H Is for Harry (2018) Movie Script
1
[birds chirping]
I don't know,
do I wanna go to college or not.
It looks really, really hard.
You have to write, like,
100 words down and everything.
It's like, it'll take forever.
Plus, you can't cheat.
That's the bad thing about it.
You can't cheat.
That's scary, 'cos if you're gonna cheat
in college, that's it.
You automatically fail, innit?
[female narrator]
Fifteen years on from Tony Blair's mantra,
"Education, education, education,"
and our schools
are apparently in stagnation.
[male narrator] Despite big increases
in educational spending,
there's been no improvement
over the last four years in maths,
reading or science.
[female narrator] Being poor in England
makes you more likely to fail
than in most developed countries.
White working class children
are falling far behind pupils
who are wealthier,
or come from different ethnic groups.
[man]
So, what do we want this school to be?
It's a long road that we're on.
It's nearly a year ago that Rebecca and I
hit Feltham High Street,
and you were signing up to a school
where there was no building, no teachers.
- You took a huge risk.
- [baby coughing]
And we will be
eternally grateful for that.
And we will do everything that we can
to honour the commitment
that you made to us.
[Rebecca]
We believe that every single child
is capable of academic success.
The results in our country at the moment
are the equivalent of me saying,
"Okay, this half of the room,
you're going to do really well at school,
well done.
And this half of the room, you're not."
We don't believe that's acceptable.
It's pretty high stakes.
Right, front chairs, please.
Sit, sit, sit.
Those that are standing,
looking at the camera after three.
One, two, three.
- [students] Cheese!
- [camera shutter clicks]
[woman] That one worked!
Thank you very much!
[indistinct chattering]
[woman] Perfect, Team Don.
How nice to see you all.
When you've found your seats,
you can set up your desk
and then sit and start.
Bobby, you're here, Bobby.
Jahiem, I've seen your name.
Jahiem's there. Excellent.
Good morning, Ana.
Harry, you're over here and tracking me.
Five, nice straight backs, four, three...
two, one, perfect.
Team Don,
we are all on our path to university.
The important thing is
that we're always thinking about
where we're going,
and where we are heading,
how we can get there.
We need to support each other.
That's how we're gonna make life
a better place.
We're gonna help our teammates
to pursue their dream.
And then, they will help us
to pursue ours.
- [girl 1, girl 2 whisper] Thank you.
- [boy] Thank you.
[Rebecca] Everyone needs a plate,
everyone needs a knife,
everyone needs a fork,
everyone needs a cup,
and everyone needs water.
Plate, knife, fork, cup, water.
Say it with me.
[all] Plate, knife, fork, cup, water.
[utensils clinking]
Plates, knives, forks, cups, and water.
[indistinct chattering]
- No, why?
- [boy 1 chuckles]
[Harry] Am I in homework catch-up?
Did you not do all your homework?
No, 'cos, um, I was gonna do it
on that day, yesterday.
That's why Dad said, "Get your folder,
your book and everything."
And then I was sitting there
for, like, two hours looking for it,
my sister come home, and I was like,
"Where's my folder?"
And she went, "I've thrown it."
[boy 2] I'm done.
Did you call Hanah?
We'll see if you're on the list,
but you might be, Harry, okay?
[students clamouring]
[Sophie] If you're in homework catch-up,
then we will have already spoken
to your parents, okay?
And the reason we gave you that homework
is so that you had something to do
over the holidays
that would help you to build on the skills
that you had learnt over summer school.
Now, it's sad that on our first day,
you haven't done your homework
and you're in homework catch-up.
It's helping with your learning,
it's helping us to see
what you know, what you don't know,
and what you need help with.
Let me tell you,
there are sometimes in life
where you fall down
and you feel like you don't have
the strength to get back up.
Do you think you have hope?
Because I tell you,
I have no arms, no legs.
It should be impossible for me
to get back up, but it's not.
If I fail, I will try again,
and again, and again.
And you will find that strength
to get back up. Like this.
[Hanah] Okay, so, this week,
our value is "endeavour",
to try hard to do or achieve something.
Think back to that video I showed you
of the man with no arms and legs.
What if the time
before he managed to stand up,
he'd gone, "I just can't do this anymore.
It's too hard. I just can't do it."
He never would have stood up.
The moment you stop trying
is the moment you're gonna fail.
As you go through the next seven years,
you are going to come across
lots of challenges,
things which we find difficult,
times when it would be easy to slip back
to our comfort zone.
And we're also going to be given
lots and lots of opportunities,
which, if we take them,
magic's going to happen.
It is going to be like
climbing a mountain,
and it's going to be difficult
and challenging,
but we are all going to be
really, really successful.
[boy] Whoo!
Bye, Krishnan. Bye, Rajesh.
Bye, Aaron. Bye, Connor.
Well done. Great.
[mellow music playing]
[Harry] When I'm older, I don't wanna be,
like, the person who's, like, left out,
like, living on the streets,
pouncing money.
Basically, the aim is,
for me, is, like,
try and have, like,
a better life than my dad.
He was, like, worse than me,
like, he always got kicked out
of every single school.
Like, not everyone but some people
have problems, innit?
Like me, I used to take tablets,
like, for anger.
At my old school,
I didn't write, or spell, or read
'cos no one taught me
how to read, and spell, and write.
I went to the same school my dad went to.
Bad school.
Kids like beating each other up
and everything in the classroom.
You don't even have to start a fight.
Someone would just come round your head
and like that.
Just smack you straight round the head.
Hello, son!
Came back from, um...
the running club and... sports.
- [man] Yeah?
- [Harry] Yeah.
Biscuit! Come on. Come on.
[clicking tongue]
And this is-- this is his baby rabbits.
There's three.
We got six babies.
Last time, we nearly had a hundred,
didn't we?
[man] Yeah, but no one cleans them out.
- [Harry] It's your work.
- [man] There's been...
Harry's rabs.
You've only been living here back with me,
what, a year and a bit now?
Oh, yeah, 'cos I was living at my mum's.
He was living with his mum.
Yeah, I moved out for a good year.
Living a bit rough.
Then I got my house back, she moved out,
and I got some of the kids back.
'Cos she has to move out.
She had to move out.
But I went through hell five years ago.
Real bad. You know what I mean?
You is on the verge
of doing something to yourself. Harm.
That's how close it got.
But, you know, I bounced up.
And look what I done. I've done--
This garden wasn't like--
I've only done this the last three years,
this garden.
- No caravan, none of this--
- [man] There was nothing.
- There was nothing. It was just...
- None of this.
[Harry] It was literally
just plain grass everywhere.
Soon, there will be
a big swimming pool right there.
- It's in the shed now.
- [man] Yeah, I've got to fix it soon.
He ain't putting it up. He's too lazy.
You try to give them the best you can
and that's it.
That's all you can do, innit?
He's having a bit of help now in school.
Not being able to read properly,
not being able to write properly and--
I think it's definitely going
to improve his life.
Just need to control that anger.
- [Hanah] Good morning, Hazza.
- And we're not late?
- You're not late.
- Oh! We've got ages.
- Good morning, Hanah.
- Good morning.
- We got 20 minutes.
- It's that special time of the week.
[Sophie] It's grammar time!
Are you ready to start these classes?
- [students] Yeah!
- [Sophie] Are you ready to start?
["U Can't Touch This"
by MC Hammer playing]
Come on. Are you gonna get up
and dance with us? Okay.
Yeah, come on.
[overlapping voices]
[students] Grammar time!
Every Thursday, you have grammar time.
- Do you love grammar?
- [students] Yes!
Say it after me, I love grammar!
[all] I love grammar!
[Sophie] Okay. What is the full stop for?
It needs a full stop
to separate these two ideas.
[Sophie] Good, Robin. We're gonna go
"hmm" where the full stop should go.
- I'm gonna say, "One, two, three, hmm."
- [students] Hmm!
You can make the face as well if you want.
- One, two, three...
- [all] Hmm!
[Sophie] Good. Try it together.
- I walked down the hill...
- [students] Hmm!
- [Sophie] My friend was waiting for me...
- [students] Hmm!
[Sophie] Ooh, excellent.
Now, who would like to read their story?
Hands up if you would
like to read your story.
Nacis is absolutely desperate
to read his story.
"One day,
a stranger knocked on my door..."
[Sophie]
Hmm! And the noise? I didn't hear it.
- Hmm.
- [students chuckle]
[Nacis] "I was so scared,
I went to my sister's house", hmm!
"I went out the back door..."
Hmm, hmm, hmm.
What was Nacis trying to do
in his story there?
What was he trying to create?
We heard it earlier.
What was he trying to create?
It was a word that began with "T"?
"T." What was it? Kellina?
- [Kellina] Tension.
- Tension. Excellent.
I think that deserves a merit, Nacis.
- Can we have a merit for Nacis?
- [man] Thank you.
[boy] "Artemis Fowl
has discovered a world below ground
of armed and dangerous
and extremely high-tech fairies.
Is this boy about to trigger
a cross-species war?
Let the misadventure begin."
"His eyes were so incredibly blue
that they looked like he'd borrowed them
- from a cartoon character."
- Who-who's Mr. Dent?
What's his character?
He's a mean teacher.
You might be right.
We're gonna have to read on.
Look at how much I've read.
[gasps] Ah, Geo's the genie.
The teacher was actually a genie.
[Rebecca] We have had children come to us
this year in Year Seven
who can't tell the time,
who can't tie their shoe laces,
struggle to spell their own name.
That is not something you would expect
of an 11-year-old.
But it is the case
that they came in with those needs,
and so we have to then
teach them those things
before we can hold them to account.
But we also have expectations,
and the children have to meet them,
because, otherwise,
everything starts to unravel.
If these children don't do well at GCSE
and don't do well at A-level,
they'll have a life
where they struggle for employment,
they struggle to make ends meet,
and they're stressed.
[soft music playing]
"Chomp, chomp, gulp. He gasped.
Lots... of... milk."
[Ed] He "something" lots of milk.
- He "d."
- He d-r-i-n-k...
[Ed] What do you think it could be, Harry?
Don't even read it.
He "something" a lot of milk.
He "something" lots of milk.
- He... drinks.
- Drunk.
- Drinks.
- [Ed] Right, good. He drinks lots of milk.
[Harry] "Swish...
Blomch..."
- [Sophie] Sound it out, Harry.
- [Harry] "B-e-l-ch. Belch."
- [Sophie] Belch. Good.
- Nice work.
- [objects clattering]
- [boy] "Help, it's the thing!
Get him off me! Quick!"
Great! Great!
"Help!" That was great expression.
I loved the way
you used the punctuation there.
- Terrific.
- [Sophie] Good.
Come on, Harry, keep going.
I know you can do this.
- [Harry] This is long.
- [Sophie] It is long.
And right now, it seems hard,
but the point of us doing this
is so that in the future, it's easy, okay?
You want to be really good at English.
I know you do.
And this is how
we're gonna get there, okay?
[students chattering]
[utensils clinking]
[Sophie]
So, Lewis, if you pick up your knife,
it's gonna be a lot easier.
I can't pick up rice, Sophie.
[Sophie] You've got rice on your hand now,
haven't you?
Yeah, but how are you
supposed to pick up the rice?
[Sophie]
So you use your knife to push it on.
[Lewis]
Yeah, but then it falls through the gaps.
Yeah, but watch this.
- What?
- [Sophie] Nothing's fallen through.
[murmurs]
[Ana] I'm- I'm kind of like
really good in that position
because I came to this school
and nobody from my old school
came here, so--
It was kind of like-- I was like,
"Um, I don't know what I'm doing,
I don't know where I am."
[female teacher]
When did you move to the UK?
Um, when I was five.
Okay. Do you remember that?
I don't-- I don't remember that, no.
[girl] You're an immigrant right now.
[indistinct dialogue]
[students chattering]
We have been talking about drugs
so far this term, legal and illegal,
but now, we're gonna start
thinking about relationships.
What different kinds of relationships
can you think of? Kyle?
Say Harry was going out
with someone, right, yeah?
- [Sophie] Yeah. We can imagine it.
- [Kyle chuckles]
And-and then he had a friend,
a friend called, like,
Amy or something, yeah?
- [students chuckle]
- And they were just friends.
- You saying your girlfriend's with me?
- What are you talking about?
[Sophie] Let him finish his story.
So Harry's going out with someone,
and he's also got a friend called Amy.
Yeah, he would have a-a different feeling
towards his girlfriend
- than he would to Amy.
- [Sophie] You would hope so.
You would hope so, otherwise
he's picked the wrong girlfriend.
You lot are going to be in the same class
for about seven years.
[students gasp]
And now it might sound scary to think,
"Wow, we're gonna be together
for the next seven years",
but, actually,
you're going to get yourself
a lot of really strong friends,
and not everyone will have that.
What do you think are the key things
that break up friendship?
Turn to your partner. How many
can you think of in 30 seconds? Go.
When your friend's going out
with this other boy.
No, when you're going out
with a boy, yeah?
- And then that person--
- And then you get dumped.
And then he goes out
with your best friend.
Yeah. Uh... [giggles]
When, um, a girl likes--
a girl likes another girl,
but that girl doesn't like that girl.
[both] Um...
Disagreements.
[Hanah] Good. Have you spoken to her?
- Oh.
- Is it alright if I take one?
[Hanah] Yeah, is Lily May there?
- Yeah, she's took one.
- She's taken one?
- Is that alright? She's taken one.
- She's taken one.
[inaudible dialogue]
So, you've been late twice in a row, yeah?
How does that make you feel
when you're late?
- Very sad.
- Why does it make you feel really sad?
Because I don't like being in detention.
Okay. It's not very fun, is it?
- No.
- [sobbing]
Do you want to go and get some tissues
and then come back?
Or do you want me to get you some tissues
so you don't have to go and see people?
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[Ana] My mum works Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, in the afternoons, so--
But I don't get to see her,
because at 4:00,
she has to leave the house.
- Do you have brothers and sisters?
- I have a baby brother.
- How old is your baby brother?
- He's four, but he has autism.
- Aw.
- So he doesn't speak
or anything like that.
He just, like, shouts, like--
- Does he get quite angry?
- Shouts and just screams all the time.
I can't do anything of my own,
and do homework, then I eat,
and then I watch my baby brother,
then it's, like, time to go to bed.
Okay. I feel like it might be a good idea
if we set up a meeting with Georgia
once a week
so that you've got someone to talk to,
because I would imagine,
with your brother,
it's quite hard for you
to get the attention that you deserve.
And that might help you
to feel less stressed.
Would that help? Okay.
Would you like to go home now?
I would imagine you would.
It's a Friday afternoon.
- Everyone wants to go home. Yeah?
- [Ana] Yeah.
Hello again.
I think we saw you the other day, lad.
- You alright?
