Summer Heights High (2007) s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
You have some stuff that you learn, but other stuff doesn't need to be taught at school.
The canteen's crap this year.
Yeah.
They changed all the bad foods into the good foods.
They're just tight.
Don't let you do anything.
No iPods, no phones, no hats, no undertops.
I do special history.
Yeah.
We stopped special maths after Year 7.
I've been in every special class since I got into high school.
I remember one excursion, we got to go to this park, and it had, um What were they called? Oh, I don't know.
I didn't go.
Oh.
Unfortunately, bullying's a problem in this school.
White shoes are not on, mate.
Black shoes or you just don't get to play at lunchtime.
So, what I do is I work with the victims, but also the perpetrators.
Get with them one on one to try and locate the root causes of what's going on.
I didn't do it, sir.
Didn't do what, Jonah? Nothing.
I've got a Year 7 boy out there crying, saying you tormented him, you bullied him and you threw his schoolbag over the train line.
How is that appropriate behaviour? There's a difference between bullying and joking around.
I'm joking around with him, sir.
He doesn't get it, it's not my fault.
He takes it serious.
It may be how you see it.
I could tell him a knock-knock joke and he'd start fuckin' crying 'cause he's a homo.
I've got to tell you, it's not appropriate.
Now It's not appropriate because he's a homo.
We were trying to make have a fun time on the way before school.
Was it fun for Ben? Yes.
He just didn't get that it was fun.
Yes.
Weren't even bullying him, sir.
We just punk'd him.
I said, "You got punk'd" afterwards, and he didn't even get it.
He took it serious.
I don't get it.
What does that mean - "punk'd"? It's a show, sir - it's a TV show.
Don't you even watch TV? TV show? Listening! Please, cast.
Liam, I'd appreciate some manners, thank you.
Candice! # In olden days, a glimpse of stocking # Oh, well, the production's open to any students that want to be involved.
And they really love it.
For some it's a highlight of their year.
It's an upbeat sort of a production.
And I think it's a lot of fun.
# Anything goes.
# Right, left, right, up.
Got Mr Gregson helping me out.
He's one of my senior drama teachers.
And he is from a dance and theatre background.
And he's a real asset.
That's where you hold it for the freeze at the end.
She loves my crowd scenes.
I do my I direct the big stuff on stage that she can't handle.
The mayhem scenes, she loves.
And there's plenty of mayhem going on in this production.
There is.
On and off the stage.
That's what I always say.
She's stolen that from me - on and off stage.
Well, I'm in one of my off-years at the moment.
I direct every second production.
So this is Meredith's turn this year.
I tend to do the wow shows, and then each year every second year, we do the the traditionals.
It's difficult for me sometimes taking the the back seat in my off-years.
I find it hard sort of sitting back and letting her, you know, do her thing.
Sometimes I "What's she doing?" But that's her choice.
She makes choices that I don't always agree with.
Listening to your director, please! Mrs Cotton is in charge.
Could I get two strong boys to I have done Lord knows how many shows over the years.
I tend to do the more modern or cutting-edge productions, and I write my own stuff, original musicals.
I've had a fair bit of critical acclaim for that.
And this is, um, big show I did last year, 'T sunamarama', which was about the tsunami tragedy, set to the music of Bananarama.
But, no, I find plenty to do when it comes to doing Meredith's shows.
Thanks, Rodney.
# I get no kick # From champagne # Take a sip.
I've tried to reinterpret the songs with a modern perspective.
# I get no kick from champagne # Swirl around.
We work well together, and I help her out when, you know, if Meredith's feeling lost with anything, and, you know, I point out where she might be going wrong.
And it's a real help.
# I get a kick # Out of you # You # You # Make it really aggressive and macho.
# You, you! # The program's a first, I believe.
And I think it's brilliant.
It really is giving an opportunity for one of our girls to go to another school that's totally different and experience a life that's nothing like what she would experience here at Summer Heights.
It's a swap program.
And I guess they're hoping to prove that you can get an equally valid and valuable educational experience in either the public or the private system.
And we're looking forward to meeting our exchange student, aren't we? Perhaps, Chantelle, would you like to We've got a The school sent us over a tape so we'd be able to see the student in it.
Thanks, Chantelle.
At Hillford Girls Grammar.
We pride ourselves on cultiv ating girls who can succeed in not just one but many areas.
At Hillford.
Girls like me are offered a world of opportunities.
Music.
And more music.
And.
Of course.
Academia.
It's a well-rounded education in an amazing environment.
Hi.
Miss.
Hi.
Ja'mie.
What's all this? Looks like too much fun.
Haven't you got an assignment due tomorrow? Oh.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Miss.
Library.
Here I come.
Yes, well, she's sponsored kids, she's modelled for 'Dolly' magazine, she's been nominee for Australian of the Year.
And she's still only 16.
To be honest, I can't wait to meet her.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
I'm Ja'mie.
It's so cool to be here.
I'm Mrs King.
Nice to meet you.
This is Chantelle.
Hi, Chantelle.
Get my bag - it's in the back.
Um oh, my God, so you 're going to Hillford? Yep.
