get yellow for shouting out.

-Yeah.

Three times now I've asked you to be quiet, so stop talking!

GIGGLING

Don't tell my mum.

Don't worry, Vanessa. Hopefully she isn't watching, eh?

BELL RINGS

But if you do get into trouble,

there's one person who'll definitely be watching.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

OK, then, Year 7!

It's Friday morning and Miss Richardson is

bringing Assembly to an end.

OK, I'm going to dismiss you,

-but the following people need to stay behind for me.

-Sounds like

there are some extra words for those on the behaviour log.

OK, everyone can go, bar Vanessa and Archie. Thank you.

Do you want to explain to me why you were on two days running?

No?

You're on report by my request.

You get ticks in all them lessons, is that clear?

Thank you. You may go.

Anybody else think Vanessa wasn't really expecting that?

'She's very shocked.'

I think she didn't realise that,

in this process of trying to make friends and still be cool,

that it would also have the consequence with myself.

If you do get into trouble,

we've got a pretty clear system here at our school.

-First time you get told off...

-That's your first verbal warning.

..it's a verbal warning.

but if you change your behaviour, you get a green card.

-Carry on misbehaving...

-Patrick, you now have a yellow card.

..then you get a yellow card.

You're on the behaviour log and your name is on the board.

But there's still a chance to turn that into a green card.

Keep misbehaving...

Anybody else out of their seats will be receiving an amber card.

..and it'll be an amber card and a detention,

plus another mention on the log,

and it's your last chance to turn it into a green card.

-Keep disrupting the class...

-Whoever is clicking their pen,

if he doesn't stop, I'm going to start red carding.

..it's a red card.

Appear on the log too many times and you could end up on report,

just like Vanessa and Thomas.

BELL RINGS Today, Thomas is

in Mr Harkness's maths class.

Being on report means Thomas has to get the teacher to give him

a mark for behaviour and effort for each lesson.

No, sir, sir, it wouldn't be +9, because 5y + 3,

and then you've got to minus that 3 after it.

Looking good so far, Thomas!

-So, 15 take away...

-OK, what are the essentials for a maths class?

A ruler, a compass, maybe a calculator?

OK, can I move down?

Like...

But an energy drink?

It's like this.

-I shouldn't have opened it.

-No, I don't think you should have, Thomas.

OK, planners, please.

-THOMAS BEATBOXES

-Right, planners, please, guys.

-Did you do that slide?

-SEVERAL CHILDREN:

-Yes.

-OTHERS:

-No.

Yes, Thomas, what's that?

-Let's have that. Thomas...

-Sir, what?

-..give me that can now.

-Er, one second, sir.

-Thomas, you need to give me that can now.

CHILDREN CHATTER

So, maths lesson plus energy drink equals...

BELL RINGS

-I get my report!

-..a bad report, of course.

How did I get a cross just for the energy drink, sir?

You can't get a cross for energy drink.

That doesn't affect how I'm focused in lessons.

Doesn't affect your focus?!

I'm not sure Mr Harkness agrees!

God, man, why do I have to be in your class?

Any idea what's coming next, Thomas?

Say hello to Miss Richardson.

So, how would you describe your week, then, to me today?

CHILDREN SHOUTING OUTSIDE

When you say naughty, though, what did you do?

-OK, what makes you shout out?

-Well, I want to say the answer,

but whenever I put my hand up, I never get chosen.

Do you know the great thing about having cameras everywhere?

We can see if that's true.

-We'll come back to you. Molly, next one?

-Miss, can I say the last one?

Isaac, have you remembered?

Miss? Miss?

Miss?

OK, Thomas, I can see your point.

If you had a whiteboard in front of you,

and you got to write down the answer and just show it,

because, obviously, as teachers,

we've got to give everyone an equal opportunity to answer.

Would that fulfil that need to want to tell Miss you know the answer?

-Or sir? Shall we try that, then?

-Yeah.

And in case any of you don't know, it's like an old-fashioned tablet...

-Thank you.

-..except you don't need to charge it.

It's Monday morning and it's your first day on report.

What's the one thing you shouldn't do?

Can you come with me to Mr Elliott? Can you come with me to Mr Elliott?

Lose your report card, of course.

-To say I lost it.

-LAUGHTER

-I lost my report. Can you come with me, please?

-What?

CHILDREN CHATTER

-I lost my report. What happens?

-What?

I lost my report. What happens?

You're joking?

He's right, Vanessa.

You could get a red card.

Mo, help me, I lost my report.

Will she shout at me?

Should I?

I'm scared.

A lost report and here comes Miss Richardson. I can hardly look!

You kept on getting a lot of yellow cards, OK, which does worry me.

I only started, like,

getting yellow cards cos everyone was saying I'm a goody two-shoes.

Honestly, in the long run -

and I know it's one of them things that's quite difficult -

it's so much better, Vanessa, to be known as, you know,

to be respected by all, cos I want you to achieve lots

and, like, lots and lots and not be put down.