- [boy 1 murmuring]
[chuckles]
[coach] Right, lads.
The reason it was so good last week
is because you stepped up, didn't you?
So, Bobby's in goal.
I'm gonna play two in midfield,
which is gonna be Ilham and Harry,
and then, Rasheed, you're up front, okay?
Let's have it.
Right, guys, keep your shape, please!
- Ah, good ball, mate!
- [students screaming]
Kyle, get off!
Rasheed, you need to keep running!
Keep moving! Run around!
Get back, get back, get back!
- [boy 2 screams]
- [Sophie] That's gone in. It's gone in.
Oh!
Get your whole body behind the ball, okay?
Knock the ball out, just punch it out.
Just get it out, okay?
Come over here, please!
- Can we go to the base?
- Right, Rasheed, you need to keep running.
'Cos you're standing there
with your hands on your head.
- Oh, okay!
- [Sophie] Jahiem. Jahiem. [laughs]
Jahiem, watch the ball. No dancing.
[students clamouring]
[coach] Right, Jahiem. Go on, Harry!
[Kyle] Rasheed, don't trip him over.
[boys screaming]
- [Sophie chuckles]
- Now it's done.
[coach] Right, lads,
come over here, please! Everyone!
These are a few things, I think,
we just need to work on.
You know, the second half wasn't as bad
as the first half, so that's fine.
Let's get back on the bus, um,
and get back home.
It's alright, Bobby,
it's just a little graze. It's fine.
[boy 3] My boy is hurt.
- [boy 4] When you slide it off?
- [coach] Yeah, that's right.
[dialogue fades]
We go past Harry's old school.
It's the school I went to.
I didn't learn nothing at school.
I got no education or no qualifications.
My sister said
I kept on walking out of lessons,
most probably 'cos I was having trouble
reading and writing.
My dad, he can't read or write either.
He's a lot worse than me actually, my dad.
I've never seen my dad
read a paper or nothing,
'cos I know he can't do it, so...
Yeah, life does repeat itself.
It's just like, repeat, repeat, repeat,
and where my dad's had it,
and I've had it,
and now, my son's gonna have it.
- [Sophie] Ketchup!
- [students] Ketchup!
- [Sophie] Ketchup!
- [students] Ketchup!
- Le-mons!
- [students] Le-mons!
- Lemons!
- [students] Lemons!
- Fiz-zy!
- [students] Fiz-zy!
- [Sophie] Fizzy!
- [students] Fizzy!
Okay, good. Sounds that begin with "R"?
[students] "R."
- Rhino.
- Rhino. Good.
What sound
does the letter "H" make, Harry?
- Harry.
- [Sophie] "Harry. Hello, Harry."
Other words that begin
with the sound "H"? Harry?
- How many can I say?
- [Sophie] As many as you can think of.
- Here we go.
- I think it'll be a rap.
[Sophie] We are permitting you.
Go on then. And...
- "Ch," "V," Er...
- Er...
[Sophie] Next one is oxygen.
Well done.
Who can tell me what oxygen is for?
- What do you do with it?
- What we're breathing in now.
- [Sophie] It's what we breathe in.
- Air, chair, green...
Start, woods, one, far,
fair, what, two, door...
[timer rings]
- [Sophie] Okay, excellent! Wow!
- [Jahiem] That was good, you know.
[Sophie] That was good.
Two claps for Harry, please.
One, two, three...
[students clap]
"S." What was that?
[Sophie] Well done, Harry.
That's definitely worth a merit.
[Hanah] You are a leader, okay?
- Being a leader is a responsibility.
- Okay.
[Hanah] Okay? And you need to think,
"Am I setting a good example?"
- Because I know you can, okay?
- Okay.
[chuckles]
That's the worst handshake ever.
Right, go on, Hazza. I'll see you later.
I'm gonna hand you a lolly stick
with the name of someone else in the class
and you are gonna spend
a couple of minutes
writing them a note on a Post-it
of something that you have seen them
do really well so far this term.
[indistinct chattering]
- [jazz music playing]
- [boy] Do we write their name?
So, hey, can you sit up properly?
And look at me
when I'm talking to you, Nacis.
Thank you very much.
People look up to you, Nacis,
and appreciate you in that classroom.
You keep everyone interested
in what's happening.
Why is English in this school
called English?
So if you go to Germany,
it will be called German?
- [Sophie] Yeah, it would be called German.
- Really?
Well, you joined us on a Five C,
and your target is a Six C,
which is quite high,
but we can definitely get there
because you're a bright girl
who's full of good ideas.
Do you remember what you got
at the end of primary school in English?
- Four something.
- [Sophie] Yeah, so you had a Four B.
And the end of year target is a Five B,
which means you're one third of the way
of where he needs to be,
which is absolutely fantastic.
Jahiem hasn't had a good week
this week, and...
What I mean by that is he's had
ten demerits already this week.
Why, Jahiem?
Why? Don't you care?
So why are you saying to your teacher
you don't care?
Stop this "don't care" attitude.
It's not glamorous.
If you think it is, it's not.
We're not gonna give up on you, Jahiem.
We're gonna keep going and keep trying.
I'm really behind schedule now, aren't I?
Half an hour.
- Hello there.
- [Sophie] Hello. Nice to see you.
Hello, Harry. How are you?
Thank you for being patient
and waiting for me.
So, Harry, in his writing assessment,
there's-there's a way to go,
but he wrote full sentences
with capital letters
and full stops at the end of each one,
- which is progress, Harry.
- Head up.
[Sophie] And now you're being able
to write them down yourself.
And I know that's tiring,
but when you do your GCSEs,
you will write them yourself, Harry,
so we need to build up towards that, okay?
- Okay.
- But it was really nice to see you.
Thank you
for all the hard work you're doing.
Thank you.
And I'll see you tomorrow, Harry.
- Yes.
- We'll be positive.
- And we'll keep being positive.
- Okay, thank you.
- [Sophie] Bye-bye. See you tomorrow.
- Bye-bye.
[crows cawing]
[boy] Whoa!
- Come on, let's go in.
- Harry!
- Harry!
- Three, two...
So these are the same spellings
you did yesterday.
Every single one that you get right,
I'll give you each a merit.
So there's an opportunity here
to get ten merits.
[Jahiem] I don't think I'll get anything.
Yes, you will. Have faith in yourself.
So the first one is "light."
- [Rasheed] L-i-g-h-t.
- L-i-g-h-t. Mark yourselves.
[Harry] Well, fish is f-i-s-h.
- [male teacher] Brilliant.
- [Harry] Yay!
- [Bobby] M-a-y.
- [male teacher] May. Okay.
Harry, number four.
- [Harry] Sleep is s-l-e-e-p.
- [male teacher] Brilliant, yes.
- High, is it? H-i-g-h.
- [male teacher] Yeah.
[Jahiem] Everybody's gonna get this one.
- [male teacher] What is number ten?
- [Rasheed] D-e-s-k?
- Yes! Ten out of ten!
- I got seven!
[male teacher]
Alright, write your score on there.
- See, I've got...
- [male teacher] So that's brilliant.
Fantastic. Really good. Very well done.
[students clamouring]
Oh, my God!
[boy] Oh, my God!
[boys screaming]
- [Harry shudders]
- Hey, your enemy is here!
[students giggling]
[overlapping voices]
[utensils clinking]
[Sophie] Team Don, who would like to share
something really amazing
that they did over the holidays?
Let's track.
Lewis, he's in the middle now.
Lewis, are you ready?
Or shall we come back to you?
- Yeah, yeah.
- [Sophie] Okay. Imogen.
Then we'll come back to Lewis.
So track Imogen, she's now at the back.
- Um, I went to Amsterdam.
- [Sophie] You went to Amsterdam? Wow.
- I saw lots of drug shops.
- [Sophie] Lots of drug shops?
- Yep, illegal drugs.
- [Sophie] Wow. Okay.
[Kyle] They can like,
- take drugs in other countries?
- [Sophie] Yes!
- [boy 1 chuckles]
- [boy 2] What?
[Sophie]
So, not all drugs, but some drugs,
'cos they have different drug laws
in Amsterdam.
- Kyle?
- Is that a different country?
[Sophie] Ask Imogen.
- Is that a different country?
- [students chuckle]
[Sophie]
Is that a different country, Imogen?
- [Imogen] Yes.
- [Sophie] Yes. Where--
Where would Kyle find this country
- if he was looking at a map?
- [students clamouring]
- [boy 1 screaming]
- [boy 2] Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
[students clamouring]
Why didn't you tell me?
[Ana] Sophie, I wanna talk to you
about something.
- [Sophie] Okay.
- My stepdad on Wednesday, um...
he said it's like 99.999
recurring percent...
- Okay.
- Now, in August,
we're gonna be moving to an area
around Bristol.
- [girl] Bri-- You're always moving.
- So it's what percent?
- Ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine...
- So, almost certain
- you're gonna move to Bristol?
- Yeah.
- Oh, Ana.
- [girl] You always move.
Like, we live with my auntie and my uncle,
so there's, like, eight people
in the house, and like,
our parents are kind of like,
getting bothered with each other,
- like, and wanna move apart.
- Mm. Yeah, I can understand.
I'm like, I was really sad about it.
I talked to Georgia about it this morning.
I was like, it's only in August,
but, like, it's really sad. Like...
[Sophie] That is really, really sad.
We really want you to stay here
'cos we know that you'll do really well.
- [Ana] Yeah.
- [girl] Can you persuade your parents?
[Ana] I'll try.
[girl] Like saying, "I'm an inspiration
- to loads of people like me."
- [giggles]
[Sophie] We'll-We'll--
We'll talk to them as well, Ana,
and see if there's anything we can do.
[students clamouring]
[Sophie] What's wrong?
[sniffles] I don't want Ana to move away.
[Sophie] Aw. She's a really good friend
of yours, isn't she?
I know Ana
is one of your really good friends
and I'm sure it means a lot to see
how much you care about her.
But sometimes our friends do move around,
and these things will happen.
But it doesn't mean you'll stop
being friends if she goes to Bristol.
- Yeah.
- You can still see each other.
But we've got loads and loads
of time till-till then.
All of these things that are
gonna happen between now and then
are just gonna make
your friendship even stronger.
We're gonna go to Jamie's farm together,
we're gonna go to...
all these school trips together,
we're gonna read stories together.
You're gonna be such good friends,
and a few miles is not gonna stop that.
- Okay?
- [girl sniffles]
[students clamouring]
Okay, so we've got
some very exciting news today.
The exciting news is,
that Rasheed and Bobby...
have made so much progress
that you are now ready to go back
into the English group.
- No, no, please.
- [Sophie] Yeah.
- No, no!
- [Sophie] Yes!
- No.
- [Sophie] It's exciting.
- No, I don't wanna go back in there.
- [Jahiem] Yay!
[Sophie]
Yay! Well done, Rasheed and Bobby!
- You have done really, really well.
- [Harry laughs]
[Bobby]
Can't we wait until the end of the year?
[Sophie]
You are ready to go back in the class.
So if he makes it, I'll be on my own?
- [Sophie chuckles]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, you make mistakes.
[Jahiem, Sophie chuckle]
I don't wanna be on my own.
That's embarrassing.
- [Sophie] What?
- [Harry grunts]
No. Harry, we think that you two
are working at the same level, okay?
- So, that's why we think--
- [Harry] I'm working far away.
And what is really great is,
when you had your assessment,
you're still on track to go back in
before the end of the year.
So you've made lots of progress too,
which is really good.
We've all gone for it with our hands now.
- [utensils clinking]
- [Harry] Well done.
[male teacher] It's a good pursuit.
Well, you've earnt it, so congratulations.
[Harry] Why do you like Sophie's lessons?
[Bobby] I got really interested.
Did you, now?
Well, that's the same lesson
that they have in Don.
[in Latvian] We might be a little bit late
because we're walking so slowly.
[Ana speaking in Latvian]
[in English] Ice cream as well.
I find Shakespeare really confusing.
Why can't he just use English?
I, can't, thou...
- Take your script with you.
- Thou, ought, nether, hither, thy...
art by this coil of...
- [boy] Uh-oh.
- [laughs]
Bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look at what you've done
'Cos baby now we got bad blood
Now we got problems
All I can see is--
I can't even see anything!
The trees look circular. That is awesome.
I can't believe you're gonna leave.
- It's gonna make so sad.
- I can't either.
[Ana] Yeah, so there's eight people
around the house all the time,
- and it's just--
- [boy] Eight people?
She lives with her aunt, her uncle,
her cousin, her other cousin,
- her dad, and her mum, and her brother.
- My stepdad.
And isn't it becoming harder to pay--
to pay rent? To pay rent?
[Ana] Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Um, so we're trying to move alone,
but in here, it's really, really costly.
- London's getting way too expensive.
- [Ana] Oh, yeah, yeah.
I think the VAT for everything is...
We didn't do that in math.
- [boy] When did Skittles cost 1.20-pound?
- I know, right?
- They used to be like under a pound!
- My mum used to buy them for, like, 50p
'cos, at one point,
she went through a phase
where she was addicted to Skittles
and she just stocked up the cupboard
full of Skittles.
It was so funny.
Right, I'm going down the slide now.
- Yes, so am I. No, no, no!
- [Ana] No, Krishnan!
- Three, two, one, go!
- [girls screaming]
[woman]
Okay, so, Harry, remember, let's try
and get into the meditation zone
this time, okay?
'Cos I remember last time,
you were a little bit giggly.
You can close your eyes
or keep your eyes open.
I'd prefer to keep my eyes open.
I'm scared of the dark.
Okay, Harry, just...
[timer dings]
[female on recording] Deliberately
take three or four deep breaths,
feel the air as it enters your nostrils,
fills your chest and abdomen,
and then flows out again.
And let your breath settle
into its natural rhythm
without forcing it
or trying to control it.
Notice where you feel your breath
most vividly, most predominately.
Rest your attention lightly,
the way a butterfly rests on a flower.
The moment that we realise
our attention has wandered
is the magic moment of the practice,
because that's the moment
we have the chance to be really different.
[soft chuckle]
Do you want stop there? How do you feel?
Fine. He passed out.
- He fell asleep.
- Do you feel a bit calmer?
- I fell asleep.
- [boys chuckle]
- I'm too tired.
- Harry, how do you feel?
Fine. Just chillaxing.
Mm.
[inaudible dialogue]
[woman] So, I just want to give an update
on Harry's academic progress.
He has made... stupendous progress.
His English level was a 1A,
and he's currently a 3B plus,
which is almost six sub-levels of progress
which is really mind-blowing.
It's really important, Harry,
that you hear that
and that you know how much progress
you have made.
I think sometimes it still feels hard
and you feel like,
"Oh, there's still so much to go.
I'm still at a level three.