That's really cool.
You 'll fit in.
There's so many Asians there.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
It's so cool to be here.
Get back in the car.
You 're not coming in with me.
'Bye.
My name is Greg Gregson, but the kids at school call me Mr G, which is, um sort of an abbreviation that some of the more popular teachers seem to get.
And I've been a senior drama teacher here at Summer Heights for nine years now.
Coffee, coffee, coffee before we teachy teachy.
Always interested in the performing arts - singing, dancing, acting.
And Mum always says that even as a baby, other babies were crying and and in a sort of monotonal way, but if I'd call out to Mum, rather than "Mum" like other kids, I would go "Mum.
" You know, and sort of # Mum.
# I was always dancing and choreographing stuff.
And I remember doing I choreographed the whole 'Xanadu ' soundtrack, performed it for my friends at my ninth birthday.
Got into teachers' college, majored in drama there, and just thrived.
I was very, very known for the shows that I'd done there.
But I did little mini musicals.
We did 'Starlight Express' as a one-man show.
I did 'Cats'.
It was just a cabaret, one man.
Probably the one that you might may have even heard of, um I did 'Bubble Wrap', which was me and a couple of other boys.
I would emerge from various types of packaging.
I was at industry level at that stage.
And I thought" Hang on, I know a job where I can sing and I can dance "and I can act every day and get paid for it.
" And it was drama teaching.
Welcome to the magical world of drama.
No, I'm always joking with the principal.
I always say to Margaret, "You 've got yourself "an entertainment industry professional "for the price of a teacher, "so where's my pay rise?" Well, occasionally you come across a very special student.
You 're a legend, sir! For me, Jonah Takalua is a lot more than he seems on the surface.
Fuck you, sir! Jonah is an at-risker.
Easy with the language, Jonah.
He comes from a single-parent family.
Lost his mother at an early age.
He's physically a lot bigger than most of the students his age.
And you can easily forget that he's really just a 13-year-old kid in Year 8.
Gimme it! There are attention deficit issues.
He's been on and off Ritalin.
I made it in the centre.
There's a problem with aggression with Jonah.
Two minutes, pussy! Fuck you, motherfucker! There's a lot of built-up frustration in the boy.
Do you want Skunk Boy? Do you want Fatty? Or do you want Sexy Beast? Jonah always makes shit up, man.
Bullshit.
He's a fucking liar.
I don't make shit up.
He even made shit up that he met, um, 50 Cent in the fucking city.
I did meet 50 Cent in the city.
Shut up.
Shut up.
When he was here on the fuckin' tour.
He made up he had a girlfriend too.
I do have a fuckin' girlfriend.
What's her name? She's from my old school.
What's her name? What's her name? I don't know.
Amanda or some shit.
This is Jonah's third school in 18 months.
Uh, he was expelled from the other two, once for setting fire to a student's locker and the other for defacing the principal's car.
Take you out here.
Oh, my God! It's so kind of, like, not shady.
Do you know what I mean? Like, there's not that many trees.
Like, I think when they were choosing people, like, they wanted someone who was good at pretty much everything.
And because it's gonna be on the news and on TV and stuff, like, I don't wanna brag, but I think they wanted someone decent-Iooking.
It's way less, like, not crap, but less povo than I thought it would be.
That's cute! I love that! Oh, my God.
What does that mean? I love your bins - they're so random.
And teachers at my school are always going, "Ja'mie, oh, my God, you 're the most likely to succeed," and stuff, 'cause I'm, like, the smartest non-Asian in Year 11.
This is my blazer colours.
And I'm good at sport and everything that Asians can't do, so I'm such a good ambassador for the school.
The buildings are so kind of grey.
Yes, they are.
No offence.
I think I'm really gonna love it here.
Like, I've got a really good feeling about it.
Public schools are so random.
And I make friends really easily.
Hi.
I'm starting on Monday.
Ja'mie.
I can't wait to start.
Sorry, just saying hi.
We used to have huge bushes here once, but we had a girl raped behind them, so we had to have them removed.
Chopped down.
And, as you can see, the kids have done an anti-rape mural behind, which is nice.
And we've got our state-of-the-art gym down there.
Hello.
Hello.
This is Toby, one of our specials from the special education centre that we have here at the school.
It's a separate part of the school, down the bottom, but we allow them to play with the normal kids at recess and lunch, and that sort of thing, so Um, yeah, so Normally we're not allowed to touch them like this - the students at the school - 'cause of the child protection laws, but we usually turn a blind eye with these ones.
You know, this sort of this sort of thing's fine.
That sort of thing not fine.
Fine.
Not fine.
Miss, I need your help.
Shh, shh.
Quiet, Jonah, please.
I don't know how to do it.
I can't be quiet if I don't know how to do it.
I teach Jonah Takalua Year 8 English.
Gonna help me or what, miss? He's disruptive, he interferes with other students' learning, um, and he can be very rude.
Oh, miss, you farted! Miss just farted! Jonah, time-out.
Miss! Oh, that's Time-out now! I don't wanna go to time-out.
It's not my fault you farted.
