Episode 2 Who Are We?

My name is Tayyeb. I am 10 years old and I live in Manchester.

I like living in south Manchester because it's a quiet place.

In my family I have two siblings - my sister and my brother -

and my mum and my dad.

Move your fingers, please.

'I'm a carer for my little brother, Faizan. He has a genetic disorder

'which he has suffered from birth and I help look after him.'

Put it on the plate.

'My parents work hard so I'm glad I can do something to help them.

'Faizan has learning difficulties and he's weaker than other children

'his age, so needs to be watched quite closely.'

Good boy, really hard.

'He was born with a hole in his heart, and when he was younger

'had to have several operations in hospital.

'I help him clean his teeth and wash his face.

'I also help him get his breakfast in the morning.'

There we go, finished!

So, Faizan, will you tell me the name of this book, please?

'I like helping him to read.

'I make sure he pronounces words properly. I even fill in

'his report book for him.'

-Adven...

-Ture.

Good boy.

On the weekend, if it's good weather,

we just go to the park and we go on the various things

such as the slide, the roundabout, the swings.

-Do you like it? Do you want it fast?

-Yeah.

-Do you like the park?

-Yeah.

What's your favourite part of the park?

That one.

Those swings.

-Fast.

-Whee!

-Whee!

-Fast!

In the park, there's this thing he needs to get up to the slide part.

So I just help him.

I just give him support.

He just uses that support and then he gets up there.

Can I have another strawberry ice cream with marshmallows?

-Yes.

-No marshmallows.

Why?

Can't...can't... There's no more.

'Faizan means a lot to me because I'm glad that I have a brother.

'I don't care about his difficulty,'

I care that I have a brother and I've got someone to talk to

and I've got someone to play with.

And I can have him my whole life.

'My school life is really important to me.'

OK, you need to make sure that you've got two or three points

which explain which is your favourite character and why.

I love the school and it's just an amazing school, really,

giving you loads of opportunities.

I like creative writing, to be honest.

I love writing stories and the fact that you can use your imagination

and do what you want and just make your own story.

And then at the end, you feel proud.

'Table tennis is one of the sports I enjoy.

'It's really fun just playing with the bats and it's a great laugh'

especially when you're playing with your friends.

I beat you!

What I really like about my friends is they're multicultural.

I have quite a lot of Jewish friends and I really enjoy that.

I like having, I like being friends with people who are

from different backgrounds,

because I learn about them and it makes us good friends.

'I'm British because I was born here,

'but I'm really interested in other cultures.'

'My family originates from Pakistan.

'My dad is a Muslim and sometimes helps me read the Koran.'

HE READS IN ARABIC

'The Koran is written in Arabic,

'so I'm learning how to read the language.'

'I like the stories in the Koran.

'I'm a Muslim and I find my faith gives me comfort.'

We have these, like, sayings which make us feel safe,

and make us feel like, say I'm in an exam and I feel like,

"No, I'm not going to pass this exam."

'I've heard a lot of sayings. I say that particular one, such as'

"Oh Lord, open my heart, grant these wishes,"

and I feel better, I don't panic and I feel as if I am going to pass.

-Hi, Mum. I'm just going to ask you a few questions.

-OK.

Do you think these responsibilities that I do,

do you think they help me for later life and why?

I think these skills that you have now, I think

you've become a very caring person,

a very sensitive person,

somebody who knows that other people have needs

other than yourself, even when you're really tired

you will still help him.

When I do this, do you think it affects anything at all?

I think it brings you two closer together,

-um...

-Any negative things do you think it affects?

I think sometimes I feel that

you're so tired that it could affect YOU in some way,

but not Faizan.

'My parents go to the gym once a week

'and I look after Faizan in the soft play areas.'

-Faizan, are you OK?

-Yeah!

'I think my mum really appreciates the help I give her

'looking after Faizan.'

Are you going to have another round?

'I think we're closer as a family because of Faizan.'

One, two, three...go!

Hello, my name's Edward, I'm eight years old.

I live near Bude in Cornwall.

My name's Elizabeth. I'm Edward's sister and I'm eleven.

We live in Morwenstow,

a tiny village miles away from anywhere.

It's so small, there is only one shop, one pub,

one church and one post office.

There's no cinema and certainly no fast food restaurant.

It's quite a big area, really.

I really enjoy it because there's so many fields and things,

it's not just houses.

It's nicer because there's a lot more wildlife and more animals.

Our parents own a dairy farm. It's hard work,

and we have to help out sometimes.

When we're on the farm, we have quite a lot of jobs to do.

On the farm I do the hose,

look after the dog and feed the calves.

My mum and dad have a holiday business,

and I help them by cleaning the holiday lets for them.

I normally do the hoovering

and polishing, and I help make the beds.

The duvets are the hardest part about the bed, because you struggle

to get everything inside without falling in yourself.

The chickens are so funny, because when you put them to bed and things,

they're always trying to run away, and they're

always up on the window when they want to be fed.

What I like most about the chickens is probably collecting their eggs.

They're always new shapes and sizes, from really large to really small.

Me and Edward, most of the time we're really good, we're working as a team,

and we're just happy to be with each other.

But sometimes we can be a little bit...iffy,

because...just one little move and Edward's a bit naughty,

and sometimes we get into a bit of a fight.

This is our school.

It's small too, with only 75 pupils.

There isn't a bus service around here,

so Edward arrives by taxi.

The school was founded by Reverend Hawker in 1844.

He wrote a school hymn that the pupils still learn and sing today.

# Sing to the Lord

# The children dear

# His gentle love declare... #

Today Edward is going on an art trip to nearby Duckpool Beach.

It's really beautiful.

The beach is nice because you can play games with your dog

or throw the Frisbee,

or you can go in the sea on your boogie board

and stand up and do this...