Other people in my class
are at a level four or level five."
But they haven't made as much progress
as you have in one year.
Grant, we are so delighted with Harry,
and I hope that you also feel happy
with the progress
that he's made this year.
I am. I didn't think he'd even last
a term at school,
but, yeah, he's impressed me, yeah.
- [Grant chuckles]
- He better be.
He said,
"You stay in school for a year," yeah,
that he'd give me a PlayStation 4
and anything I want for Christmas too.
- Oh, my gosh! [chuckles]
- Oh, my goodness.
[woman]
So some things have been going well,
but there's other things
that are still concerning,
and so I want to just table them here.
His language skills,
his social interactions, his self-esteem,
his concentration skills,
those are all things that we're still...
gonna be working on.
I'm getting texts every day
saying he's on detention, detention, de--
Every day. Every-every day.
[Harry] Yesterday, I wasn't.
Every day. I got one yesterday,
saying you was in detention.
Yeah, and I think this is
coming to Harry's ups and downs
in terms of his behaviour,
which we want to talk about,
because I think
Harry gets detentions and he--
- For things that are easily avoidable.
- [Harry] What time will this end?
- Will it be like 3:40?
- [Grant chuckles]
- What, this meeting?
- Yeah.
You're wondering about
whether you're getting out
of your whole maths class.
- [woman] Can we get back to this?
- [Harry] Yeah.
[woman]
Um, what are your thoughts for his future?
What-what do you hope for him
in, like, his time at Reach
over the next year or so?
- In the future, what do you--
- Yeah. It's up to him.
I just wanted to make sure
he can just read and write properly.
That's-that's all
I expect from him, really.
'Cos he will get on in life
if he can read and write properly.
If you can't do them two things,
you're not getting nowhere in life.
[Harry] You-you did.
Yeah, but it's hard. It's hard.
It's not like it was when I was at school.
[English teacher]
Can we please get out our English folders?
Make sure your planner's on your desk.
If you're waiting for your planner
to arrive, can you get out your copy
of The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time.
Mikel, Tia, Eliot, and Fahima
have already followed my instructions.
They have got their copies.
- So you'll do some-- you'll do some "D."
- Uh-huh.
[Sophie] I hope you have a great lesson
and you can tell me how you get on, okay?
- Okay. I'm trying.
- You feeling alright?
[English teacher] You now need
to turn over your post-learning quiz.
Write your name on it,
and then turn around,
ready for the spellings. Kyle.
- One day, the witch... hmm.
- Cast.
- Good. A "hmm" on me.
- A spell.
[Sophie]
What does it mean to cast a spell?
It means to like put a magic wand
or something...
Yeah, so it's "put a magic spell on you."
Good. Okay. I just have to go and get...
something from there.
- Okay, bye.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
You're leaving your phone.
That's alright.
I'm not expecting you to call anyone.
My mum might call you.
[Sophie humming]
- Hmm, look what I've got.
- See, one of us is leaving.
Who's leaving?
Can you tell us who's leaving?
- What is going on here then?
- Is he leaving?
- One of us is leaving?
- [Sophie] Why have we got a cake?
Oh, Jahiem is shuffling along now?
Now one of us is leaving,
both of us are leaving.
[Sophie] What do you mean you're leaving?
Because we've got a cake,
that's what you said.
- You're both going into English.
- No!
- Yes! Yes!
- No!
That's really great,
'cos we think you're ready
to go back in the class.
- I can't spell. Um...
- But Harry--
I don't know that letter.
We're still going
to work together in English.
We're just gonna work together
in the classroom.
- Oh, Hazla. It's a good thing.
- [Harry] It's not.
- [Sophie] It's a great thing. It is.
- [Harry] It's terrible.
[Sophie]
You're gonna be in the class, Harry.
What are you worried about?
- What are you not looking forward to?
- [Harry] Getting homework.
[Sophie] No, you'll--
you'll get different homework, okay?
It'll be-- It won't be
the same homework as everyone.
You've got lots to say about things
when we talk to you about them,
and you're missing out on them
by being in this group.
You're missing out
on all those great discussions.
You'll be a king of English, Harry.
Yay!
- No!
- Yes!
Thirteen-nine! Ah!
No!
[laughing]
- Yes! Seventeen to 17.
- [Sophie] Alright.
[English teacher] You need to be
tracking me, please, in five,
four, three, two, and one.
Tracking me, please.
Word of the day, where did we get up to?
[girl] "Inarticulate."
[English teacher]
"Inarticulate." Okay, very good.
How do you spell it, sorry, first of all?
- I-n-a-r...
- [Sophie] Okay, write it down.
- [English teacher] Yeah.
- ...t-i-c-u-l-a-t-e.
[Sophie] It means not--
Someone who's not able
to express themself.
[English teacher] Thanks very much.
Not able. Able. A-b-l-e.
[whispering] So that's the definition.
[in normal voice] So how can you use
"inarticulate" in a sentence?
"The inart-- inarticulate man
struggled to be understood"?
[male teacher] Yep. In a moment,
I'd like you to write your homework
in your homework planner
if you haven't done so already.
And then start the "Do Now."
You need to answer these questions
in full sentences.
[Sophie] So what shall we say instead
of "children"? These...
We're not gonna say "these children"
'cos we wrote that there.
What can we say
instead of "these children"?
Kids?
Hmm. How might we describe them?
What kind of things?
Are they poor, gentle?
What third word could we use
- to describe them?
- Kind.
Poor, gentle, kind children.
So, "these children should be
with their families, being looked after.
These poor, gentle, kind..."
triplet there,
"...children should be able
to be healthy."
Let's write this down.
They should...
- Can I draw on your vein?
- No, thank you.
"They should be able to..."
What should they be able to do, Harry?
Put that down
unless you wanna do the writing.
[Harry] Are they all going home
straightaway? They all are?
Look, Dylan's going home already.
What a saddo.
[Sophie] So expectations get higher
as you get older, don't they?
- Mm-hmm.
- They're gonna get higher, aren't they?
The higher you go up the school.
So let's sit up
and let's do this reflection.
So, you sign this commitment
that you're doing whatever it takes
to make things different
that may give you a better future.
The Whatever It Takes commitment states,
"I am ready to do whatever it takes
to be successful at school
and in life beyond.
What does success look like for you
when you're older?"
Twenty-five years old. Imagine it.
- Harry is aged 25.
- Maybe dead.
Even my dad will be dead at that age.
Twenty-five?
How-how many years is that?
Twelve, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
It's 13 years. So, in 13 years,
I don't think I'll be dead.
- I'll be in my '40s.
- Oh, you'll be old.
- I'll be old, yeah. Older.
- You'll be grey and wrinkly.
[Sophie] Harry. Okay, so what are you
gonna be doing when you're 25?
- Trying to stay alive.
- Trying to stay alive?
So you're gonna spend
each day just surviving?
- Do you think you might have a job?
- Yeah.
- What kind of job will you have?
- Don't know.
- What do you think you're good at?
- PE. PE.
- [Sophie] PE? You wanna be a PE Teacher?
- Mm-hm.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
[Sophie] Okay. What do you think
you're gonna have to be like as a teacher
in order to be a good teacher?
- Pretty hench.
- Pretty hench? [chuckles]
What, to be a PE teacher?
You're gonna be hench?
- I'd hate to have too much muscles.
- Why?
People always have muscles like that
that's bigger than their head.
- Yeah. You have to sign it.
- Then you have proof.
- That's me, that is you.
- I can't-- I can't do it.
- You do it. You go first.
- Life's so hard.
I had to write my name down before Sophie.
New signature.
- Okay.
- Oh, I gotta do study for jobs, Sophie.
Why do you need your jobs in here?
Hey, Harry, put your blazer on
if you're going to see Andy.
[Harry murmuring]
[birds chirping]
[Grant] I sort of try to stay
in my little--
My boundary, as I call it. My bubble.
I call my house "my bubble."
And I-- You know,
if I go out of my boundary,
how am I gonna know
where I'm going if I can't read?
I've never been abroad,
so I've not craved going to these places.
I'm not going on no plane.
I'd be too nervous.
I do feel like the education
let me down a bit when I was in school.
I might've, you know,
got out of this bubble
and maybe explored a bit more,
but, you know, my life's gonna fly by
and it's gonna be--
it's gonna be all over, innit, really?
But you just gotta live with it.
Even Samuel's a jerk.
Basically.
Oh, I won't tell Kyle. I won't tell Kyle.
It's just us two.
- Please.
- [boy indistinct]
Well, tell me now
'cos I ain't gonna snitch.
Come on, Nacis, you know I don't snitch.
- Wow, is it about my thingy?
- No, no, no.
- You sure?
- Yes, I'm sure. [giggles]
If I didn't fight for him
to get him in that school, I think...
he would have gone down the road
of not good.
I do get emotional quite a bit
'cos I feel like
he's growing up quite fast.
[boys chattering]
[Grant]
Kids these days don't think ahead, really.
They can go on benefits
and just live on the state and--
I don't want that for my child.
I never claimed any type of benefits.
I-I want my kids to be out there
and getting a good job
and a good education, but...
it's a struggle.
Life is very stressful.
[students chattering]
- [boy 1] Yeah.
- [boy 2] Don't say it.
[Nacis] Oh, my God, Jamie's farm!
[Jamie] Okay, welcome, Reach Academy.
We are extremely excited
that you've arrived.
You will really, really,
really enjoy your week.
And most important thing that you guys
can do is to say yes to things.
Have a go.
Ooh.
Look at that chicken.
Nacis, you're not allowed
to eat the chicken.
[sheep bleating]
[boys] Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
[Jamie] Perfect. Okay. Send her on.
This is actually quite fun.
If one of them touches my legs,
yeah, I'm gonna beat them up.
[Harry mimicking bleating noises]
[piano music playing]
Wow, that was amazing. My God.
[female teacher] That bit of tree
isn't actually that strong.
Oh, Christian might be flirting with Ana.
Hey, Ana!
Is that your new lover boy?
Who's your top five?
It'd be Ellie, Morgan, Tia, and then Ana.
No. Morgan, Ellie... Tia.
You have a real crush on Morgan, innit?
[Harry] I need a--
I'm having a shower after dinner.
Tia! Adham likes you!
He keeps talking about you.
- When did that happen?
- [girl giggles]
[Sophie] So you did get a little bit.
- What?
- What?
[students chattering]
[guitar music playing]
- [woman] You can use your hands, guys.
- [Ana laughs]
Where did-- How are we supposed to do it
without a shovel?
If you eat my hand,
I'm gonna eat you for dinner.
- [man] Are your hands alright?
- [Jahiem] Yeah.
[men cheering]
Ha!
[woman]
He can be a bit nervous as a horse,
but it's still about
getting that connection
and responding to your instructions.
[clicks tongue] Trot on! Deary me.
Good boy.
- Do you think you can have a go?
- Yeah. I'll try. [chuckles]
[woman] Okay.
We're gonna be...
[male teacher]
Get down there. Let's try to catch it.
- Chicken or cockerel?
- Chicken.
- Chicken!
- See, I'm a master at this game
- 'cos it's an old Latvian game.
- Whoo.
[boy laughs]
[man] Countdown on five.
[all] Four, three, two, one!
[all clamouring]
[fire rustling]
[people applauding]
[woman] "Kyle, I think you've been
one of the stars this week.
I hope you can carry on being this example
to other children in the year
because I know that others
have benefited a lot
from learning from your model behaviour,
so keep it up."
[Sophie] Yeah, Morgan,
I agree that you're a very--
a very compassionate person.
And I think you've done lots of things
that you might not have done before.
And you've helped other people
to enjoy them,
so thank you very much.
[students applauding]
Harry, I look at you chilled out now,
all relaxed in the sun,
with your sunglasses on,
and I think that just shows
how far you've come this week.
I think you've had a fantastic week.
That's the only word I can describe.
You're getting stuck in,
you've learnt new things,
but above all, and the word
that keeps coming back to me
is "calm" and in a happy place.
I hope that what you've learned
about yourself here,
that you're able to take it back to London
and keep improving in those ways.
And I think you'll find focus in class
a lot easier
and just listening to people
and enjoying things a lot more
because you're calmer within.
[students applauding]
[Sophie]
Okay, before we start our assessments,
I'm gonna get what we need.
So you know your questions.
I've put them on paper for everyone.
You've got plenty of time.
You should be able to use
lots of detail in your answers.
Okay, your time starts... now.
If you've got a question,
put your hand up.
Good luck, Team Don.
[whispering indistinctly]
[Sophie] That's level six, being able
to say two different things, okay?
And then what we should do
is you should start listening...
[whispering indistinctly]
[Sophie] All pens need to be down
in five, four, three, two, one.
- Well done, Team Don.
- [boy] Yes!
Give yourselves a round of applause!
Well done, Team Don!
[students cheering, applauding]
[knocks on door]
[Georgia] Come in!
- Hello.
- Hi.
So, tell me about Jamie's farm.
What was the best bit?
If you could pick one.
Um, wood chopping.
[Georgia] Is it the first time
you've been away from home?
- No.
- No?
So you didn't mind being away from dad
for that amount of time or anything?
- Yeah. I don't know.
- You did mind? Or you don't mind?
- No, I don't mind.
- Okay. Well, that's good.
How's your anger, then?
How's it been since I've seen you?
Fine. I don't...
At home with dad, all been good so far?
Good. I'm really pleased.
So, can you remember what this is?
This is you.
[Harry] Looks like I was born in the '80s,
about to go for a disco.
[Georgia chuckles] So, you said
when you get angry, you get hot,
you swear, you push,
and you walk around.
Is there anything else
that we can add to this
that you can remember or not?
It's just those things?
This is like a road of your life so far,
and that's gonna go on
for years and years and years
and years and years.
I'm guessing you need
a bigger picture then.
- Pardon?
- I think you need a bigger one.
[Georgia] So when we think about it,
some of your most happy...
happiest memories, happiest experiences,
is there a particular time
when you remember
having a really good time with a friend?
[Harry mutters]
[Georgia] Christmases? Or any holidays?
Any times with your dad?
Nothing?
Have a think,
and we can revisit this one.
And then we're gonna...
think about some of the harder things
that you've had to deal with
and note them down,
because we have to deal with hard things
to be able to get through
and go into the good ones.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
Shall we put your hand print on the wall?
- Yeah, sure.
- Yeah?
That was a good one.
Looks good.
[students chattering]
This is talking to you about Year Eight
because it's really important
that you know what's going on next year.
So Year Eight is going to be
a very, very exciting year.
Your homework is going to stay similar,
but one of the main changes
is that in English,
you're going to start to do coursework
to get you ready for your GCSEs,
your A-levels, and university.
Your "Do Now" is on the board.
You have two minutes.
You need to write down any questions
you have about Year Eight.
