Episode 1 Tough Young Teachers

School can be tough...

A usual class would be like

screaming, shouting, things being thrown out a window.

..and not just for the students.

Bloody idiot!

Respect is a basic thing, man.

Respect is a basic thing.

50% of teachers leave the job within the first five years.

Come on! Get out!

Despite this, some of the country's top graduates...

Mia, come in, find your place.

..are determined to give teaching a go.

It is crazy but it's exciting. It's not safe.

You're not sitting behind a desk.

You need to sell this location to me.

I want to make a difference, so...

The catch - they've only had six weeks training

and are now being let loose on the kids.

SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER

I wouldn't want to be the reason why Tommy didn't get his A,

because Miss just was rubbish.

What's the worst that can happen?

Somebody told me that someone threw a chair at them on their first day.

Are they up to the task?

It's just a simple issue of respect. Don't walk out.

-Respect is something that's earned.

-Louis, Louis!

-Sorry.

-SHE SOBS

I'm just finding everything really hard to deal with.

Can they change the lives of their pupils?

-Bottom set, what does that mean to you?

-Dumb. Not very smart.

I'm going to be Prime Minster one day, you will see. Ooh! Ooh!

He has no respect for me. I will never have respect for him!

Six teachers...

I knew he was posh. I knew it. I knew he was posh.

..three schools...

-Look at my face. You got a C.

-Yes!

-SHE LAUGHS

..one unforgettable year.

This week...it's in at the deep end on the first day of term.

Do you understand the idea of a negative number?

Are you trying to understand?

-She just made us look like idiots.

-I don't know what I'm doing.

They don't know...what I'm doing.

-You just...

-Has anyone put their hand up?

-LAUGHTER

-Does anybody know the answer?

That was awful. SHE LAUGHS

It was a lot worse than I thought it would be.

BELL RINGS

-Well, well, well.

-Good to see you.

-You all right? How are you?

These six young teachers are about to start a training programme

run by Teach First, an education charity.

Every one of our teaching strategies will be different

and effective in different ways, with different kids.

Having had six weeks of initial training, they are now about

to embark on a two-year placement in one of three London schools,

all in challenging circumstances, where they will learn on the job.

DOG BARKS

How are you feeling then today, Charles?

Strangely calm...

..but I'm sure that'll change.

What do you think of the beard?

-It's grown-up.

-Grown-up? That's...kind of why I kept it.

I look about...13 without it.

Charles has just graduated from Oxford University

with a degree in theology.

I am about to start teaching in a challenging school

called Archbishop Lanfranc in Croydon,

which is amazing but also very pressured, very pressured.

-What are you reading?

-I'm reading...

a short devotional at the beginning of the day.

Just to...focus on God and not on myself.

My faith is something that really motivates the way I live

and I think it's a really good opportunity to...serve others.

"Remember that the eyes of all are upon you

"and that more is expected from you than from other men."

HE LAUGHS

I want to give to others what I feel everybody should be able to have in life,

which is...a really good education.

Charles is going to Archbishop Lanfranc School in Croydon.

Built on a landfill site,

it is overcrowded...and slowly sinking into the rubbish.

When a new teacher comes, you just like kind of test them

to see how far you can push it, kind of thing.

They stand out in a crowd.

They sort of give off nervous energy.

Some of them like, cos they're new,

they don't really know how to like teach, should I say.

They don't know how to control a class.

So, any last thoughts before you get to the school?

It's like, "Any last words before you go the grave?"

Someone has to step up to the plate at the end of the day.

I mean, if I'm going to invest time into anything,

I mean what more valuable can you invest than a life?

But I guess it is a fear that if I'm not good at this,

like, if I fail,

I'm not only failing me but there's so much at hand.

I mean...it's about these kids, these children.

It's about their lives, really.

I mean, I can't fail, it's not something...I can get wrong.

Claudenia will be teaching at Crown Woods College in south east London.

New teachers have got a big job.

If someone automatically just sets a bad scene, it always sticks,

because you think that every single lesson's going to be bad.

School is about outcomes, so it's about opening doors, really.

That's why I'm here, I guess.

I'm kind of having several panic attacks in my head, right now.

Joining Claudenia at Crown Woods will be Oliver.

Oh, music, music, music, music.

Every lesson, they'll come in to classical music.

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

That sort of thing. And also I've written down quite a few notes

from Teach Like A Champion, the book that I've read about teaching strategies,

because I don't put myself into challenges to fail.

I put myself in to succeed because that's, intrinsically,

I expect myself to be good at what I set myself.

Do you like my lucky socks?

I really...want to be fantastic.

I just don't want to...

make a fool of myself, really.

-Are you going to take Teach Like A Champion with you?

-I am.

8:30am. School is about to begin.

This is what I signed up for. HE LAUGHS

-How you doing?

-Huh?

-How you doing?

The computer's breaking, so I need to restart.

Five minutes before his lesson is about to start,

Oliver's computer containing his whole lesson plan is not working.

Oh, crap!

-Would you like me to go and get IT?

-Yeah, that would be great.

-OK.

-If they don't have a computer then we're a little bit screwed.