Over in form 7A,

Mr Elliott wants to have a quick chat with Thomas before his English class.

Basically, the thing is that I want you to sort of, like,

try to be more of a, um... try to be more of a sort of leader,

because you are quite good at this and you knew more about Shakespeare

than half these kids did before you even started studying it,

so, um, I need you to be sort of like one of the boys in class

who's like, really, um, being sort of a leader.

We have a good student-teacher relationship,

because he's, like, my favourite teacher

and he's nice to me and everything.

Full marks if you've realised that Mr Elliott

doesn't have a Brummie accent.

Any ideas where he's from? Need a clue?

Or two?

I brought back some maple syrup and we have some pancakes as well.

-Still not sure?

-Pardon?

-What about this?

CANADIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

Er, yeah, thanks for that.

'The first thing they notice obviously is the accent, so,'

sometimes, they'll pass me in the hallway and say, "Mr Elliott!"

and, like, make fun of my... make fun of the way that I talk or,

um, you know, there's a few little mix-ups on the first day of class,

when I said, er, "OK, put your books into the bin,"

because, in Canada, a bin is just like, you know, a container,

but here, you know, it's the BIN! And they said,

"You want us to put our books in the bin?" I said, "No!"

One thing Mr Elliott is big on is Shakespeare and, today,

he is guiding Year 7 through one of Shakespeare's best - Macbeth.

What does Shakespeare say about her youth and her beauty?

Shakespeare is sort of like, at least for me when I was younger,

he was the beginning and ending of...of what I learned...

or a lot of what I learned about the English language.

Personally, I love a bit of Shakespeare.

But what do Year 7 think?

BELL RINGS

-Who thinks Shakespeare's a load of boring old rubbish?

-Me!

-Me!

-OK.

Shakespeare...

I don't get it! I don't like analysing.

OK, I understand you may not like it, but you have to do it anyways.

I'm not sure if I like it, cos I don't understand the words

and I can't read 'em properly, cos they get all confused

in my head, like there's "thou" and I'm like, "What is thou?"

Um, I personally do like his work.

I mean, his stories do tell a lot of story and emotion.

Miss, is this a true story?

Do you know what, sir? By the end of the day,

I'm going to be like the Brad Pitt of the Shakespearean world.

-Is Shakespeare a man or a lady?

-A man, Shannon! He's a man!

Not everyone's into Shakespeare, but one member of our Year 7 is.

The witches give him a vision

of his best friend's son taking over his kingdom...

-Any guesses who this is?

-..and then sends them somewhere

and then sends killers after them to kill 'em.

Did anyone guess it was Thomas?

I think Thomas has a very strong interest in English.

It's apparent sort of with his reading,

and he gets into certain books, and also in his vocabulary.

Sir, basically, um, when the King gets killed, Malcolm runs away,

cos someone spreads a rumour about him being next.

I think it's a good thing to learn about Shakespeare in Year 7,

because he's, like, a real-life person

and he's really famous, because of his plays.

So, we have torches...

BELL RINGS Period three and, once again,

Mr Elliott's class are studying Macbeth.

So, basically, we have... the stage is lit by torches...

No, don't worry, Thomas hasn't been sent out of class again.

..then Macbeth enters and only Macbeth,

so come on in, Macbeth, by yourself.

-It's part of the lesson.

-Go ahead, Thomas, nice and loud.

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well..."

And Thomas has got a starring role.

"..but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all here.

-"But here, upon this bank..."

-Great job.

Guys, round of applause. Thank you.

'I just didn't see the point of being bad any more.'

And the reason for that is because, um...

like, it doesn't really get you anywhere in life.

Well done, Thomas. And no, that isn't a tablet front of him.

It's that whiteboard. Remember what he agreed with Miss Richardson?

Neve, what's the answer?

Lady Macbeth. OK, good. Thank you, Thomas.

BELL RINGS It's nearly the end of the week

and 7D are in English with Miss Hanson.

So, "The King comes here tonight" -

that doesn't really have a lot to do with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth...

OK, Vanessa, it's simple - you've been on report all week.

If you want to be taken off, just don't say the wrong thing.

When I'm talking, you listen to me.

When you talk with your hand up, I listen to you.

Yeah, but you didn't put your hand up to speak.

-You're red carded. Go.

-I'm red carded...?

-Get out!

Ah, too late! DOOR SLAMS

CHILDREN CHATTER

-BOY:

-Aw, thank you! Oh, I...

-Ssh!

Get over here. I don't know what's happened to you.

-I'm so disappointed.

-I only said that, because, see, um,

citizenship...my citizensh... Ah, you know what I mean!

-Citizenship?

-Yes, you said that, um, everyone is the same

and no-one can take their human right from each other

and you said, when you want to speak,

you have to put your hand up, but you didn't put your hand up.

-Who am I?

-A teacher.

-Do I need to put my hand up?

-Do you see teachers do that in classes?

-No.

I'm not here to do anything to take away your rights.