Once you get your pen, you can start.
You've got two minutes.
[boy yawns]
[students clamouring]
And what we're gonna do today
is we're gonna write a really honest,
reflective letter to yourself.
And the point of that letter
is to think about all of the great things
you have done this year,
and to be honest with yourself
about what you haven't done so well at
that you want to change in Year Eight.
[whispering] Hmm. Yeah, that's true.
"Saying yes to everything."
What a great thing.
Oh, I'm really proud of the things
you said yesterday
and you've dealt really well
with the fact that you're going.
And we'll keep this letter,
but we can post it to you
if you want, next year.
You can tell us how you're doing.
[in normal voice] So, Team Don,
today is our last day as Seven Don.
When we come back,
we're gonna be Eight Don. Hoorah!
And, Ana, it has been lovely
having you with us for this one year.
It's sad
that you won't be with us forever,
but we really hope we can hear your news,
and we'd love to--
love to hear how you're getting on.
Thank you.
[boy 1] Yeah. Good luck next year as well.
[Sophie] Keep going, boys.
[girl squeals]
It's gonna be so sad.
- [boy 2] Yeah.
- Down on the floor.
[students chattering]
- [woman laughs]
- Is it margarita time?
No, that's not-- See you at five o'clock.
[car horn honks]
[mellow music playing]
[engine starts]
[Sophie] Hey, Harry, you've got
your blazer on now. Very smart.
- New one.
- [Grant] Yes.
- [Sophie] New blazer.
- [Grant chuckles]
- [Sophie] So, how are you feeling?
- Fine.
Yeah? How did you get on this morning
with your homework?
Which one are you struggling with
the most, the English?
All of them.
I've done a tiny bit.
I think I've done a tiny bit of science.
[chuckles] Nicely.
So much.
It's really important that you learn a bit
about The Merchant of Venice,
ready so that you'll understand it
when we read it tomorrow, okay?
And then you've got your book review
and you've got some science
and maths questions.
I don't wanna stay after school.
- Come on.
- [Harry] No.
You said you were gonna stay half an hour.
- [Harry] But it's too long.
- It's not too long.
[Sophie] If you won't have done
your homework, Harry,
you'd be in homework catch-up.
[Grant] Straightaway.
It's not good, is it?
You're giving up already?
Yeah, I understand it's quite stressful
to be the day before school
and to feel like
you've got an impossible amount
of work to do,
but I'll sit here
and I'll help you with it, okay?
Because you're ready to be
in the main English class now, Harry.
And it's important
for when you start reading the book
that everyone is on the same page, okay?
Okay, so, today,
we're going to look at The Tempest,
and then we're going to talk about
what about Shakespeare's time
can we see in the play?
[instruments on TV playing]
Hi, friends.
My name is William Shakespeare,
- but I suppose you've heard about me.
- [students laughing]
[voice-over] For my company,
The Lord Chamberlain's Men,
you could get in to see a play
for a penny.
The standees were known as "groundlings."
The members of the audience
would drop their coins into a box
as they entered,
hence the term "box office."
There could be as many
as 500 for a performance
and they kept commenting
all that was taking place on the stage.
[female teacher]
Okay, question number one,
what were the people who paid a penny
to stand called?
Lewis?
- [Lewis] Cramps?
- No.
- [girls giggle]
- [female teacher] Rachel?
- [Rachel] The groundlings.
- [female teacher] It was the groundlings.
[boy] Oh!
[female teacher]
What river was The Globe built next to?
Kellina?
- [Kellina] The Thames?
- [female teacher] The Thames.
So, the type of question that we're
going to be doing is this, on the board.
Do you think The Tempest or Iqbal
is a better story
for teaching Reach pupils
about good and evil?
There is no kind of way
that you would organise your ideas.
I just want you to get
as many ideas as possible.
Is Iqbal better or is The Tempest better
for teaching pupils about good and evil?
Gradually, your targets are gonna change,
as by the time you get to GCSE,
you will need to do
extended writing in your exams.
[Sophie] You're getting to a difficult
time and things are getting hard,
and at the moment
they're starting to get hard,
you're saying, "Well, I don't care."
But you have to keep caring.
[male teacher]
When you write an essay for me,
you're actually writing
a GCSE question.
And that's the dream, that's the goal.
So you can get the highest maximum marks
in your assessment.
[woman]
It's harder than a mainstream class
because you have to concentrate,
you can't take as many breaks...
[Sophie] Harry, that was rude.
You are spoiling this for everyone.
- It's alright, people. I'm leaving.
- [Sophie] Thank you.
The reason that you're getting
these demerits
and sent out of lessons
is nearly always for the same thing.
When things go a bit wrong,
you take it out on the people
that are closest to you.
- Yeah, Jahiem.
- [Sophie] Harry, stop talking over me.
You have just been incredibly rude to me,
and I care about you.
It's not fair.
I've got it from my bag.
Okay, Harry,
I haven't said that I disagree.
- I found it there.
- That you didn't-- Let's move on then.
You can ask Tia.
I found it yesterday in my bag.
[Sophie] We've got a bit of a situation.
Would you be able to-- Are you free?
Have you told your dad
what happened on Friday?
- [blows raspberry] No.
- [Grant, Sophie] No.
In the science lesson, Isobel,
his science teacher,
asked Harry to say a word,
that was "photosynthesis",
which is quite a difficult word
to say, I agree.
I said it, like, a hundred times.
"Try and say it",
and then she gave me a demerit,
and then that's when I stopped trying.
She said, "Try to say it"?
Yeah. And I couldn't say it
and I'm trying,
and she went, "Demerit for not trying."
Then Isobel gave me another demerit,
so that was three demerits--
[Sophie] One-one demerit
was for saying that Isobel was ugly.
- Wasn't it?
- Yeah.
[Sophie] Which is really rude.
So one of the demerits
was not for not trying,
it was for being really rude
about a teacher.
People are trying to support you,
and it's okay to feel frustrated.
It's not okay to take it out on people.
And probably, I know you better
than lots of the other teachers.
I can see sometimes
that you're frustrated,
but everyone wants to help you
and wants you to be successful.
They're never trying to embarrass you
or to make you have a horrible lesson.
What are you gonna do to make sure
you're not on step one again?
Come on, Harry.
- [Grant] Come on.
- Don't be rude.
[Sophie] Yeah. That's the most
important thing, to not be rude to people.
I agree, Harry.
Rudeness of any sort is only something
that we've seen recently.
At the beginning of the year,
Harry was never rude to anyone.
It's been little things.
But saying Isobel is ugly
isn't really a little thing anymore.
[Grant] No, it's not.
[Harry] That's disgusting.
Look-look at that,
there's some ninja guy over there.
What is he doing?
Oh, the guy thinks
he's Jackie Chan or something.
Look at him, throwing fists.
In Year Seven, I was alright,
and then in Year Eight,
um, I've been removed from lessons
quite a lot.
And I think the school is...
I think it's too difficult for me,
'cos, like, you have to wake up early,
like about... about 6:00,
it depends how far you live too.
Like me, I-I know I live, like,
just across the road,
just round the corner,
but still, you have to
wake up early, about 6:00,
by the time you have breakfast,
by the time you leave,
by the time you come
and meet your friends,
and then you have to go straight
into the school, and then--
by the time you come back,
you have to do your homework,
then eat, then sleep.
It's the exact same thing
over and over again.
My dad thinks like it was...
He-- I shouldn't have done, like,
the things I done, like
keep getting excluded
and all the things like that.
Don't know what's gonna happen next year.
Doesn't matter where I go,
where I don't go.
Life is just life.
[Sophie] We'll...
Have to?
No. Look at this word. We'll...
Have.
Begins with "a."
Ar-- Are-- Are've-- I don't know.
- So this is a long--
- Can we just read it?
- Do I have to do this?
- Yeah.
So sit up,
and then you'll be able to see it better.
- You can't see it from there.
- I can.
Okay. Sit up, Harry.
That's it.
- [sighs] What if I didn't do this?
- Come on. Harry, sit up.
- [Sophie] What's wrong, Harry?
- Don't wanna do it.
- Why? 'Cos it's difficult?
- No.
- Why not then?
- Just don't wanna do it.
[woman] So, shall we tell Harry
why we've had this meeting?
Last year, we were really proud of you,
because, sometimes,
you would have real wobbles,
but you would pick yourself up again
and then you'd manage
to go back into lesson,
and you used to do
your homework really well.
And then this year,
the thing that has been really difficult
has been you-you being in lessons.
And in, you know, three months,
you've done seven
pieces of work in English,
and in maths you've done two.
This year, I asked Cameron,
and he said that,
"Harry has not given me enough work
for me to be able to mark
to see what his level is
'cos he's just not done enough work."
So that's really worrying for us.
You need to be in your lessons
and you need to be learning.
[Sophie] Yeah, I think you see
what Mangala is saying
that although you enjoy the bits of school
that aren't the lessons,
the lessons are the bit
that you're really here for
and the bit that's not going that well.
[woman]
What we have said and what we're gonna--
the message that we're gonna give
to the local authority in Hounslow,
is that right now,
we don't feel like Harry is making
academic progress in Reach,
so you're not improving
with your learning.
You're-you're improving
in many other ways, you know.
You're becoming really-- You're really
friendly, you're really polite.
Really helpful and really good fun.
Like, we all enjoy spending time with you
and we appreciate all of the time
that we spend with you.
- Yeah.
- So, we're saying that,
but we're saying that, you know,
the thing that Harry's here for
is really to make progress
in his English, and his maths,
and his science, and that's not happening.
We're-we're doing as much as we can
and we can't think of a lot more
- that we can do, and it's not--
- Cool.
It's not really working at the moment
for you 'cos you're not being--
you're not able to be successful
in the way that you were last year.
Can you move me to a different class?
So I don't think
that moving to a different class
would necessarily change anything.
[woman] What do you think?
What do you want to say?
[kids] That's okay.
- Huh?
- [man] Huh?
Oh, that's nasty, that!
Oh, that chicken just laid an egg!
That's disgusting, man.
They said,
"You're going to a different school."
I can't be in class,
'cos, apparently, I don't do my work.
And I can't stay at home
because, apparently, it's illegal.
And, um, I just help with the nursery.
[kids chattering]
[Harry] Ah! Okay. Ready.
Let go! Let go! Come on. [groans]
- That's good. Over.
- Thank you.
I've got you.
I'm stuck!
[Sophie] We knew that Harry
was probably going to have to leave
because we just weren't able to teach him.
It's a small school.
It was just a lot of resources.
In order to meet Harry's needs,
it meant that
we weren't able to meet
everyone else's needs in the same way.
For Harry, it's just that lack of belief.
It was hard to always be behind,
and I don't think
that he could really cope with that.
It did work really well.
We just couldn't maintain it
long enough for it to...
to make the difference
that I wanted it to make, I think.
That's what's really sad.
- [Harry] I can't see what you're hearing.
- No, but I can hear it.
Is that the-- Is that the ice cream?
[Harry] Yeah.
Is that what we get for dessert?
It's quite exciting, isn't it?
And pizza.
[Sophie] That's such an elegant way
to eat an ice cream, Harry.
Can I go now?
[Sophie] Can't we wait in here for longer?
I don't know
what I'm supposed to be doing.
- Huh?
- Do you want your cards now?
Want me to read it?
Ryan...
- Rasheed...
- Let me show you.
So I think some people
didn't get to do it.
So, Ryan says,
"Have a good-- Have a good time
at your new school. Good luck. Ryan."
"To Harry, have a good time
in your new school,
keep out of trouble.
- I will Snapchat you."
- Who's that?
[Sophie] Morgan.
"To Harry, good luck at your new school.
You will be missed.
- I hope you go far in life."
- So let's go to the next one.
"Dear Harry, I've really enjoyed
working with you
and getting to know you
over the past two years.
You have a unique
and amazing view of the world
and I know that you can go on
to do wonderful things if you want to.
I remember your first day,
and I'm really sad
that I don't get to continue
being your head of year.
We will miss you.
I hope you stay in touch. Love, Sophie."
[Ed] Look after yourself, okay?
And I think that the idea of you
working with young people later
is a really good one.
So I think you could be a really great--
You like-- You've got a real gift
with those little ones.
So you just bear that in mind, okay?
Take care of yourself.
And if there's anything we can do to help,
you can drop in anytime.
- Okay?
- Okay.
- Bye.
- All the best. Take care.
[kid giggling]
[kids clamouring]
- [girl 1 screams]
- I've got you!
- Now you've got to try and catch me.
- Got you again!
[girl 2] Try and catch me now!
[man] George. Good job. Three.
Ready up. Proud of you.
Okay. Ready up. Carlos!
[Harry groans]
This is my last day at school.
Can I have a hug before you go?
Bye. High five.
- Bye.
- [woman] We're gonna miss big Harry!
Harry's been talking about you all week.
- Careful.
- [woman] Good, Riley.
[girl] Harry!
Bye!
- Good luck, Harry. I'm gonna miss you.
- Yeah. I'm not gonna miss you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
[Harry] I always thought
I was gonna get kicked out anyway.
If it was gonna be in Year Nine,
Year Eight, Year Ten? Don't know.
This is the right move, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm happy
because I'm going to a new school.
I'd give it, like, five days,
probably be kicked out.
Bye!
[tires squeal]
[Rebecca] So, we were gonna
talk to mum about your school,
'cos you're not at the school
that you were at, are you?
- No.
- [Rebecca] So tell me about that.
- What happened?
- Uh, I got excluded.
[Rebecca] Okay. What for?
Um...
Fighting. Uh, and I stabbed somebody.
- [Rebecca] What with?
- [Casey] A knife.
But the main reason they've decided
to take him out of the school
was because he took an overdose at school.
- Yeah.
- Um...
[sighs]
Casey, at the moment, what we're
trying to do is get to know you
so that we make sure
that we can look after you.
So, this is the really, really important
bit of the visit, okay?
You're gonna read from here,
from "I will do whatever it takes..."
down to here.
And these are all the things in school
that we ask our students to do.
- [Casey] Who's gonna read that?
- [Rebecca] You are. Okay.
"I believe I am capable
of academic success.
And I'm ready to do whatever it takes
to be successful at school
and in life beyond school."
[Rebecca] That was amazing.
What were you worried about?
That was so good.
- Are you ready to join Reach Academy?
- Mm, dunno.
[chuckles]
You need to be sure before you can sign.
- Say it properly.
- Yes.
You are going to feel proud of yourself,
because this is the start
of you going to a school
where you're gonna learn things.
[indistinct chattering]
Well done. Amazing.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you, Sophie.
[Grant] Stretch his hands. "S..."
It's a "D."
A "D." A "D."
Da-da-da-da.
Uh... bouncing. Uh...