I don't actually know what I'll do. BLEEP!

I did the Teach First programme and it was really tough.

I remember a lot of tears, a lot of happy moments too,

but it was the hardest thing I've ever done...without a doubt.

Like, I just need to make sure I get it right.

Do you want to wait outside for me, please? Morning.

-What's your name?

-Ben.

-Ben. Nice to meet you, Ben.

-In my opinion, a good teacher is one that can be like a chameleon.

-Morning.

He can adapt to the environment that he's in,

to the school, to the children.

You've got to change from being, "Oi, you, sit down!"

To, "Would you mind coming over here, please?"

So you change, you flip in a second. Literally, it's like flip, flap.

Do you feel ready to go?

No comment.

It's there. I can't breathe, I'm so happy. Right.

Yeah, all have a seat.

Find your name that's on the seat...on the table.

Just go and stand along the back.

-OK. So, good afternoon Year 7s.

-ALL: Good afternoon, Miss Williams.

So, as you know, I am Miss Williams and I'll be teaching you science this year.

Erm...so let's get started.

I'm dyslexic. Science has some very long and complicated words,

so I can imagine going to the board and being like, "OK, everyone, photosynthesis."

"I don't actually know how to spell that!"

Or a child being like, "Oh, Miss doesn't actually know what she's doing."

Or...not knowing enough, I guess.

Like...that's a worry.

So, what do you think I might be doing with these?

-Yep?

-Will you be doing something with fire or something?

With fire? I will be.

I'm looking forward to someone saying, "Oh, Miss, we love your lessons."

Or loving to come to my class or something like that.

Or saying, "Miss, you've...made my day."

Or, "Thanks, Miss", or something like that.

I guess those small moments will be what I'm living for, really.

Claudenia has got a plan to try and win over the Year 7s from the get-go.

O2. Does anyone have any idea about...?

Your hand went straight up. Fantastic!

-Oxygen.

-Oxygen. So oxygen is a type of...?

-ALL: Gas.

Gas. Fantastic Year 7! Oh, I've got a brilliant class!

-So, are we ready?

-ALL: Yes!

-Can I get a countdown from five?

ALL: Five...four...three...

two...one!

-ALL LAUGH

-Was...

-Was that impressive or...?

-ALL: No.

What do you mean it wasn't impressive?

OK, so in the second one we have...H2.

You might not have heard... Oh, your hand's up. What do we think?

-GIRL: Hydrogen.

-That was fantastic!

You're right, it is. In this balloon we only have hydrogen.

Do you think it's going to be a bigger or a quieter pop?

-Bigger.

-Quieter.

-Bigger.

-ALL: Five...four...three...

two...one!

Boom!

-ALL LAUGH

-Nothing!

-What?!

-That balloon is...

-I don't know what's going on, guys.

ALL SHOUT OUT It has to die slowly.

-Go on balloon!

-Die!

HUBBUB

ALL SCREAM

HUBBUB

CHEERING AND LAUGHTER

HUBBUB

All right, Year 7s! So that was a bigger pop. That scared me.

-What's happened?

-She set the balloon alight. It's not my fault.

-That wasn't my fault!

-Do you want to do it again?

I've got a bigger one, Miss. Do you want to hold this for me, please?

Just that.

-ALL: Five, four...

-Sorry, Miss. So, let go, Miss.

-..three...

-Let go!

-..two...

-Let go!

..one!

SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER

CLAUDENIA LAUGHS

CHEERING

Everyone, give thanks to Miss.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

You've been really good today.

Enjoy your next lesson and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

-All right.

-ALL: Bye. Bye.

-So if you'd like to leave...quietly.

-And you didn't get blown up, so...that was a bonus.

-Well done.

Bye.

-Bye.

-Thank you.

OK.

SHE LAUGHS

I think it went really well.

I think I got all my nerves out the way.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Hopefully, I can keep them as engaged as that,

which is like, you know, what the school's about.

You know, it can't always be bangs.

If you could put your phone in your bag

and your bag under the desk, that'd be great.

Just down the corridor from Claudenia,

Oliver has his own ideas about how to make a good first impression.

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

Great. OK. So, welcome to GCSE Business Studies.

I am Mr Beach, like the seaside.

Very simple to remember.

Everyone in this class is fully capable

of getting an A-star in GCSE Business Studies.

Everybody in the class, right?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Right?

-ALL: Right.

-OK, good.

So, every lesson you're going to see a new quote.

You're going to be inspired by legends.

I like quotes,

mostly because I'm really inspired by the people who say them.

-Do you know who Marilyn Monroe is? Who's Marilyn Monroe.

-Is she an actor?

She's an actress, yeah. She's a very famous actress.

I think she was in... No, I don't know what she was in, but she's a very famous actress.

I'll find out for tomorrow exactly who she is.

Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself, everybody else is already taken."

"Success is going from failure to failure

"without losing your enthusiasm." Abraham Lincoln.

You three can go.

"I may not be the first to this party, but I'll be the best."

You three stay there. That was Lady Gaga.

And you three can go.

It was good. I really enjoyed it.

It was really, really good. They all participated.