We've come to Duckpool to do some art

and the first thing we've done is we've drawn things in the sand,

and in a minute we're going to do it with twigs.

Well, what we're going to do, I'd like you to use this bit of sand,

and I want you to create something that makes you think of Duckpool.

I drew a mermaid because I'm reading a book on mermaids,

and I just imagined a mermaid being here,

because it's based in Cornwall and everything.

I've drawn an island to remind me of Duckpool.

It reminds me of the summer days that we have here.

We drew ducks and a mermaid because it's a beach,

so...something to do with the sea.

We went to Duckpool...

'Mealtimes are...varied, but general meals...'

we just sit down at the table and we have small, one-course meals.

Mum, can you help me do the...?

'I describe myself as a true British person, very British.'

I think that we're quite a safe country to live in,

and I think being British is quite important to me

because when you live in England and you're a British person

you almost feel special, and when you hear the anthem you have to join in.

THEY LAUGH

'I wouldn't really want to go away, because I wouldn't have'

this place, because I've grown up here

'and it's my safe place,

'it's my haven where I can feel safe and relaxed and nice.'

Nice soup.

-Dad...

-Yeah?

What do you do on the farm?

Well, I do my best to keep all the animals healthy

and look after their welfare,

and, importantly, I try to look after my family

by earning enough money out of doing that.

-What do you like about farming?

-The community.

The scenery... The camaraderie.

Everybody pulls together, no matter what.

If someone's in trouble, everyone pulls together and helps out.

Probably my hero and my idol is my dad,

because I think he's absolutely amazing

how he knows all these things about farming,

that he's coped with it so far,

there are some times where I think,

"Gosh, wouldn't he have just given up?"

No, but he didn't, he just carried on.

Right, well, this photo there,

that's the front of the big farmhouse.

That was taken from the playing field.

That's granddad holding up a sheep.

He's got a bit of foot rot on one of his claws.

-He'll trim that out and the ewe will be fine.

-Yucky!

No, it's probably took 50 years ago, I should think, that photo.

When I grow up, I'd love to be a famous singer,

but not so famous that every day I'm out,

but also I'd like to run a... I'd like to run this farm,

when I'm older.

-That's granddad again, look.

-LAUGHTER

He's on top of the trailer of hay.

Just being with my family

and surrounded by all the wildlife and the fields where I live,

if I didn't have that, I don't know who I would be.

I'd be a totally different person,

if I didn't have all of this.

Hello. My name is Elijah. I'm ten years old and I live in London.

London is the capital city of England

and over nine million people live here.

I love living in London, because it's a big place

and also, because it has many fantastic people there.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but really, it can be fun.

I was born in London.

And my family come from the Caribbean.

I'm not really sure which nationality I would call myself.

But I definitely feel like I'm a Londoner.

This is my school in Hackney, East London.

I really enjoy school, particularly PE and science.

And there's lots of great stuff that goes on here.

But there's one thing I do here that's particularly special.

Just down the road from here

is the main site of the London 2012 Olympics.

-My friend Jasmine and I...

-Hello.

..Have been chosen to be the school's Olympic ambassadors.

I've known Elijah since around maybe Year 2 or something.

Oh!

We used to be like... Not best, best friends, but like, friends.

Ow!

Because she knows I'm smart, she will always call me rude names,

like geek and dork.

Sometimes. Because I'm really good at what I do.

Today we're off to the Olympic site with our learning mentor Saleema

to check on the progress of the site.

How many venues do you know?

Well, the Olympic Stadium, the velodrome,

the Aquatics Centre,

the Basketball Arena.

OK, now you've got to admit the aquatics centre is pretty cool.

'Next stop is Pudding Mill Lane.'

I wonder why it's called Pudding Mill Lane.

Wow!

I'm really excited the Olympics is going to be held in London.

Right behind us is the brand new Olympic Stadium.

When it's finished it'll be able to hold over 80,000 people.

Apart from getting a day off school,

one of the things I like best about being an ambassador

is meeting the people that are building the stadiums.

So, Stewart, do you have any idea

when the Olympic site is going to be finished?

We're halfway through the construction programme now.

All of the venues and the infrastructure here will be ready

a year before the Olympics in 2011.

We have to run test events to make sure everything is working

before the athletes and spectators arrive in 2012.

What's going to happen to the site once the Olympics has finished?

After the Games, there are some elements that are temporary,

they will be removed, but the whole park will be open to public use.

The venues, the parklands, all the facilities,

local people like you guys will be able to come along and use them

and enjoy the venues and facilities we leave behind.

Part of our roles as ambassadors is to report back to the school

about how the construction is going.

We've been around on a tour to the Olympic site.

Mostly we've seen the Olympic Stadium,

the Aquatics Centre, the Basketball and Handball Arena.

Has anyone got any questions?

Wow!

What is the Olympic site looking like at the moment?

It'll be finished...

They're saying it's supposed to be finished in 2011,

so it's going to be ready a year early.

What are you going to do to the Stadium

after the Olympics has happened?

They're going to take out 25,000 seating,

so they can make it smaller.

-And so...

-They're going to knock down the basketball pitch

and put something different in it.

You've obviously learned lots of new things,

what skills have you learned that are going to help you in the future?

We've learned projecting our voice in front of a big crowd

and standing up for ourselves and believing what we believe.

When we were doing our presentation with our class,

Elijah gave me the kind of confidence,

he told me to look at him

and take in a big breath before I started speaking.

And that made me... It didn't make me nervous most of the time.

Oh, look at that big one!

In three years' time, in the Olympics,

I think I'll have succeeded a lot

by leaving primary school and starting secondary,

moving on to more hard things,

and if I'm lucky, I may be in the stands,

cheering on whoever's in the basketball.

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