[indistinct chattering]
[soft music playing]
[birds chirping]
I don't know,
do I wanna go to college or not.
It looks really, really hard.
You have to write, like,
100 words down and everything.
It's like, it'll take forever.
Plus, you can't cheat.
That's the bad thing about it.
You can't cheat.
That's scary, 'cos if you're gonna cheat
in college, that's it.
You automatically fail, innit?
[female narrator]
Fifteen years on from Tony Blair's mantra,
"Education, education, education,"
and our schools
are apparently in stagnation.
[male narrator] Despite big increases
in educational spending,
there's been no improvement
over the last four years in maths,
reading or science.
[female narrator] Being poor in England
makes you more likely to fail
than in most developed countries.
White working class children
are falling far behind pupils
who are wealthier,
or come from different ethnic groups.
[man]
So, what do we want this school to be?
It's a long road that we're on.
It's nearly a year ago that Rebecca and I
hit Feltham High Street,
and you were signing up to a school
where there was no building, no teachers.
- You took a huge risk.
- [baby coughing]
And we will be
eternally grateful for that.
And we will do everything that we can
to honour the commitment
that you made to us.
[Rebecca]
We believe that every single child
is capable of academic success.
The results in our country at the moment
are the equivalent of me saying,
"Okay, this half of the room,
you're going to do really well at school,
well done.
And this half of the room, you're not."
We don't believe that's acceptable.
It's pretty high stakes.
Right, front chairs, please.
Sit, sit, sit.
Those that are standing,
looking at the camera after three.
One, two, three.
- [students] Cheese!
- [camera shutter clicks]
[woman] That one worked!
Thank you very much!
[indistinct chattering]
[woman] Perfect, Team Don.
How nice to see you all.
When you've found your seats,
you can set up your desk
and then sit and start.
Bobby, you're here, Bobby.
Jahiem, I've seen your name.
Jahiem's there. Excellent.
Good morning, Ana.
Harry, you're over here and tracking me.
Five, nice straight backs, four, three...
two, one, perfect.
Team Don,
we are all on our path to university.
The important thing is
that we're always thinking about
where we're going,
and where we are heading,
how we can get there.
We need to support each other.
That's how we're gonna make life
a better place.
We're gonna help our teammates
to pursue their dream.
And then, they will help us
to pursue ours.
- [girl 1, girl 2 whisper] Thank you.
- [boy] Thank you.
[Rebecca] Everyone needs a plate,
everyone needs a knife,
everyone needs a fork,
everyone needs a cup,
and everyone needs water.
Plate, knife, fork, cup, water.
Say it with me.
[all] Plate, knife, fork, cup, water.
[utensils clinking]
Plates, knives, forks, cups, and water.
[indistinct chattering]
- No, why?
- [boy 1 chuckles]
[Harry] Am I in homework catch-up?
Did you not do all your homework?
No, 'cos, um, I was gonna do it
on that day, yesterday.
That's why Dad said, "Get your folder,
your book and everything."
And then I was sitting there
for, like, two hours looking for it,
my sister come home, and I was like,
"Where's my folder?"
And she went, "I've thrown it."
[boy 2] I'm done.
Did you call Hanah?
We'll see if you're on the list,
but you might be, Harry, okay?
[students clamouring]
[Sophie] If you're in homework catch-up,
then we will have already spoken
to your parents, okay?
And the reason we gave you that homework
is so that you had something to do
over the holidays
that would help you to build on the skills
that you had learnt over summer school.
Now, it's sad that on our first day,
you haven't done your homework
and you're in homework catch-up.
It's helping with your learning,
it's helping us to see
what you know, what you don't know,
and what you need help with.
Let me tell you,
there are sometimes in life
where you fall down
and you feel like you don't have
the strength to get back up.
Do you think you have hope?
Because I tell you,
I have no arms, no legs.
It should be impossible for me
to get back up, but it's not.
If I fail, I will try again,
and again, and again.
And you will find that strength
to get back up. Like this.
[Hanah] Okay, so, this week,
our value is "endeavour",
to try hard to do or achieve something.
Think back to that video I showed you
of the man with no arms and legs.
What if the time
before he managed to stand up,
he'd gone, "I just can't do this anymore.
It's too hard. I just can't do it."
He never would have stood up.
The moment you stop trying
is the moment you're gonna fail.
As you go through the next seven years,
you are going to come across
lots of challenges,
things which we find difficult,
times when it would be easy to slip back
to our comfort zone.
And we're also going to be given
lots and lots of opportunities,
which, if we take them,
magic's going to happen.
It is going to be like
climbing a mountain,
and it's going to be difficult
and challenging,
but we are all going to be
really, really successful.
[boy] Whoo!
Bye, Krishnan. Bye, Rajesh.
Bye, Aaron. Bye, Connor.
Well done. Great.
[mellow music playing]
[Harry] When I'm older, I don't wanna be,
like, the person who's, like, left out,
like, living on the streets,
pouncing money.
Basically, the aim is,
for me, is, like,
try and have, like,
a better life than my dad.
He was, like, worse than me,
like, he always got kicked out
of every single school.
Like, not everyone but some people
have problems, innit?
Like me, I used to take tablets,
like, for anger.
At my old school,
I didn't write, or spell, or read
'cos no one taught me
how to read, and spell, and write.
I went to the same school my dad went to.
Bad school.
Kids like beating each other up
and everything in the classroom.
You don't even have to start a fight.
Someone would just come round your head
and like that.
Just smack you straight round the head.
Hello, son!
Came back from, um...
the running club and... sports.
- [man] Yeah?
- [Harry] Yeah.
Biscuit! Come on. Come on.
[clicking tongue]
And this is-- this is his baby rabbits.
There's three.
We got six babies.
Last time, we nearly had a hundred,
didn't we?
[man] Yeah, but no one cleans them out.
- [Harry] It's your work.
- [man] There's been...
Harry's rabs.
You've only been living here back with me,
what, a year and a bit now?
Oh, yeah, 'cos I was living at my mum's.
He was living with his mum.
Yeah, I moved out for a good year.
Living a bit rough.
Then I got my house back, she moved out,
and I got some of the kids back.
'Cos she has to move out.
She had to move out.
But I went through hell five years ago.
Real bad. You know what I mean?
You is on the verge
of doing something to yourself. Harm.
That's how close it got.
But, you know, I bounced up.
And look what I done. I've done--
This garden wasn't like--
I've only done this the last three years,
this garden.
- No caravan, none of this--
- [man] There was nothing.
- There was nothing. It was just...
- None of this.
[Harry] It was literally
just plain grass everywhere.
Soon, there will be
a big swimming pool right there.
- It's in the shed now.
- [man] Yeah, I've got to fix it soon.
He ain't putting it up. He's too lazy.
You try to give them the best you can
and that's it.
That's all you can do, innit?
He's having a bit of help now in school.
Not being able to read properly,
not being able to write properly and--
I think it's definitely going
to improve his life.
Just need to control that anger.
- [Hanah] Good morning, Hazza.
- And we're not late?
- You're not late.
- Oh! We've got ages.
- Good morning, Hanah.
- Good morning.
- We got 20 minutes.
- It's that special time of the week.
[Sophie] It's grammar time!
Are you ready to start these classes?
- [students] Yeah!
- [Sophie] Are you ready to start?
["U Can't Touch This"
by MC Hammer playing]
Come on. Are you gonna get up
and dance with us? Okay.
Yeah, come on.
[overlapping voices]
[students] Grammar time!
Every Thursday, you have grammar time.
- Do you love grammar?
- [students] Yes!
Say it after me, I love grammar!
[all] I love grammar!
[Sophie] Okay. What is the full stop for?
It needs a full stop
to separate these two ideas.
[Sophie] Good, Robin. We're gonna go
"hmm" where the full stop should go.
- I'm gonna say, "One, two, three, hmm."
- [students] Hmm!
You can make the face as well if you want.
- One, two, three...
- [all] Hmm!
[Sophie] Good. Try it together.
- I walked down the hill...
- [students] Hmm!
- [Sophie] My friend was waiting for me...
- [students] Hmm!
[Sophie] Ooh, excellent.
Now, who would like to read their story?
Hands up if you would
like to read your story.
Nacis is absolutely desperate
to read his story.
"One day,
a stranger knocked on my door..."
[Sophie]
Hmm! And the noise? I didn't hear it.
- Hmm.
- [students chuckle]
[Nacis] "I was so scared,
I went to my sister's house", hmm!
"I went out the back door..."
Hmm, hmm, hmm.
What was Nacis trying to do
in his story there?
What was he trying to create?
We heard it earlier.
What was he trying to create?
It was a word that began with "T"?
"T." What was it? Kellina?
- [Kellina] Tension.
- Tension. Excellent.
I think that deserves a merit, Nacis.
- Can we have a merit for Nacis?
- [man] Thank you.
[boy] "Artemis Fowl
has discovered a world below ground
of armed and dangerous
and extremely high-tech fairies.
Is this boy about to trigger
a cross-species war?
Let the misadventure begin."
"His eyes were so incredibly blue
that they looked like he'd borrowed them
- from a cartoon character."
- Who-who's Mr. Dent?
What's his character?
He's a mean teacher.
You might be right.
We're gonna have to read on.
Look at how much I've read.
[gasps] Ah, Geo's the genie.
The teacher was actually a genie.
[Rebecca] We have had children come to us
this year in Year Seven
who can't tell the time,
who can't tie their shoe laces,
struggle to spell their own name.
That is not something you would expect
of an 11-year-old.
But it is the case
that they came in with those needs,
and so we have to then
teach them those things
before we can hold them to account.
But we also have expectations,
and the children have to meet them,
because, otherwise,
everything starts to unravel.
If these children don't do well at GCSE
and don't do well at A-level,
they'll have a life
where they struggle for employment,
they struggle to make ends meet,
and they're stressed.
[soft music playing]
"Chomp, chomp, gulp. He gasped.
Lots... of... milk."
[Ed] He "something" lots of milk.
- He "d."
- He d-r-i-n-k...
[Ed] What do you think it could be, Harry?
Don't even read it.
He "something" a lot of milk.
He "something" lots of milk.
- He... drinks.
- Drunk.
- Drinks.
- [Ed] Right, good. He drinks lots of milk.
[Harry] "Swish...
Blomch..."
- [Sophie] Sound it out, Harry.
- [Harry] "B-e-l-ch. Belch."
- [Sophie] Belch. Good.
- Nice work.
- [objects clattering]
- [boy] "Help, it's the thing!
Get him off me! Quick!"
Great! Great!
"Help!" That was great expression.
I loved the way
you used the punctuation there.
- Terrific.
- [Sophie] Good.
Come on, Harry, keep going.
I know you can do this.
- [Harry] This is long.
- [Sophie] It is long.
And right now, it seems hard,
but the point of us doing this
is so that in the future, it's easy, okay?
You want to be really good at English.
I know you do.
And this is how
we're gonna get there, okay?
[students chattering]
[utensils clinking]
[Sophie]
So, Lewis, if you pick up your knife,
it's gonna be a lot easier.
I can't pick up rice, Sophie.
[Sophie] You've got rice on your hand now,
haven't you?
Yeah, but how are you
supposed to pick up the rice?
[Sophie]
So you use your knife to push it on.
[Lewis]
Yeah, but then it falls through the gaps.
Yeah, but watch this.
- What?
- [Sophie] Nothing's fallen through.
[murmurs]
[Ana] I'm- I'm kind of like
really good in that position
because I came to this school
and nobody from my old school
came here, so--
It was kind of like-- I was like,
"Um, I don't know what I'm doing,
I don't know where I am."
[female teacher]
When did you move to the UK?
Um, when I was five.
Okay. Do you remember that?
I don't-- I don't remember that, no.
[girl] You're an immigrant right now.
[indistinct dialogue]
[students chattering]
We have been talking about drugs
so far this term, legal and illegal,
but now, we're gonna start
thinking about relationships.
What different kinds of relationships
can you think of? Kyle?
Say Harry was going out
with someone, right, yeah?
- [Sophie] Yeah. We can imagine it.
- [Kyle chuckles]
And-and then he had a friend,
a friend called, like,
Amy or something, yeah?
- [students chuckle]
- And they were just friends.
- You saying your girlfriend's with me?
- What are you talking about?
[Sophie] Let him finish his story.
So Harry's going out with someone,
and he's also got a friend called Amy.
Yeah, he would have a-a different feeling
towards his girlfriend
- than he would to Amy.
- [Sophie] You would hope so.
You would hope so, otherwise
he's picked the wrong girlfriend.
You lot are going to be in the same class
for about seven years.
[students gasp]
And now it might sound scary to think,
"Wow, we're gonna be together
for the next seven years",
but, actually,
you're going to get yourself
a lot of really strong friends,
and not everyone will have that.
What do you think are the key things
that break up friendship?
Turn to your partner. How many
can you think of in 30 seconds? Go.
When your friend's going out
with this other boy.
No, when you're going out
with a boy, yeah?
- And then that person--
- And then you get dumped.
And then he goes out
with your best friend.
Yeah. Uh... [giggles]
When, um, a girl likes--
a girl likes another girl,
but that girl doesn't like that girl.
[both] Um...
Disagreements.
[Hanah] Good. Have you spoken to her?
- Oh.
- Is it alright if I take one?
[Hanah] Yeah, is Lily May there?
- Yeah, she's took one.
- She's taken one?
- Is that alright? She's taken one.
- She's taken one.
[inaudible dialogue]
So, you've been late twice in a row, yeah?
How does that make you feel
when you're late?
- Very sad.
- Why does it make you feel really sad?
Because I don't like being in detention.
Okay. It's not very fun, is it?
- No.
- [sobbing]
Do you want to go and get some tissues
and then come back?
Or do you want me to get you some tissues
so you don't have to go and see people?
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
[Ana] My mum works Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, in the afternoons, so--
But I don't get to see her,
because at 4:00,
she has to leave the house.
- Do you have brothers and sisters?
- I have a baby brother.
- How old is your baby brother?
- He's four, but he has autism.
- Aw.
- So he doesn't speak
or anything like that.
He just, like, shouts, like--
- Does he get quite angry?
- Shouts and just screams all the time.
I can't do anything of my own,
and do homework, then I eat,
and then I watch my baby brother,
then it's, like, time to go to bed.
Okay. I feel like it might be a good idea
if we set up a meeting with Georgia
once a week
so that you've got someone to talk to,
because I would imagine,
with your brother,
it's quite hard for you
to get the attention that you deserve.
And that might help you
to feel less stressed.
Would that help? Okay.
Would you like to go home now?
I would imagine you would.
It's a Friday afternoon.
- Everyone wants to go home. Yeah?
- [Ana] Yeah.
Hello again.
I think we saw you the other day, lad.
- You alright?