They all have written like notes that I've asked them to write,

which is, like, what they expect of themselves.

Aww!

"To get a good grade in this subject."

That's sweet.

"No detentions. An A-star."

Not excited to mark their homework, but...

I'm now excited. This is where the work can begin.

Over in north west London, another trainee, Meryl,

is starting her first day at the Harefield Academy.

I'm worried that the kids will sniff out straightaway that I'm a newbie

and will treat me like a supply teacher,

who are notoriously treated awfully.

We're just going to wait at the front,

because I realise that you can't quite see...the seating plan.

I'll be teaching English this year

and I'm from an English Language background not a literary background,

so I don't always share a love for reading

that most English teachers probably should and rightly so should have.

Bt she's not got off to a good start as she's turned up late.

Luke, you're just at the back in that chair there.

Sorry, if I've mispronounced your surname.

Hello, good morning to you. If you could just take a seat down....

-Liam Styles?

-Yeah.

I spelt your name wrong. I'm sorry.

If you could just take a seat in the back row as well.

So at the start of the lesson, I'd like you to line up silently

outside the room which you all did today, which is absolutely fantastic.

I'm really pleased.

I do really appreciate that and be ready to learn.

Hands up if you're ready to learn.

I am, cos I need to learn all your names.

So, on the outside of your book,

if you could please write your full name.

And that is your proper name.

At Lanfrac, Charles is determined to set out his high expectations

to his tutor group of 11-year-olds.

OK, my name's Mr Wallendahl.

I'm going to be your tutor for the year.

Erm...I've got a seating plan.

When he was their age, he started boarding at Charter House,

one of Britain's most prestigious public schools.

Could this table here...please sit down.

If your name's on this table.

Charles has been shaped by the educational system

which has got to have a stiff upper lip.

And even if you're feeling something,

you just have to just put it all aside and do what's expected.

What we're going to do...I'd like everyone to stand up, say your name

and something you like

that begins with the same letter as your first name.

-My name's Cesar and I like cars.

-Can we speak up whenever we say our names?

Nice and loud and clear so everyone can hear.

My name's Zachary and I like zombies.

'I'm not going to deny that there are very few similarities

'between their schooling and my schooling.'

Every week, I expect these to be signed by your parents,

so that they...

'But does that mean that somehow that will like sort of taint'

a student-teacher relationship?

I think, yeah, it has the potential to do so, definitely,

but, ultimately, we all have backgrounds and we can't change them.

One of his pupils is Querem,

who arrived in London from Congo four weeks ago.

Show this to your father or mother, OK?

She registered at the school yesterday and doesn't speak English.

-Connor, how's your French?

-Rubbish.

-Not good?

-How's your French?

-Terrible.

LAUGHTER

How do you say, what country were you born in?

-Google Translator?

-Yeah. That's what we did for the Spanish one.

Querem, just have a look at the board.

That's question one. Could you just...?

Charles ropes in a prefect to help with translation,

so he can get on with the lesson.

I just want to help her, like,

I know that sometimes you don't understand and I really want to help her.

"How old were you when you started...school?"

Put your names inside your planners, please,

so you've got them for the rest of the time.

Stand behind your chairs, please.

That was good. I think it went well.

I think we got everything done that we needed to get done.

No-one's cried yet.

No-one's kicked off.

Everyone seems happy.

Yeah.

I'm happy. Good stuff.

-Alex, do you know where you're going?

-Come.

-Yeah?

You've got science now. Should I take you?

Do you mind taking her? Thank you very much.

It was quite challenging with Querem speaking only French,

but the prefects are great, really helpful.

I think I could be firmer, to be honest.

I think I've been a bit soft.

Got a lot to learn.

-You or them?

-Both. HE LAUGHS

We're both learning.

Back at Harefield, Meryl's first lesson

is not ending on such a high note.

Right, Year 7s, it's actually taken a lot longer

than I gave you credit for.

When I ask you to put your things in your bags,

you need to do it silently.

I will wait until you are all silent before I let you go.

So...I'll let you go one by one. I was going to do it row by row.

If you'd like to go for me?

Thank you very much for waiting quietly.

Last but not least, front row off you go. Thank you very much.

-Bye, Madam.

-Bye, Madam.

-Bye. Enjoy your lunch.

-That was awful!

-SHE LAUGHS

It was a lot worse than I thought it would be.

Erm...I was so late to the class

and they were all queuing up outside, which is terrible.

I completely forgot loads of things.

I didn't even remember to bring books to the class,

but thank God there were some books over there.

It's OK though, they won't remember that.

I don't know what I'm going to teach them tomorrow.

It's lunch time and Charles is still working.

He's on playground duty.

Lunch at Lanfranc is only 30 minutes long

and because of the overcrowding has to take place standing up.

-What do you have to do?

-Loiter. Be a presence. I'll go for a little walk.

I was just wondering, I'm on duty now, what kind of things should I be doing?

-Effectively, the kids will be all round here.

-Uh-huh.

We're talking about...about 1,000 pupils in a school

that was only designed for about 800, so consequently, what's happening is

many of them spill out here to have their food, which is fine.