It's disrespectful what you've done. Extremely.

And the Vanessa that I knew - and to be honest,

the one that I really respected - I haven't seen in a while.

-I'm giving you one more chance.

-SOFTLY:

-OK.

So far, Vanessa's performance at Our School has made her nan

and her mum working away from home very proud.

But this is the first time she's been on report.

I was shy to show my nan. And after, she's like...

'She's upset and she said, "OK," and she, like, signed it and she said,'

"Next time, you'd better be good

"and, next week, I don't want you to get a report."

If she's going to get off report, Vanessa will need to play

to her strengths - by being good at languages, especially Portuguese.

SHE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE

Very impressive!

And it comes in handy helping her nan,

who is from Angola in Africa and only speaks Portuguese.

Would you like a bag for this?

-BOTH SPEAK PORTUGUESE

-Yes, please.

Normally, when I go to the shops with my nan,

it's normally the translation with me at the till,

because the shopkeeper does like speaking to us.

-That's, er, 11.78, please.

-IN PORTUGUESE:

-11.78.

If she's able to show some more of that maturity at school,

hopefully she'll get back on track.

I think I am actually a good person, but, I mean,

I can go back to who I actually was and carry on.

Today is Friday and Vanessa has been on report all week.

Time for Miss Richardson to have another chat.

Can you remind me why you were on report originally?

Cos I'm always distracting people and I never complete my task.

Instead, I speak to people.

I was really disappointed when I had to first put you on report, OK?

You could be head girl one day, but this silly distraction

and silly behaviour needs to stop in lessons, OK?

I'm going to trust you to be off report, OK, and see how you get on.

-Is that all right?

-OK, yeah.

-OK, thank you.

'It was good that I got out of report,'

cos, if I carried on, lots of people would be, like, calling me "rebel"

or, like... "Vanessa, you're naughty," and things.

I don't want to show people that I can be a bad person, yeah?

Mr Elliott, Thomas and some other students

are doing some extra work on Macbeth today.

Let's finish off Act 2, Scene 4.

"Dawn breaks and the English and Scottish armies

-"prepare to do battle. The Scottish..."

-Roar!

-Hooray!

Roar! OK, that's the English and then the Scottish one.

"Arm, arm and out. Blow, wind! Come, crack!

"At least we'll die with harness on our back."

I'd just say to Mr Elliott,

thank you for helping me through English and everything.

Now that I understand how important it is,

I probably should say thank you to him for trying to help me.

But this is no ordinary lesson.

It's a big day today at Our School.

I said boom! ..I said rock-a-chicka, rock-a-chicka, rock-a-chicka, boom!

Rock-a-chicka, rock-a-chicka, rock-a-chicka, boom!

No, it's not Embarrassing Grown-up Day.

After weeks of studying Macbeth...

OK, Thomas and Anael are our two... our Banquo and Fleance...

..Year 7 have got a chance to do a series of workshops

with some professional actors, and Thomas is already in his element.

-Cut him through the heart.

-Ah!

-Oh, look at that death! Well done!

Stand by, Thomas!

FANFARE PLAYS The stage is set,

the audience is ready, including Thomas' mum.

Ladies and gentlemen, as Macbeth,

I give you Greenwood Academy's Thomas!

The English Army, led by Malcolm and Macduff,

are nearing the castle, leaving him trapped.

Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all.

Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane I cannot taint with fear.

..my lord is dead.

She should have died hereafter.

There would've been a time for such a word.

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

that struts and frets his hour upon the stage

and then is heard no more.

'It's been a good year for me.'

I can see it, like, obviously, I'm going to have my little

bumps in the road, but I can see everything else going all right.

-APPLAUSE, SHE LAUGHS

-Thank you.

Right, stand up and take a bow, everyone.

-MR ELLIOTT:

-Yeah!

-That was brilliant. Well done.

Take a bow, Thomas!

It's been quite a year so far.

-Slam dunk!

-From being on report...

-Grr!

-..to rave reviews.

I think that you don't really get anything good out of being bad,

but being good, you get a good education,

a good job and a good future.

I need to be a really good person

and how I was at the start of September and...

..listen and concentrate and complete all my tasks.

-Next time...

-Do you want to see me dancing?

-..Archie...

-Hallelujah!

-..and Taylor...

-Yes!

-..are getting noticed...

-Sir! Sir! Sir! Sir!

..but for all the wrong reasons.

You do not start getting on my behaviour log, young man!

Will a step back in time... SCREAMING

-..bring them back in line?

-Put your hand out, girl.

MAN: I want to hear about your professional rugby career.

-It's not professional.

-He's not going to be a rugby player!

-Yes, I am!

-Look how small you are!

-And look how annoying you are!

I'm a lot less annoying than you.

-Ah!

-I can't do that.

LAUGHTER, CHAIR THUDS

-Ha-ha!

-GIGGLING

I knew that was coming then.

-Everybody knew it was coming!

-THOMAS LAUGHS