- [boy 1 murmuring]
[chuckles]
[coach] Right, lads.
The reason it was so good last week
is because you stepped up, didn't you?
So, Bobby's in goal.
I'm gonna play two in midfield,
which is gonna be Ilham and Harry,
and then, Rasheed, you're up front, okay?
Let's have it.
Right, guys, keep your shape, please!
- Ah, good ball, mate!
- [students screaming]
Kyle, get off!
Rasheed, you need to keep running!
Keep moving! Run around!
Get back, get back, get back!
- [boy 2 screams]
- [Sophie] That's gone in. It's gone in.
Oh!
Get your whole body behind the ball, okay?
Knock the ball out, just punch it out.
Just get it out, okay?
Come over here, please!
- Can we go to the base?
- Right, Rasheed, you need to keep running.
'Cos you're standing there
with your hands on your head.
- Oh, okay!
- [Sophie] Jahiem. Jahiem. [laughs]
Jahiem, watch the ball. No dancing.
[students clamouring]
[coach] Right, Jahiem. Go on, Harry!
[Kyle] Rasheed, don't trip him over.
[boys screaming]
- [Sophie chuckles]
- Now it's done.
[coach] Right, lads,
come over here, please! Everyone!
These are a few things, I think,
we just need to work on.
You know, the second half wasn't as bad
as the first half, so that's fine.
Let's get back on the bus, um,
and get back home.
It's alright, Bobby,
it's just a little graze. It's fine.
[boy 3] My boy is hurt.
- [boy 4] When you slide it off?
- [coach] Yeah, that's right.
[dialogue fades]
We go past Harry's old school.
It's the school I went to.
I didn't learn nothing at school.
I got no education or no qualifications.
My sister said
I kept on walking out of lessons,
most probably 'cos I was having trouble
reading and writing.
My dad, he can't read or write either.
He's a lot worse than me actually, my dad.
I've never seen my dad
read a paper or nothing,
'cos I know he can't do it, so...
Yeah, life does repeat itself.
It's just like, repeat, repeat, repeat,
and where my dad's had it,
and I've had it,
and now, my son's gonna have it.
- [Sophie] Ketchup!
- [students] Ketchup!
- [Sophie] Ketchup!
- [students] Ketchup!
- Le-mons!
- [students] Le-mons!
- Lemons!
- [students] Lemons!
- Fiz-zy!
- [students] Fiz-zy!
- [Sophie] Fizzy!
- [students] Fizzy!
Okay, good. Sounds that begin with "R"?
[students] "R."
- Rhino.
- Rhino. Good.
What sound
does the letter "H" make, Harry?
- Harry.
- [Sophie] "Harry. Hello, Harry."
Other words that begin
with the sound "H"? Harry?
- How many can I say?
- [Sophie] As many as you can think of.
- Here we go.
- I think it'll be a rap.
[Sophie] We are permitting you.
Go on then. And...
- "Ch," "V," Er...
- Er...
[Sophie] Next one is oxygen.
Well done.
Who can tell me what oxygen is for?
- What do you do with it?
- What we're breathing in now.
- [Sophie] It's what we breathe in.
- Air, chair, green...
Start, woods, one, far,
fair, what, two, door...
[timer rings]
- [Sophie] Okay, excellent! Wow!
- [Jahiem] That was good, you know.
[Sophie] That was good.
Two claps for Harry, please.
One, two, three...
[students clap]
"S." What was that?
[Sophie] Well done, Harry.
That's definitely worth a merit.
[Hanah] You are a leader, okay?
- Being a leader is a responsibility.
- Okay.
[Hanah] Okay? And you need to think,
"Am I setting a good example?"
- Because I know you can, okay?
- Okay.
[chuckles]
That's the worst handshake ever.
Right, go on, Hazza. I'll see you later.
I'm gonna hand you a lolly stick
with the name of someone else in the class
and you are gonna spend
a couple of minutes
writing them a note on a Post-it
of something that you have seen them
do really well so far this term.
[indistinct chattering]
- [jazz music playing]
- [boy] Do we write their name?
So, hey, can you sit up properly?
And look at me
when I'm talking to you, Nacis.
Thank you very much.
People look up to you, Nacis,
and appreciate you in that classroom.
You keep everyone interested
in what's happening.
Why is English in this school
called English?
So if you go to Germany,
it will be called German?
- [Sophie] Yeah, it would be called German.
- Really?
Well, you joined us on a Five C,
and your target is a Six C,
which is quite high,
but we can definitely get there
because you're a bright girl
who's full of good ideas.
Do you remember what you got
at the end of primary school in English?
- Four something.
- [Sophie] Yeah, so you had a Four B.
And the end of year target is a Five B,
which means you're one third of the way
of where he needs to be,
which is absolutely fantastic.
Jahiem hasn't had a good week
this week, and...
What I mean by that is he's had
ten demerits already this week.
Why, Jahiem?
Why? Don't you care?
So why are you saying to your teacher
you don't care?
Stop this "don't care" attitude.
It's not glamorous.
If you think it is, it's not.
We're not gonna give up on you, Jahiem.
We're gonna keep going and keep trying.
I'm really behind schedule now, aren't I?
Half an hour.
- Hello there.
- [Sophie] Hello. Nice to see you.
Hello, Harry. How are you?
Thank you for being patient
and waiting for me.
So, Harry, in his writing assessment,
there's-there's a way to go,
but he wrote full sentences
with capital letters
and full stops at the end of each one,
- which is progress, Harry.
- Head up.
[Sophie] And now you're being able
to write them down yourself.
And I know that's tiring,
but when you do your GCSEs,
you will write them yourself, Harry,
so we need to build up towards that, okay?
- Okay.
- But it was really nice to see you.
Thank you
for all the hard work you're doing.
Thank you.
And I'll see you tomorrow, Harry.
- Yes.
- We'll be positive.
- And we'll keep being positive.
- Okay, thank you.
- [Sophie] Bye-bye. See you tomorrow.
- Bye-bye.
[crows cawing]
[boy] Whoa!
- Come on, let's go in.
- Harry!
- Harry!
- Three, two...
So these are the same spellings
you did yesterday.
Every single one that you get right,
I'll give you each a merit.
So there's an opportunity here
to get ten merits.
[Jahiem] I don't think I'll get anything.
Yes, you will. Have faith in yourself.
So the first one is "light."
- [Rasheed] L-i-g-h-t.
- L-i-g-h-t. Mark yourselves.
[Harry] Well, fish is f-i-s-h.
- [male teacher] Brilliant.
- [Harry] Yay!
- [Bobby] M-a-y.
- [male teacher] May. Okay.
Harry, number four.
- [Harry] Sleep is s-l-e-e-p.
- [male teacher] Brilliant, yes.
- High, is it? H-i-g-h.
- [male teacher] Yeah.
[Jahiem] Everybody's gonna get this one.
- [male teacher] What is number ten?
- [Rasheed] D-e-s-k?
- Yes! Ten out of ten!
- I got seven!
[male teacher]
Alright, write your score on there.
- See, I've got...
- [male teacher] So that's brilliant.
Fantastic. Really good. Very well done.
[students clamouring]
Oh, my God!
[boy] Oh, my God!
[boys screaming]
- [Harry shudders]
- Hey, your enemy is here!
[students giggling]
[overlapping voices]
[utensils clinking]
[Sophie] Team Don, who would like to share
something really amazing
that they did over the holidays?
Let's track.
Lewis, he's in the middle now.
Lewis, are you ready?
Or shall we come back to you?
- Yeah, yeah.
- [Sophie] Okay. Imogen.
Then we'll come back to Lewis.
So track Imogen, she's now at the back.
- Um, I went to Amsterdam.
- [Sophie] You went to Amsterdam? Wow.
- I saw lots of drug shops.
- [Sophie] Lots of drug shops?
- Yep, illegal drugs.
- [Sophie] Wow. Okay.
[Kyle] They can like,
- take drugs in other countries?
- [Sophie] Yes!
- [boy 1 chuckles]
- [boy 2] What?
[Sophie]
So, not all drugs, but some drugs,
'cos they have different drug laws
in Amsterdam.
- Kyle?
- Is that a different country?
[Sophie] Ask Imogen.
- Is that a different country?
- [students chuckle]
[Sophie]
Is that a different country, Imogen?
- [Imogen] Yes.
- [Sophie] Yes. Where--
Where would Kyle find this country
- if he was looking at a map?
- [students clamouring]
- [boy 1 screaming]
- [boy 2] Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
[students clamouring]
Why didn't you tell me?
[Ana] Sophie, I wanna talk to you
about something.
- [Sophie] Okay.
- My stepdad on Wednesday, um...
he said it's like 99.999
recurring percent...
- Okay.
- Now, in August,
we're gonna be moving to an area
around Bristol.
- [girl] Bri-- You're always moving.
- So it's what percent?
- Ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine...
- So, almost certain
- you're gonna move to Bristol?
- Yeah.
- Oh, Ana.
- [girl] You always move.
Like, we live with my auntie and my uncle,
so there's, like, eight people
in the house, and like,
our parents are kind of like,
getting bothered with each other,
- like, and wanna move apart.
- Mm. Yeah, I can understand.
I'm like, I was really sad about it.
I talked to Georgia about it this morning.
I was like, it's only in August,
but, like, it's really sad. Like...
[Sophie] That is really, really sad.
We really want you to stay here
'cos we know that you'll do really well.
- [Ana] Yeah.
- [girl] Can you persuade your parents?
[Ana] I'll try.
[girl] Like saying, "I'm an inspiration
- to loads of people like me."
- [giggles]
[Sophie] We'll-We'll--
We'll talk to them as well, Ana,
and see if there's anything we can do.
[students clamouring]
[Sophie] What's wrong?
[sniffles] I don't want Ana to move away.
[Sophie] Aw. She's a really good friend
of yours, isn't she?
I know Ana
is one of your really good friends
and I'm sure it means a lot to see
how much you care about her.
But sometimes our friends do move around,
and these things will happen.
But it doesn't mean you'll stop
being friends if she goes to Bristol.
- Yeah.
- You can still see each other.
But we've got loads and loads
of time till-till then.
All of these things that are
gonna happen between now and then
are just gonna make
your friendship even stronger.
We're gonna go to Jamie's farm together,
we're gonna go to...
all these school trips together,
we're gonna read stories together.
You're gonna be such good friends,
and a few miles is not gonna stop that.
- Okay?
- [girl sniffles]
[students clamouring]
Okay, so we've got
some very exciting news today.
The exciting news is,
that Rasheed and Bobby...
have made so much progress
that you are now ready to go back
into the English group.
- No, no, please.
- [Sophie] Yeah.
- No, no!
- [Sophie] Yes!
- No.
- [Sophie] It's exciting.
- No, I don't wanna go back in there.
- [Jahiem] Yay!
[Sophie]
Yay! Well done, Rasheed and Bobby!
- You have done really, really well.
- [Harry laughs]
[Bobby]
Can't we wait until the end of the year?
[Sophie]
You are ready to go back in the class.
So if he makes it, I'll be on my own?
- [Sophie chuckles]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, you make mistakes.
[Jahiem, Sophie chuckle]
I don't wanna be on my own.
That's embarrassing.
- [Sophie] What?
- [Harry grunts]
No. Harry, we think that you two
are working at the same level, okay?
- So, that's why we think--
- [Harry] I'm working far away.
And what is really great is,
when you had your assessment,
you're still on track to go back in
before the end of the year.
So you've made lots of progress too,
which is really good.
We've all gone for it with our hands now.
- [utensils clinking]
- [Harry] Well done.
[male teacher] It's a good pursuit.
Well, you've earnt it, so congratulations.
[Harry] Why do you like Sophie's lessons?
[Bobby] I got really interested.
Did you, now?
Well, that's the same lesson
that they have in Don.
[in Latvian] We might be a little bit late
because we're walking so slowly.
[Ana speaking in Latvian]
[in English] Ice cream as well.
I find Shakespeare really confusing.
Why can't he just use English?
I, can't, thou...
- Take your script with you.
- Thou, ought, nether, hither, thy...
art by this coil of...
- [boy] Uh-oh.
- [laughs]
Bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look at what you've done
'Cos baby now we got bad blood
Now we got problems
All I can see is--
I can't even see anything!
The trees look circular. That is awesome.
I can't believe you're gonna leave.
- It's gonna make so sad.
- I can't either.
[Ana] Yeah, so there's eight people
around the house all the time,
- and it's just--
- [boy] Eight people?
She lives with her aunt, her uncle,
her cousin, her other cousin,
- her dad, and her mum, and her brother.
- My stepdad.
And isn't it becoming harder to pay--
to pay rent? To pay rent?
[Ana] Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Um, so we're trying to move alone,
but in here, it's really, really costly.
- London's getting way too expensive.
- [Ana] Oh, yeah, yeah.
I think the VAT for everything is...
We didn't do that in math.
- [boy] When did Skittles cost 1.20-pound?
- I know, right?
- They used to be like under a pound!
- My mum used to buy them for, like, 50p
'cos, at one point,
she went through a phase
where she was addicted to Skittles
and she just stocked up the cupboard
full of Skittles.
It was so funny.
Right, I'm going down the slide now.
- Yes, so am I. No, no, no!
- [Ana] No, Krishnan!
- Three, two, one, go!
- [girls screaming]
[woman]
Okay, so, Harry, remember, let's try
and get into the meditation zone
this time, okay?
'Cos I remember last time,
you were a little bit giggly.
You can close your eyes
or keep your eyes open.
I'd prefer to keep my eyes open.
I'm scared of the dark.
Okay, Harry, just...
[timer dings]
[female on recording] Deliberately
take three or four deep breaths,
feel the air as it enters your nostrils,
fills your chest and abdomen,
and then flows out again.
And let your breath settle
into its natural rhythm
without forcing it
or trying to control it.
Notice where you feel your breath
most vividly, most predominately.
Rest your attention lightly,
the way a butterfly rests on a flower.
The moment that we realise
our attention has wandered
is the magic moment of the practice,
because that's the moment
we have the chance to be really different.
[soft chuckle]
Do you want stop there? How do you feel?
Fine. He passed out.
- He fell asleep.
- Do you feel a bit calmer?
- I fell asleep.
- [boys chuckle]
- I'm too tired.
- Harry, how do you feel?
Fine. Just chillaxing.
Mm.
[inaudible dialogue]
[woman] So, I just want to give an update
on Harry's academic progress.
He has made... stupendous progress.
His English level was a 1A,
and he's currently a 3B plus,
which is almost six sub-levels of progress
which is really mind-blowing.
It's really important, Harry,
that you hear that
and that you know how much progress
you have made.
I think sometimes it still feels hard
and you feel like,
"Oh, there's still so much to go.
I'm still at a level three.
Other people in my class
are at a level four or level five."