The best trick is to pick somebody out you're having difficulty with,

spot them out here doing something good with a basketball, next time you bump into 'em,

-"I saw your skills the other day, it was pretty nice."

-Yeah.

-It always works. It always works.

-All right, have a good day.

-You, too.

So that's it. That's my briefing.

Now I know what I'm doing.

Loitering still. HE LAUGHS

-Sir, are you a new teacher?

-Yeah, I'm new here.

-What do you teach?

-RE.

-What's your name?

-Mr Wallendahl. Do you like it here?

-Yeah, I like it.

-Why do you like it?

-The teaching's fun.

-It's a good school.

-There's good behaviour.

-But we think you're a good teacher,

from how you're talking to us, we think you're a good teacher.

I haven't taught you anything, have I?

But from how this conversation's going, we think you're quite a good teacher.

-Guys, you should start heading to your next lessons.

-Bye.

-Bye.

I think it's, like, quite a nice site, actually.

Yeah, it is built on a landfill site, but it's quite green on a sunny day.

It's pretty cool. I like it.

Right, it must be done, I've got a lesson to teach now.

You can just leave it unlocked, it'll be fine.

-I'm literally going in the office.

-SHE LAUGHS

So, I've got a 9-5, bottom set, Year 9 class.

Chloe is a second year Teach First trainee.

They're going to be looking at a little cartoon about the changing economic structure of the UK.

I think if you went to a school like Lanfranc and you weren't naive

and you weren't enthusiastic, you wouldn't go in.

If you were even slightly cynical,

you would never approach a school

that had poor results, poor behaviour,

a crumbling-down building.

You'd just look at it and walk away,

because you'd just think there was no hope.

How bad is it? I didn't expect fights.

I knew they'd happen, but I put it to the back of my mind.

I think even though I expected to work long days,

I didn't expect to work as many hours as I did.

And I think in your first year, it's about surviving.

It's about getting through your lessons

and getting the best out of your kids that you can without killing yourself.

Come and sit down for me. Good morning. Shh!

Morning. Did you remember your book?

-Yeah.

-Good boy! Well done. Superstar.

Can you start writing down the date, title and name for me, please?

OK, Canaan, excellent start, pen in hand.

Well done. Over here. Let me see who else is working.

Well done, Kamal, lovely start.

I went to a very different type of school.

The way they interact with each other, the way the lessons are run is so different.

So, in that sense I was very naive and I think one of the things

that shocked me most was how much kids can't be bothered to learn.

We're writing in our books under our heading.

We're going to write number one and we're going to write a full answer.

-Remember?

-All right.

-Good boy.

OK, very quickly, let's go through the answers to one to five,

so you can make sure you're doing the right thing and then I'll let you get on with it.

It's been a long first week for the trainee teachers.

I couldn't really have predicted how much work it would be.

It's never-ending.

And the size of the job ahead is just starting to sink in.

-Don't work too hard. See you tomorrow.

-See you tomorrow.

Well, I started work this morning at 6:30, it's now 8:30.

That's quite a few hours...for one day.

Yeah, work/life balance. Sod that.

It's week two on the job.

Training alongside Meryl is ex-Harrow public schoolboy Nicholas.

I don't think it's the fact that it's a challenging school that it appeals to me,

I love young people.

I've always enjoyed teaching people skills,

whether it be little things, like I taught my sister how to ride a bike.

You know, just little things in my life. I've always enjoyed say,

teaching people how to do stuff,

tying knots, you know, whatever it is.

Mia, come and find your place.

When I heard, go and teach for two years, you can go straight into teaching

you don't need to train for a year before you go, it rung bells in me.

Nicholas is teaching his Year 9 bottom set maths for the first time.

Today, can everyone write down their learning objective below the starter.

-Do you get it, Rebecca?

-I don't know, I just don't get it.

OK, so...do you understand the idea of a negative number?

Are you trying to understand?

You've got to try, otherwise you'll be lost all the time.

If I'm like doing snorkelling or, you know, scuba diving

and I'm like just 2m below and then my instructor goes like,

"Right, we're going to go down to the bottom, it's 5m down."

How far below the sea am I going to be?

So, I'm two below... and then he says, "We're going down to seven."

-"We're going down to 5m below the sea."

-You said the answer.

Yeah, good. You see, you can do it, right?

So, you've got to try. So, do a few more questions

and then you can see if we get them right.

Is the second one just nine take away ten?

Yeah. It's as easy as that. Yeah?

-How's it going Zoee?

-All right, Sir.

Yeah? I'm going to put your name on the board. That's really good.

-It's double E.

-Yeah.

OK, good.

Can I just say, everyone, thank you so much for this lesson

and if you stand up behind your desks and leave your...

Rebecca was a sweet girl and there was one time I looked at her

and I was like, "Have you tried?"

And she's like, "No."

She didn't feel at all ashamed to just say, "No, I haven't tried."

It's new to come face to face with it,

but I fully expect most of them to be apathetic.

Like, a lot of friends in my schools were apathetic

and I was a private school, so being apathetic is a part of...

A lot of students, wherever it is,

expect to be motivated by their teachers.

And, actually, I think, you know, that's pretty fair, really.

If your teachers are totally demotivating,

then why should you try and work for them?

At the end of the day, you're there to try and enjoy education.

Scratch at the surface and there are a lot of teenagers in this area

as there are with all areas of London and beyond,

that are living very, very difficult lives.

By seeing them walk usually around the corridors very calmly

and normally entering rooms very well, it is easy to forget that.

First, I'll introduce myself. I'm Miss Noronha.

I'm going to be your English teacher this year.

Across the corridor from Nick, Meryl is determined not to let

things like low ability or apathy get in her way.

As a teacher, I'm hoping to achieve 100% pass rates.

That's 100% C grades at GCSEs.

That no kid will fall behind that, yeah, there be no exceptions.

It's spelt N-O-R-O-N-H-A.

-How do you spell it?

-N-O...

R-O...N-H-A.

-Bottom set, what does that mean to you?

-Dumb.

-Dumb.

-So do you think...?

-Not very smart.

-Is that what you think of yourselves?

-Yeah.

-Yep.

Well, I don't want that kind of attitude in this classroom.

Because you're Set 6, it doesn't mean I'm not going to push you as though you were a Set 1.

Class! If we can have eyes at the front, please.

You're going to do a very short writing exercise

just to practise writing.

You've done writing for like six weeks in the summer holidays.

You just need to write about what you did in the summer holidays. OK?

I'm using this cos I want to get an idea of the kinds of levels that you're at,

what things we need to look at, OK?

All right, class, I want to be impressed.

I really want to be impressed.

"I did not do nothing for the whole six weeks..."

I did not do anything, actually.

"..off... Oh, six weeks off. "..apart from...make-over."

Wait, hold on, I don't understand.

I did not do no-think or no-thing?

OK.

-Thank you very much.

-See you later, madam. Have a good day.

It was a real struggle to even get them to write a paragraph.

Please do not barge doors on each other!

Even within that, capital letters, full stops,

poor spelling for, like, four-letter words.

Some of them misspelt "time".

I shouldn't have to be teaching someone how to spell "time," I don't think, at secondary school.

It's just worse than I thought it would be, to be honest.

It's not going to be easy at all.

One sentence...all lesson.

And graffiti.

Claudenia and Oliver share a house in south London.

I love it. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do right now.

Really?! Oh, give it... Wait till Christmas.

-SHE LAUGHS

-They've invited the others round for a drink.

I just remember this time last year, I was so tired.

-I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life.

-Yeah.

I think all of half term, I slept.

I'd tell myself to...make sure I had like one night a week

where I did something, like, for myself.

-In your first year?

-Yeah. It's really import...

-It's impossible.

I don't think it's impossible.

All the people we were at schools with have just chosen to do that as their job.

They do it every day and that's just their life and their job.

-I'm coming up with all the same lines that my teachers had.

-Yeah, exactly!

"No, wait a minute." LAUGHTER

"Reece over here...

"is being incredibly disrespectful and interrupting you,

"giving your answer, so just wait a minute and we'll wait for him."

-"We'll just wait for him."

-That's what I do.

"Reece, a minute ago wasn't it real quiet when you were talking?

"Would you not just show the same courtesy and respect to Jamil?"

-LAUGHTER

-If someone's talking, I just knock on the table

and I do the eye thing. "Your eyes should be on the board."

I make a sort of "fff" sound.

-So it's borderline...

-LAUGHTER

..but you're not actually swearing, so...

A kid said to me the other day,

"You should be up to midnight marking my work because that's your job."

They're taking us for granted and I think that's one of the problems.

I think that's wrong, because we agreed when we signed that contract that we were outstanding graduates

and that we're going to go in and do what we can, whatever.

If anyone owes anyone anything, we owe them our best.

We're the adults, they're the students. We owe them.

All six teachers are supported by regular training sessions

with tutors and senior teachers.

However, they're also under huge pressure to hit the ground running

in a bid to improve the school's overall performance.

How's everyone feeling about RE this year?

Hey, that's not a happy face.

I think it's going to be a really, really tough year.

Our current Year 11s, there's a lot of trouble with them.

Hey, Gideon. There's a few very tricky characters in that year

who are hugely disruptive for the rest of the year,

which doesn't help a group that's already very low ability.

I think it's going to be a year

where everyone's going to have to work a lot harder

than they already have done

just to overcome the barriers that we've got to get those GCSE grades.

OK.

-Caleb, why are you late?

-I came, I went and I got water.

Caleb is one of Charles' tricky Year 11 characters.

OK, I understand that you need to drink water,

but I expect you to do that outside of my lessons and not...

He only joined Lanfrac at the end of last year,

before that he was at a pupil referral unit for three years

after being kicked out of mainstream school.

-Joel, why are you late?

-One of his friends in school is Joel.

-I just came from my other lesson.

-Why did it take you so long?

-I got let out...late.

-Who's your teacher?

-What?

-Who's your teacher?

-Miss Evans.

-Miss Evans.

-Caleb, where's your homework?

-Here.

-A good moral act.

-That's not homework.

-That's homework.

-You haven't done it.

-How have I not done the homework?