But they haven't made as much progress
as you have in one year.
Grant, we are so delighted with Harry,
and I hope that you also feel happy
with the progress
that he's made this year.
I am. I didn't think he'd even last
a term at school,
but, yeah, he's impressed me, yeah.
- [Grant chuckles]
- He better be.
He said,
"You stay in school for a year," yeah,
that he'd give me a PlayStation 4
and anything I want for Christmas too.
- Oh, my gosh! [chuckles]
- Oh, my goodness.
[woman]
So some things have been going well,
but there's other things
that are still concerning,
and so I want to just table them here.
His language skills,
his social interactions, his self-esteem,
his concentration skills,
those are all things that we're still...
gonna be working on.
I'm getting texts every day
saying he's on detention, detention, de--
Every day. Every-every day.
[Harry] Yesterday, I wasn't.
Every day. I got one yesterday,
saying you was in detention.
Yeah, and I think this is
coming to Harry's ups and downs
in terms of his behaviour,
which we want to talk about,
because I think
Harry gets detentions and he--
- For things that are easily avoidable.
- [Harry] What time will this end?
- Will it be like 3:40?
- [Grant chuckles]
- What, this meeting?
- Yeah.
You're wondering about
whether you're getting out
of your whole maths class.
- [woman] Can we get back to this?
- [Harry] Yeah.
[woman]
Um, what are your thoughts for his future?
What-what do you hope for him
in, like, his time at Reach
over the next year or so?
- In the future, what do you--
- Yeah. It's up to him.
I just wanted to make sure
he can just read and write properly.
That's-that's all
I expect from him, really.
'Cos he will get on in life
if he can read and write properly.
If you can't do them two things,
you're not getting nowhere in life.
[Harry] You-you did.
Yeah, but it's hard. It's hard.
It's not like it was when I was at school.
[English teacher]
Can we please get out our English folders?
Make sure your planner's on your desk.
If you're waiting for your planner
to arrive, can you get out your copy
of The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time.
Mikel, Tia, Eliot, and Fahima
have already followed my instructions.
They have got their copies.
- So you'll do some-- you'll do some "D."
- Uh-huh.
[Sophie] I hope you have a great lesson
and you can tell me how you get on, okay?
- Okay. I'm trying.
- You feeling alright?
[English teacher] You now need
to turn over your post-learning quiz.
Write your name on it,
and then turn around,
ready for the spellings. Kyle.
- One day, the witch... hmm.
- Cast.
- Good. A "hmm" on me.
- A spell.
[Sophie]
What does it mean to cast a spell?
It means to like put a magic wand
or something...
Yeah, so it's "put a magic spell on you."
Good. Okay. I just have to go and get...
something from there.
- Okay, bye.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- Bye-bye.
You're leaving your phone.
That's alright.
I'm not expecting you to call anyone.
My mum might call you.
[Sophie humming]
- Hmm, look what I've got.
- See, one of us is leaving.
Who's leaving?
Can you tell us who's leaving?
- What is going on here then?
- Is he leaving?
- One of us is leaving?
- [Sophie] Why have we got a cake?
Oh, Jahiem is shuffling along now?
Now one of us is leaving,
both of us are leaving.
[Sophie] What do you mean you're leaving?
Because we've got a cake,
that's what you said.
- You're both going into English.
- No!
- Yes! Yes!
- No!
That's really great,
'cos we think you're ready
to go back in the class.
- I can't spell. Um...
- But Harry--
I don't know that letter.
We're still going
to work together in English.
We're just gonna work together
in the classroom.
- Oh, Hazla. It's a good thing.
- [Harry] It's not.
- [Sophie] It's a great thing. It is.
- [Harry] It's terrible.
[Sophie]
You're gonna be in the class, Harry.
What are you worried about?
- What are you not looking forward to?
- [Harry] Getting homework.
[Sophie] No, you'll--
you'll get different homework, okay?
It'll be-- It won't be
the same homework as everyone.
You've got lots to say about things
when we talk to you about them,
and you're missing out on them
by being in this group.
You're missing out
on all those great discussions.
You'll be a king of English, Harry.
Yay!
- No!
- Yes!
Thirteen-nine! Ah!
No!
[laughing]
- Yes! Seventeen to 17.
- [Sophie] Alright.
[English teacher] You need to be
tracking me, please, in five,
four, three, two, and one.
Tracking me, please.
Word of the day, where did we get up to?
[girl] "Inarticulate."
[English teacher]
"Inarticulate." Okay, very good.
How do you spell it, sorry, first of all?
- I-n-a-r...
- [Sophie] Okay, write it down.
- [English teacher] Yeah.
- ...t-i-c-u-l-a-t-e.
[Sophie] It means not--
Someone who's not able
to express themself.
[English teacher] Thanks very much.
Not able. Able. A-b-l-e.
[whispering] So that's the definition.
[in normal voice] So how can you use
"inarticulate" in a sentence?
"The inart-- inarticulate man
struggled to be understood"?
[male teacher] Yep. In a moment,
I'd like you to write your homework
in your homework planner
if you haven't done so already.
And then start the "Do Now."
You need to answer these questions
in full sentences.
[Sophie] So what shall we say instead
of "children"? These...
We're not gonna say "these children"
'cos we wrote that there.
What can we say
instead of "these children"?
Kids?
Hmm. How might we describe them?
What kind of things?
Are they poor, gentle?
What third word could we use
- to describe them?
- Kind.
Poor, gentle, kind children.
So, "these children should be
with their families, being looked after.
These poor, gentle, kind..."
triplet there,
"...children should be able
to be healthy."
Let's write this down.
They should...
- Can I draw on your vein?
- No, thank you.
"They should be able to..."
What should they be able to do, Harry?
Put that down
unless you wanna do the writing.
[Harry] Are they all going home
straightaway? They all are?
Look, Dylan's going home already.
What a saddo.
[Sophie] So expectations get higher
as you get older, don't they?
- Mm-hmm.
- They're gonna get higher, aren't they?
The higher you go up the school.
So let's sit up
and let's do this reflection.
So, you sign this commitment
that you're doing whatever it takes
to make things different
that may give you a better future.
The Whatever It Takes commitment states,
"I am ready to do whatever it takes
to be successful at school
and in life beyond.
What does success look like for you
when you're older?"
Twenty-five years old. Imagine it.
- Harry is aged 25.
- Maybe dead.
Even my dad will be dead at that age.
Twenty-five?
How-how many years is that?
Twelve, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
It's 13 years. So, in 13 years,
I don't think I'll be dead.
- I'll be in my '40s.
- Oh, you'll be old.
- I'll be old, yeah. Older.
- You'll be grey and wrinkly.
[Sophie] Harry. Okay, so what are you
gonna be doing when you're 25?
- Trying to stay alive.
- Trying to stay alive?
So you're gonna spend
each day just surviving?
- Do you think you might have a job?
- Yeah.
- What kind of job will you have?
- Don't know.
- What do you think you're good at?
- PE. PE.
- [Sophie] PE? You wanna be a PE Teacher?
- Mm-hm.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
[Sophie] Okay. What do you think
you're gonna have to be like as a teacher
in order to be a good teacher?
- Pretty hench.
- Pretty hench? [chuckles]
What, to be a PE teacher?
You're gonna be hench?
- I'd hate to have too much muscles.
- Why?
People always have muscles like that
that's bigger than their head.
- Yeah. You have to sign it.
- Then you have proof.
- That's me, that is you.
- I can't-- I can't do it.
- You do it. You go first.
- Life's so hard.
I had to write my name down before Sophie.
New signature.
- Okay.
- Oh, I gotta do study for jobs, Sophie.
Why do you need your jobs in here?
Hey, Harry, put your blazer on
if you're going to see Andy.
[Harry murmuring]
[birds chirping]
[Grant] I sort of try to stay
in my little--
My boundary, as I call it. My bubble.
I call my house "my bubble."
And I-- You know,
if I go out of my boundary,
how am I gonna know
where I'm going if I can't read?
I've never been abroad,
so I've not craved going to these places.
I'm not going on no plane.
I'd be too nervous.
I do feel like the education
let me down a bit when I was in school.
I might've, you know,
got out of this bubble
and maybe explored a bit more,
but, you know, my life's gonna fly by
and it's gonna be--
it's gonna be all over, innit, really?
But you just gotta live with it.
Even Samuel's a jerk.
Basically.
Oh, I won't tell Kyle. I won't tell Kyle.
It's just us two.
- Please.
- [boy indistinct]
Well, tell me now
'cos I ain't gonna snitch.
Come on, Nacis, you know I don't snitch.
- Wow, is it about my thingy?
- No, no, no.
- You sure?
- Yes, I'm sure. [giggles]
If I didn't fight for him
to get him in that school, I think...
he would have gone down the road
of not good.
I do get emotional quite a bit
'cos I feel like
he's growing up quite fast.
[boys chattering]
[Grant]
Kids these days don't think ahead, really.
They can go on benefits
and just live on the state and--
I don't want that for my child.
I never claimed any type of benefits.
I-I want my kids to be out there
and getting a good job
and a good education, but...
it's a struggle.
Life is very stressful.
[students chattering]
- [boy 1] Yeah.
- [boy 2] Don't say it.
[Nacis] Oh, my God, Jamie's farm!
[Jamie] Okay, welcome, Reach Academy.
We are extremely excited
that you've arrived.
You will really, really,
really enjoy your week.
And most important thing that you guys
can do is to say yes to things.
Have a go.
Ooh.
Look at that chicken.
Nacis, you're not allowed
to eat the chicken.
[sheep bleating]
[boys] Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
[Jamie] Perfect. Okay. Send her on.
This is actually quite fun.
If one of them touches my legs,
yeah, I'm gonna beat them up.
[Harry mimicking bleating noises]
[piano music playing]
Wow, that was amazing. My God.
[female teacher] That bit of tree
isn't actually that strong.
Oh, Christian might be flirting with Ana.
Hey, Ana!
Is that your new lover boy?
Who's your top five?
It'd be Ellie, Morgan, Tia, and then Ana.
No. Morgan, Ellie... Tia.
You have a real crush on Morgan, innit?
[Harry] I need a--
I'm having a shower after dinner.
Tia! Adham likes you!
He keeps talking about you.
- When did that happen?
- [girl giggles]
[Sophie] So you did get a little bit.
- What?
- What?
[students chattering]
[guitar music playing]
- [woman] You can use your hands, guys.
- [Ana laughs]
Where did-- How are we supposed to do it
without a shovel?
If you eat my hand,
I'm gonna eat you for dinner.
- [man] Are your hands alright?
- [Jahiem] Yeah.
[men cheering]
Ha!
[woman]
He can be a bit nervous as a horse,
but it's still about
getting that connection
and responding to your instructions.
[clicks tongue] Trot on! Deary me.
Good boy.
- Do you think you can have a go?
- Yeah. I'll try. [chuckles]
[woman] Okay.
We're gonna be...
[male teacher]
Get down there. Let's try to catch it.
- Chicken or cockerel?
- Chicken.
- Chicken!
- See, I'm a master at this game
- 'cos it's an old Latvian game.
- Whoo.
[boy laughs]
[man] Countdown on five.
[all] Four, three, two, one!
[all clamouring]
[fire rustling]
[people applauding]
[woman] "Kyle, I think you've been
one of the stars this week.
I hope you can carry on being this example
to other children in the year
because I know that others
have benefited a lot
from learning from your model behaviour,
so keep it up."
[Sophie] Yeah, Morgan,
I agree that you're a very--
a very compassionate person.
And I think you've done lots of things
that you might not have done before.
And you've helped other people
to enjoy them,
so thank you very much.
[students applauding]
Harry, I look at you chilled out now,
all relaxed in the sun,
with your sunglasses on,
and I think that just shows
how far you've come this week.
I think you've had a fantastic week.
That's the only word I can describe.
You're getting stuck in,
you've learnt new things,
but above all, and the word
that keeps coming back to me
is "calm" and in a happy place.
I hope that what you've learned
about yourself here,
that you're able to take it back to London
and keep improving in those ways.
And I think you'll find focus in class
a lot easier
and just listening to people
and enjoying things a lot more
because you're calmer within.
[students applauding]
[Sophie]
Okay, before we start our assessments,
I'm gonna get what we need.
So you know your questions.
I've put them on paper for everyone.
You've got plenty of time.
You should be able to use
lots of detail in your answers.
Okay, your time starts... now.
If you've got a question,
put your hand up.
Good luck, Team Don.
[whispering indistinctly]
[Sophie] That's level six, being able
to say two different things, okay?
And then what we should do
is you should start listening...
[whispering indistinctly]
[Sophie] All pens need to be down
in five, four, three, two, one.
- Well done, Team Don.
- [boy] Yes!
Give yourselves a round of applause!
Well done, Team Don!
[students cheering, applauding]
[knocks on door]
[Georgia] Come in!
- Hello.
- Hi.
So, tell me about Jamie's farm.
What was the best bit?
If you could pick one.
Um, wood chopping.
[Georgia] Is it the first time
you've been away from home?
- No.
- No?
So you didn't mind being away from dad
for that amount of time or anything?
- Yeah. I don't know.
- You did mind? Or you don't mind?
- No, I don't mind.
- Okay. Well, that's good.
How's your anger, then?
How's it been since I've seen you?
Fine. I don't...
At home with dad, all been good so far?
Good. I'm really pleased.
So, can you remember what this is?
This is you.
[Harry] Looks like I was born in the '80s,
about to go for a disco.
[Georgia chuckles] So, you said
when you get angry, you get hot,
you swear, you push,
and you walk around.
Is there anything else
that we can add to this
that you can remember or not?
It's just those things?
This is like a road of your life so far,
and that's gonna go on
for years and years and years
and years and years.
I'm guessing you need
a bigger picture then.
- Pardon?
- I think you need a bigger one.
[Georgia] So when we think about it,
some of your most happy...
happiest memories, happiest experiences,
is there a particular time
when you remember
having a really good time with a friend?
[Harry mutters]
[Georgia] Christmases? Or any holidays?
Any times with your dad?
Nothing?
Have a think,
and we can revisit this one.
And then we're gonna...
think about some of the harder things
that you've had to deal with
and note them down,
because we have to deal with hard things
to be able to get through
and go into the good ones.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
Shall we put your hand print on the wall?
- Yeah, sure.
- Yeah?
That was a good one.
Looks good.
[students chattering]
This is talking to you about Year Eight
because it's really important
that you know what's going on next year.
So Year Eight is going to be
a very, very exciting year.
Your homework is going to stay similar,
but one of the main changes
is that in English,
you're going to start to do coursework
to get you ready for your GCSEs,
your A-levels, and university.
Your "Do Now" is on the board.
You have two minutes.
You need to write down any questions
you have about Year Eight.