-You just wrote that now.

Do you think good and evil can only

be defined in opposition to each other?

You're confused?

Why, Caleb? Excuse me. Excuse me. Can we not talk over me, please?

-Erm...Caleb, why are you confused?

-I don't know what you're saying.

Write a sentence on each one of these, OK?

-You can use this if you like.

-You said you need God to decide.

Right, Caleb, I've asked you to stop and you're not stopping,

so I'm going to have to move you.

OK? Caleb, can you move your book and sit there, please?

Thank you.

There are times when it kind of like boils over a bit

and it's so low-level disturbance. I can't really punish them for it,

because...they're not really doing that much wrong,

they're just talking.

I need to send some e-mails.

We are trying to do a miracle job with a very limited budget.

We take the ones that people will give up on.

We don't care. You're someone's kid so, therefore, you deserve a chance,

just like the next one who's got money out there.

Why shouldn't you be given the same opportunity as them

because you haven't got the financial backing or because your parents can't afford it

or because you're a orphan or whatever, you know?

You live in child care, I don't...

You know, there are so many different areas, but we can only do what we can with what we've got.

It's been tough for Caleb to cope moving from the referral unit back into school.

Obviously, I had all my friends there. I got friends here as well, but...

You know when you just make a bond with someone

and then you have to break that bond? You know.

So like, when you're in the centre,

you have to work really hard to get back into school and... Piss off!

-LAUGHTER

-You have to work really hard to get back into school

and, like, I worked my butt off to get back into school.

And now I'm in school, I'm just trying to do right.

Once you've been expelled, like, out of school permanently, that's it.

If you don't get back into school especially at a late time,

I was so lucky to get back in at Year 10 cos they told me

there was no hope of getting back into Year 10.

But I've changed, like, I'm not the same person I used to be.

Mohamed, you're moist!

This is a new page out of my life, in't it?

Just wipe away everything that happened before

and then...this is the new me.

Year 8s, you're blocking the way, can you line up in a single file, please?

Hello. Hello. Hi.

At Crown Woods, science teacher Claudenia

is buzzing after her Year 7 class went with a bang.

Today, she's taking on the older kids.

And you three girls, can you sit at the front as well for me, please?

It wasn't so long ago that Claudenia was a secondary school pupil herself.

Her life was very good.

She was in the acting class,

she was in the dancing class, she was in the running club.

She passed quite a few of her music exams as well

at the Royal College of Music.

While she was at Birmingham,

she was the President for the Black Union there.

I went into uni thinking, "I'm going to be a fantastic lawyer."

And I think at the time I was massively motivated by the money,

-but I realise now I don't think money's enough for me.

-SHE LAUGHS

Can you sit here for me, please?

When I told Dad I was going to be a teacher,

he kind of just...kissed his teeth, walked into the next room.

The reason why I was not too happy with it,

there's no principles in this school.

Excuse me. Sorry, can I swap you? You sit here for me.

Children could go and speak to teacher any how they like,

but the teacher can't do that.

It's so...unbalanced.

Year 8s, you've been in this school for a year, you know the deal.

So now they wonder why they have so much problem.

I think this was quite a bad start.

From here onwards, I really want to see some better behaviour, OK?

Claudenia has come up with another whacky idea

that she thinks will demonstrate how sound travels through the air.

So, Danny's going to be producing...our sound.

His hands are producing a sound but what's happening? How can you hear that? You said it.

-They're vibrating.

-They're vibrating.

So, Lucas, on this side.

For the purpose of this demonstration, Lucas is the ear here.

These are particles in the middle and for Lucas to hear it here,

-what direction do these particles have to be vibrating in?

-This way.

-What do we think, Year 8s?

-I think it's amazing.

-So, who's got the answer?

-It didn't make no sense, really.

-It didn't make no sense? That didn't help?

-No.

-All right. OK.

-CLAPPING

-Never mind.

The older kids are totally unimpressed

and quickly lose interest.

-Are you OK?

-Yeah. Erm...

Having heard the racket in the corridor, Mr McDonald steps in to restore order.

Who am I still waiting for? Come on, everyone, we all know what's producing the sound,

you're on the phone, what's making the noise?

-The voice.

-The voice.

-Your tonsils is where it comes from.

OK.

Lucas.

It's not what.

-LAUGHTER

-Is it the vibration?

One second, we're waiting for everyone to stop talking.

But as soon as his death stare is gone,

Claudenia's back to square one.

From you or say, for example, a rabbit eats that

and you eat the rabbit, that energy is being passed down.

Can I have silence please, Year 8s?

Can you stand behind your chairs...

..and put your books in your bags and pack your equipment away?

She just made us look like idiots. She wasn't explaining it.

She just made us just move around and me being

a receiver which, she didn't explain what a receiver's job was and that.

I just wasn't expecting the Year 8s to be that bad.

I don't know what I'm doing. They don't know what I'm doing.

That lesson was so, so, so bad,

but it was diabolical as in that was just a waste of everyone's time.

-Can't control them at all.

-Yeah, you can.

-No, I can't.

I had someone come in and go, "Miss are you, OK?"

I'm like, "Does it sound that bad?"

This is just a bit crap.

Aw, babe.

Are you down?

Yeah, I just feel... I don't know.

We're finished. You can leave your books and your card.

How's the class community going, Oliver?

I mean, they hate it but what's important is that it's consistent,

that I'm doing it every lesson

and now I have marking to do for some reason, but that's fine.

I don't mind doing that.

Oliver has received his first batch of marking, but it's a mixed bag.

All those strategies that I've read in that book

that I was talking about, teach like a champion,

I'd forgotten all of it as soon as I stand up.

So, this girl, yesterday she refused outright and today,

let's find out how she is?

She didn't do it again.

Why did I take these back from them?

So, you can take them home and then bring them back again on Monday.

It's what teachers do.

Have you considered contacting home?

No.

Well, if they haven't done the first homework,

it's a chance to introduce yourself as their new teacher.

I can do some positive phone calls as well.

And that is always the key.

We don't make enough positive phone calls.

Matt, I gave him two paragraphs and he wrote an essay.

-Very good.

-He wrote an essay.

He even mentioned, the creator of Apple was Steve Jobs,

who sadly passed away earlier this year.

I'm going to give an A star to this kid.

Sir, where's the phone?

I am business studies teacher at Crown Woods.

I wanted to call to say how great his work is, really.

I asked him to do two paragraphs of work and he's basically

written an essay and it's all pretty perfect to be honest.

I'm really, really impressed. Thanks so much. Bye.

It's all about positive framing.

I could never call a mother and be like,

"Your kid is awful," you know, no-one wants to hear that.

You will.

Your kid threw a chair at me, but he's really smart.

At the Harefield Sports Academy, Meryl has already dished out

a couple of detentions.

She thinks that some quality one on one time is her chance

to improve her students' writing skills.

Can you change my detention?

But only one boy, Aaron, has turned up and he's not staying.

Whatever you're free with because I got one Tuesday.

What's your mum's number? Let me ring her.

I really need to go now because she's driving.

-What's your mum's number?

-I don't know. I'm actually useless, madam.

Here's what we'll do. If you miss Thursdays,

it'll be a lengthy detention.

Yeah, I will definitely be here Thursday, I promise you.

I will also set you a homework for Thursday's detention.

-Do you like Justin Bieber?

-No, I hate him.

-You can write a side of A4 about why you dislike Justin Bieber.

-OK.

-Best of luck with your hospital appointment.

-Thanks.

I'll see you tomorrow. OK.

-See you.

-Do your shoelace.

But Meryl thinks the hospital appointment could be a fib.

That's how I could have found out his parents' number.

Oh, maybe I should just ring her up. I've never rang a parent before.

Oh, my gosh, what do I say?

Mrs Matther.

Oh, it's ringing. Oh, my gosh, it's ringing.

Hi, this is Miss Noronha. I'm Aaron's English teacher.

Aaron came to speak to me earlier

because he wanted to move his detention to Thursday

because he says he's got a hospital appointment today.

I just wanted to check if that was true.

OK, thank you very much. Bye.

He does have a hospital appointment.

Oh, well. At least now I know.

The second child, Louis, hasn't bothered to show up at all.

I think he's gone. I don't think he's coming.

The annoying thing about having to ring Louis' parents is that Louis

does have a really long surname which I struggle to pronounce.

So, I might just have to ring and say,

"Hello, sir, is this Louis' dad?"

Rather than say, "Mr Jongruthumayer, Jongruthumayer.

Maybe if I say it really quickly,

they won't pick on the fact that I've mispronounced it.

Mrs Jongruthumayer, Mrs Jongruthumayer,

Mrs Jongruthumayer. OK.

Mrs Jongruthumayer, Mrs Jongruthumayer.

Oh, please don't pick up.

I'm almost relieved she didn't pick up.

I'll have to try dad, I guess.

It's a voice mail. It's a voice mail.

Hi, Mr Jongruthumayer, this is Miss Noronha,

Louis's year 10 English teacher.

I just wanted to call just to check.

Louis is meant to have a detention with me today after school

but he hasn't shown up.

I just wanted to double check

if there was any after school commitment that he may have had

which meant that he couldn't come to my detention.

Please don't worry about calling me back.

I'm sure I'll see Louis tomorrow

and we'll be able to reschedule his detention for him.

Thank you very much. Bye. Oh, my gosh.

That was awful. Why did I leave a voice mail message?

I also sound like I'm a sixth former, so,

they might assume it was a prank call.

Has anybody heard in the news recently about an anti-Muslim film?

In his next lesson, Charles is showing a video.

LAUGHTER

Quiet!

First of all, you're talking across the table,

second, you're talking in a film in which I said you should be silent.

Do it again and you'll both be parked.

OK, you know what being parked is.

OK, you got three seconds. Two...one. Thank you.

If you don't understand a word...

-What's wrong with his lips?

-OK, Caleb, Joel...

-I'm just talking about the thing.

-You're both out.

-What do you mean? We're talking.

-I'm parking you. There's one.

Take your jacket off. And if you go and sit on that table there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

OK.

Any other words that people don't understand?