Once you get your pen, you can start.
You've got two minutes.
[boy yawns]
[students clamouring]
And what we're gonna do today
is we're gonna write a really honest,
reflective letter to yourself.
And the point of that letter
is to think about all of the great things
you have done this year,
and to be honest with yourself
about what you haven't done so well at
that you want to change in Year Eight.
[whispering] Hmm. Yeah, that's true.
"Saying yes to everything."
What a great thing.
Oh, I'm really proud of the things
you said yesterday
and you've dealt really well
with the fact that you're going.
And we'll keep this letter,
but we can post it to you
if you want, next year.
You can tell us how you're doing.
[in normal voice] So, Team Don,
today is our last day as Seven Don.
When we come back,
we're gonna be Eight Don. Hoorah!
And, Ana, it has been lovely
having you with us for this one year.
It's sad
that you won't be with us forever,
but we really hope we can hear your news,
and we'd love to--
love to hear how you're getting on.
Thank you.
[boy 1] Yeah. Good luck next year as well.
[Sophie] Keep going, boys.
[girl squeals]
It's gonna be so sad.
- [boy 2] Yeah.
- Down on the floor.
[students chattering]
- [woman laughs]
- Is it margarita time?
No, that's not-- See you at five o'clock.
[car horn honks]
[mellow music playing]
[engine starts]
[Sophie] Hey, Harry, you've got
your blazer on now. Very smart.
- New one.
- [Grant] Yes.
- [Sophie] New blazer.
- [Grant chuckles]
- [Sophie] So, how are you feeling?
- Fine.
Yeah? How did you get on this morning
with your homework?
Which one are you struggling with
the most, the English?
All of them.
I've done a tiny bit.
I think I've done a tiny bit of science.
[chuckles] Nicely.
So much.
It's really important that you learn a bit
about The Merchant of Venice,
ready so that you'll understand it
when we read it tomorrow, okay?
And then you've got your book review
and you've got some science
and maths questions.
I don't wanna stay after school.
- Come on.
- [Harry] No.
You said you were gonna stay half an hour.
- [Harry] But it's too long.
- It's not too long.
[Sophie] If you won't have done
your homework, Harry,
you'd be in homework catch-up.
[Grant] Straightaway.
It's not good, is it?
You're giving up already?
Yeah, I understand it's quite stressful
to be the day before school
and to feel like
you've got an impossible amount
of work to do,
but I'll sit here
and I'll help you with it, okay?
Because you're ready to be
in the main English class now, Harry.
And it's important
for when you start reading the book
that everyone is on the same page, okay?
Okay, so, today,
we're going to look at The Tempest,
and then we're going to talk about
what about Shakespeare's time
can we see in the play?
[instruments on TV playing]
Hi, friends.
My name is William Shakespeare,
- but I suppose you've heard about me.
- [students laughing]
[voice-over] For my company,
The Lord Chamberlain's Men,
you could get in to see a play
for a penny.
The standees were known as "groundlings."
The members of the audience
would drop their coins into a box
as they entered,
hence the term "box office."
There could be as many
as 500 for a performance
and they kept commenting
all that was taking place on the stage.
[female teacher]
Okay, question number one,
what were the people who paid a penny
to stand called?
Lewis?
- [Lewis] Cramps?
- No.
- [girls giggle]
- [female teacher] Rachel?
- [Rachel] The groundlings.
- [female teacher] It was the groundlings.
[boy] Oh!
[female teacher]
What river was The Globe built next to?
Kellina?
- [Kellina] The Thames?
- [female teacher] The Thames.
So, the type of question that we're
going to be doing is this, on the board.
Do you think The Tempest or Iqbal
is a better story
for teaching Reach pupils
about good and evil?
There is no kind of way
that you would organise your ideas.
I just want you to get
as many ideas as possible.
Is Iqbal better or is The Tempest better
for teaching pupils about good and evil?
Gradually, your targets are gonna change,
as by the time you get to GCSE,
you will need to do
extended writing in your exams.
[Sophie] You're getting to a difficult
time and things are getting hard,
and at the moment
they're starting to get hard,
you're saying, "Well, I don't care."
But you have to keep caring.
[male teacher]
When you write an essay for me,
you're actually writing
a GCSE question.
And that's the dream, that's the goal.
So you can get the highest maximum marks
in your assessment.
[woman]
It's harder than a mainstream class
because you have to concentrate,
you can't take as many breaks...
[Sophie] Harry, that was rude.
You are spoiling this for everyone.
- It's alright, people. I'm leaving.
- [Sophie] Thank you.
The reason that you're getting
these demerits
and sent out of lessons
is nearly always for the same thing.
When things go a bit wrong,
you take it out on the people
that are closest to you.
- Yeah, Jahiem.
- [Sophie] Harry, stop talking over me.
You have just been incredibly rude to me,
and I care about you.
It's not fair.
I've got it from my bag.
Okay, Harry,
I haven't said that I disagree.
- I found it there.
- That you didn't-- Let's move on then.
You can ask Tia.
I found it yesterday in my bag.
[Sophie] We've got a bit of a situation.
Would you be able to-- Are you free?
Have you told your dad
what happened on Friday?
- [blows raspberry] No.
- [Grant, Sophie] No.
In the science lesson, Isobel,
his science teacher,
asked Harry to say a word,
that was "photosynthesis",
which is quite a difficult word
to say, I agree.
I said it, like, a hundred times.
"Try and say it",
and then she gave me a demerit,
and then that's when I stopped trying.
She said, "Try to say it"?
Yeah. And I couldn't say it
and I'm trying,
and she went, "Demerit for not trying."
Then Isobel gave me another demerit,
so that was three demerits--
[Sophie] One-one demerit
was for saying that Isobel was ugly.
- Wasn't it?
- Yeah.
[Sophie] Which is really rude.
So one of the demerits
was not for not trying,
it was for being really rude
about a teacher.
People are trying to support you,
and it's okay to feel frustrated.
It's not okay to take it out on people.
And probably, I know you better
than lots of the other teachers.
I can see sometimes
that you're frustrated,
but everyone wants to help you
and wants you to be successful.
They're never trying to embarrass you
or to make you have a horrible lesson.
What are you gonna do to make sure
you're not on step one again?
Come on, Harry.
- [Grant] Come on.
- Don't be rude.
[Sophie] Yeah. That's the most
important thing, to not be rude to people.
I agree, Harry.
Rudeness of any sort is only something
that we've seen recently.
At the beginning of the year,
Harry was never rude to anyone.
It's been little things.
But saying Isobel is ugly
isn't really a little thing anymore.
[Grant] No, it's not.
[Harry] That's disgusting.
Look-look at that,
there's some ninja guy over there.
What is he doing?
Oh, the guy thinks
he's Jackie Chan or something.
Look at him, throwing fists.
In Year Seven, I was alright,
and then in Year Eight,
um, I've been removed from lessons
quite a lot.
And I think the school is...
I think it's too difficult for me,
'cos, like, you have to wake up early,
like about... about 6:00,
it depends how far you live too.
Like me, I-I know I live, like,
just across the road,
just round the corner,
but still, you have to
wake up early, about 6:00,
by the time you have breakfast,
by the time you leave,
by the time you come
and meet your friends,
and then you have to go straight
into the school, and then--
by the time you come back,
you have to do your homework,
then eat, then sleep.
It's the exact same thing
over and over again.
My dad thinks like it was...
He-- I shouldn't have done, like,
the things I done, like
keep getting excluded
and all the things like that.
Don't know what's gonna happen next year.
Doesn't matter where I go,
where I don't go.
Life is just life.
[Sophie] We'll...
Have to?
No. Look at this word. We'll...
Have.
Begins with "a."
Ar-- Are-- Are've-- I don't know.
- So this is a long--
- Can we just read it?
- Do I have to do this?
- Yeah.
So sit up,
and then you'll be able to see it better.
- You can't see it from there.
- I can.
Okay. Sit up, Harry.
That's it.
- [sighs] What if I didn't do this?
- Come on. Harry, sit up.
- [Sophie] What's wrong, Harry?
- Don't wanna do it.
- Why? 'Cos it's difficult?
- No.
- Why not then?
- Just don't wanna do it.
[woman] So, shall we tell Harry
why we've had this meeting?
Last year, we were really proud of you,
because, sometimes,
you would have real wobbles,
but you would pick yourself up again
and then you'd manage
to go back into lesson,
and you used to do
your homework really well.
And then this year,
the thing that has been really difficult
has been you-you being in lessons.
And in, you know, three months,
you've done seven
pieces of work in English,
and in maths you've done two.
This year, I asked Cameron,
and he said that,
"Harry has not given me enough work
for me to be able to mark
to see what his level is
'cos he's just not done enough work."
So that's really worrying for us.
You need to be in your lessons
and you need to be learning.
[Sophie] Yeah, I think you see
what Mangala is saying
that although you enjoy the bits of school
that aren't the lessons,
the lessons are the bit
that you're really here for
and the bit that's not going that well.
[woman]
What we have said and what we're gonna--
the message that we're gonna give
to the local authority in Hounslow,
is that right now,
we don't feel like Harry is making
academic progress in Reach,
so you're not improving
with your learning.
You're-you're improving
in many other ways, you know.
You're becoming really-- You're really
friendly, you're really polite.
Really helpful and really good fun.
Like, we all enjoy spending time with you
and we appreciate all of the time
that we spend with you.
- Yeah.
- So, we're saying that,
but we're saying that, you know,
the thing that Harry's here for
is really to make progress
in his English, and his maths,
and his science, and that's not happening.
We're-we're doing as much as we can
and we can't think of a lot more
- that we can do, and it's not--
- Cool.
It's not really working at the moment
for you 'cos you're not being--
you're not able to be successful
in the way that you were last year.
Can you move me to a different class?
So I don't think
that moving to a different class
would necessarily change anything.
[woman] What do you think?
What do you want to say?
[kids] That's okay.
- Huh?
- [man] Huh?
Oh, that's nasty, that!
Oh, that chicken just laid an egg!
That's disgusting, man.
They said,
"You're going to a different school."
I can't be in class,
'cos, apparently, I don't do my work.
And I can't stay at home
because, apparently, it's illegal.
And, um, I just help with the nursery.
[kids chattering]
[Harry] Ah! Okay. Ready.
Let go! Let go! Come on. [groans]
- That's good. Over.
- Thank you.
I've got you.
I'm stuck!
[Sophie] We knew that Harry
was probably going to have to leave
because we just weren't able to teach him.
It's a small school.
It was just a lot of resources.
In order to meet Harry's needs,
it meant that
we weren't able to meet
everyone else's needs in the same way.
For Harry, it's just that lack of belief.
It was hard to always be behind,
and I don't think
that he could really cope with that.
It did work really well.
We just couldn't maintain it
long enough for it to...
to make the difference
that I wanted it to make, I think.
That's what's really sad.
- [Harry] I can't see what you're hearing.
- No, but I can hear it.
Is that the-- Is that the ice cream?
[Harry] Yeah.
Is that what we get for dessert?
It's quite exciting, isn't it?
And pizza.
[Sophie] That's such an elegant way
to eat an ice cream, Harry.
Can I go now?
[Sophie] Can't we wait in here for longer?
I don't know
what I'm supposed to be doing.
- Huh?
- Do you want your cards now?
Want me to read it?
Ryan...
- Rasheed...
- Let me show you.
So I think some people
didn't get to do it.
So, Ryan says,
"Have a good-- Have a good time
at your new school. Good luck. Ryan."
"To Harry, have a good time
in your new school,
keep out of trouble.
- I will Snapchat you."
- Who's that?
[Sophie] Morgan.
"To Harry, good luck at your new school.
You will be missed.
- I hope you go far in life."
- So let's go to the next one.
"Dear Harry, I've really enjoyed
working with you
and getting to know you
over the past two years.
You have a unique
and amazing view of the world
and I know that you can go on
to do wonderful things if you want to.
I remember your first day,
and I'm really sad
that I don't get to continue
being your head of year.
We will miss you.
I hope you stay in touch. Love, Sophie."
[Ed] Look after yourself, okay?
And I think that the idea of you
working with young people later
is a really good one.
So I think you could be a really great--
You like-- You've got a real gift
with those little ones.
So you just bear that in mind, okay?
Take care of yourself.
And if there's anything we can do to help,
you can drop in anytime.
- Okay?
- Okay.
- Bye.
- All the best. Take care.
[kid giggling]
[kids clamouring]
- [girl 1 screams]
- I've got you!
- Now you've got to try and catch me.
- Got you again!
[girl 2] Try and catch me now!
[man] George. Good job. Three.
Ready up. Proud of you.
Okay. Ready up. Carlos!
[Harry groans]
This is my last day at school.
Can I have a hug before you go?
Bye. High five.
- Bye.
- [woman] We're gonna miss big Harry!
Harry's been talking about you all week.
- Careful.
- [woman] Good, Riley.
[girl] Harry!
Bye!
- Good luck, Harry. I'm gonna miss you.
- Yeah. I'm not gonna miss you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
[Harry] I always thought
I was gonna get kicked out anyway.
If it was gonna be in Year Nine,
Year Eight, Year Ten? Don't know.
This is the right move, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm happy
because I'm going to a new school.
I'd give it, like, five days,
probably be kicked out.
Bye!
[tires squeal]
[Rebecca] So, we were gonna
talk to mum about your school,
'cos you're not at the school
that you were at, are you?
- No.
- [Rebecca] So tell me about that.
- What happened?
- Uh, I got excluded.
[Rebecca] Okay. What for?
Um...
Fighting. Uh, and I stabbed somebody.
- [Rebecca] What with?
- [Casey] A knife.
But the main reason they've decided
to take him out of the school
was because he took an overdose at school.
- Yeah.
- Um...
[sighs]
Casey, at the moment, what we're
trying to do is get to know you
so that we make sure
that we can look after you.
So, this is the really, really important
bit of the visit, okay?
You're gonna read from here,
from "I will do whatever it takes..."
down to here.
And these are all the things in school
that we ask our students to do.
- [Casey] Who's gonna read that?
- [Rebecca] You are. Okay.
"I believe I am capable
of academic success.
And I'm ready to do whatever it takes
to be successful at school
and in life beyond school."
[Rebecca] That was amazing.
What were you worried about?
That was so good.
- Are you ready to join Reach Academy?
- Mm, dunno.
[chuckles]
You need to be sure before you can sign.
- Say it properly.
- Yes.
You are going to feel proud of yourself,
because this is the start
of you going to a school
where you're gonna learn things.
[indistinct chattering]
Well done. Amazing.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you, Sophie.
[Grant] Stretch his hands. "S..."
It's a "D."
A "D." A "D."
Da-da-da-da.
Uh... bouncing. Uh...
[indistinct chattering]
[soft music playing]