At the end of the lesson, Charles keeps Joel and Caleb behind.

How do you think you behaved in that lesson, Caleb?

My lesson was boring?

Is that why you're misbehaving?

Once you left, we learned a lot more, OK.

Are you going to keep on disrupting other people's opportunity to

do well at their GCSEs, Caleb?

Well, we see what happens end of year, won't we?

Don't worry. Next lesson, next lesson.

You don't have another lesson. Sit down until I tell you to get up.

This is my break time.

You want move from this class? You don't like RE?

Listen, sir. No, no, I'm sorry.

No, no, no, no. Listen, stop. I'm sorry, sir.

For shouting out.

-You're not sorry?

-No, I'm not sorry.

-Why not?

-Your lesson is boring.

-Man, Caleb. Stop, man. I'm hungry, man.

Go then, just go. Send him, send us. Your lesson's boring.

Why is my lesson boring?

You're just lifeless. Has anybody got their hand up?

Does anybody know the answer? It's just boring.

-What lessons do you like?

-I like history.

-Why do you like history?

-Because I want to be a history teacher.

OK, I think you're both capable of passing this subject, OK?

-You've both shown me that you have ability.

-Right, I'm off.

OK? See you next week.

I don't really care about them because they don't want to learn.

Next time, as soon as they piss about, they're going to be out

because I'm not going to spend, you know, like a third of my time

dealing with those two.

He was a kid once, as well. He should know what a fun lesson is.

He weren't a kid too long ago. He still is to me.

I don't have any adrenaline left.

Have some vibes like, be yourself. Have some personality.

He's like a robot. He's just, yep, the board, yep.

Can you write about that, please? Yeah, um, yeah, fine, thank you.

It's hard to learn yeah, when you're so bored

and I'm finding it hard to even stay awake.

Tools, routines.

So, we need to call home because even when I chatted to them afterwards,

there wasn't really much remorse or taking it seriously.

Hello, this is Mr Wallendahl calling from Archbishop Lanfranc School.

At the beginning of this lesson, he was working well today

but unfortunately, things kind of deteriorated halfway through

the lesson and I had to send him and another boy out of the class.

So, I was wondering if you could just discuss that with him.

I'm going to have to try and work out a plan

of how to move forward with this.

Hopefully, that will work.

Caleb lives in Thornton Heath with his mum,

a couple of miles away from school.

How was school today, Ca?

Listen, school was not made for a boy like me.

I think it is made for you, Caleb,

you just got to find your learning curve and then get into it, really.

Oh, dear, that RE teacher's got a lot to come, hasn't he?

Caleb's mum wants to discuss the phone call from Charles.

He rang and he said that he had a good talk with you

and obviously he feels that you're having good communication.

He bores me.

Yeah, but I said to you, you know when you're a new teacher

and you're learning how to control and teach...

I noticed that from the first day,

because he's trying to take the rough approach with everyone.

-Anything new you pick up, it takes a while to...

-He needs to smile.

Well, maybe you could make him happy by not getting kicked out the class.

-Maybe he's just got bills and debts.

-Bills and debts?

Even if... You shouldn't let that get you down so much, Mum.

-You could help him to be a happy teacher.

-Am I a counsellor?

You're not counselling.

You're just doing your best in the lesson to not get in trouble

or get him irate.

I always say, your educational record, it's not very good.

Things that are said about you,

if people didn't know you, they would think you were an ogre.

There's no juice, Mum.

Fighting, theft, argumentative, disruptive.

Not being able to follow instructions,

accosting people and then he exploded and attacked a teacher.

It's just not him. It's not him and I think now he's realised that.

I'm not that fighting, angry person.

I'm actually someone that can talk and be able to say,

"Well, I don't really that's right."

I see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel

and things can only get better, now.

Bad behaviour is boring. It's annoying at times.

It's the very kind of immature like, I want attention, give me attention.

Even if it's not good attention, I want attention.

Some children have come from very broken backgrounds.

It makes it difficult but that is something that is very

difficult to deal with and I don't know how that's going to

affect my teaching or my relationship with them.

I can't really fathom why they don't care.

The way I see it, is that I'm here to help you.

If you don't want that help, there's not really much I can do for you.

There's just not a straightforward formula.

Effort plus 12 hours planning lesson, equals, excellent lesson.

It doesn't work like that.

I think there's been about two occasions where I thought, gosh,

why am I doing this?

Go, Zach!

Next week, the honeymoon period is over.

-Should they be drawing naked women?

-Claudenia has a cartoon crack down.

So, I found this on your desk yesterday,

-is it an appropriate picture to be drawn in school?

-No.

-Look, I want you on that table.

-No, I'm not going there.

OK, so you've chosen to go outside?

Charles reaches his limit with Caleb.

He's not a good teacher, at all.

You're wasting your potential

and that's what he came to school to do, to get people like you a grade.

I'm just a little youth.

I have no say in my life what happens in my life, so,

what am I supposed to do?

And the behaviour in Meryl's classes goes from bad to worse.

Sit down. Right, Archie stop throwing!

Aaron, sit down!

-We've flagged you as a cause for concern.

-Hey, hey.