I have set up a time-out desk, which is at the back of the classroom.
Cap off, Jonah.
I'm in time-out, not actual school.
Give it to me.
You 'll get it back at the end of the class.
And when he's sitting there, he knows that he's been behaving in an inappropriate manner.
You can't take that home with you, miss.
He really doesn't seem to want to learn.
And I know that myself, along with other staff members, often feel like we're wasting our time with Jonah.
Only one talking is you.
Shush! You 're the one talking.
Teachers at this school are so racist.
They always blame me for shit.
If anything ever happens at school, teachers go, "Jonah, he must have done it.
" If shit goes missing or or any kids are crying or some shit, they go, " Jonah must have fuckin' done some shit.
" Jonah, please.
Sorry, miss.
I'm just allergic to some shit up here.
Must be allergic to your fart, miss.
Miss Wheatley's just a bitch.
She doesn't even smile when she walks through the playground.
Hey, miss.
Hi, miss.
She doesn't.
She's never gonna get a boyfriend if she's so serious all the time.
Why don't you smile for once, miss?! Have you got your period or what, miss? Jonah really is a Annoying.
Yeah.
He just screws up the whole classroom really badly.
Once we had to write a short story for English, and he didn't do any of it.
And the night before, he called me and asked me to repeat the whole story word for word for him and the next day he submitted my story under his name.
It's boring to do work.
If you don't care about it, why would you do it? I'd rather do fun stuff.
And you can do fun stuff when you 're an adult, so why can't you fuckin' do it when you 're at school? My drama classroom is my my haven.
It's It's where I I come alive.
# Welcome to Mr G's room # G's room, G's room # Welcome to Mr G's room Come inside # Most of the time it's just chill out with beanbags, pillows, cushions, that sort of thing.
# And take your shoes off and find a spot on the floor # Welcome to Mr G's room # My teaching methods are fairly unique.
Someone join in.
I get pretty experimental.
And I go crazy sometimes.
I just I just let loose.
Enter the room.
Oh, thank God you 're here.
I've I've been shot.
Thank God you 're here.
Where have you been, bitch? 'Boring' is not a word that you hear in this room.
Spin around, Chinaman.
Spin around, spin around.
If there's something boring to do, we find a fun way of doing it.
And he's dead.
Slap the butcher! Slap the butcher is one of the fun games that we play.
I'm gonna slap you, Emily! I'm gonna slap you! It deals with the idea of possession in theatre.
One thing that I like to do from time to time is I just perform for the kids for a whole lesson, just to give them a sort of benchmark of how things are done.
So they can see at someone at a professional industry level handles the performance side of things.
And that, in a way, gives them confidence.
Rrow! Rrow, rrow, rrow, rrow! There's still a drama syllabus that I have to cover.
Most of what I do has a grounding in education.
There is a lesson to be learned.
Five, six, seven, eight! I'm a dancer from way back, so once a week I pay a visit to the special education centre, where I teach special dance.
Has anybody seen some dancers? Yes! Dance doesn't discriminate.
Virtually anyone can do it.
Arms, arms.
Horsey, horsey.
Shimmy and up.
They have some interesting moves that I've never seen before in normal people.
Their bodies move in a different way.
What I find is that they like a firm hand.
They're just they have everyone, "Ooh, look after the special kids.
"Ooh, you better be nice to them or they'll crumble.
" Pathetic, Cosima.
Pathetic.
I mean, they'll never make it professionally as a dancer, but if you get stuck into them, they seem to respond quite well.
Why are we not on the floor, everyone? Why are you not down, Jessica? Disappointed in you this week.
Not good.
Thank you, Mr Cameron, for your welcome.
And thank you to the traditional landowners of Summer Heights, the Wiradjuri people.
My name is Ja'mie.
J-A-apostrophe-M-l-E.
Weird name, I know, but you 'll get used to it.
Yes, I come from one of the most expensive private girls' schools in the State, but I'm actually really cool.
Please don't be intimidated by me.
People always go, " Private schools create better citizens," but I would say they create better-quality citizens.
Studies have shown that students from private schools are more likely to get into uni and end up making a lot more money, while wife-beaters and rapists are nearly all public-school-educated.
Sorry, no offence, but it's true.
We're Poly Force.
Poly Force.
We're the only full Polynesian people here in the whole school.
What's it good for anyway? Yeah, I'm one of the best breakdancers in the whole of the school.
Yeah, you 're the best breaker in this whole suburb.
Yeah, in the whole suburb.
I live for breakdancing, and I wanna do it professionally when I get older.
Well done, boys.
Done good.
'Fobs' mean 'fresh off the boat', 'cause we're all Islanders, like, Samoans and Tongans.
Yeah, and we've got a reputation for being, like, really tough and stuff.
And teachers are fully scared of us.
Yeah.
They have this rule where we're not allowed to go more than 10 metres from the fence on the boundary of the school in case we beat the shit out of pedestrians and stuff.
And kids.
We don't attack people.
Yeah, but we've got a reputation for being violent and stuff, so we might attack someone.
We never you never know what we might do.
This is the boys' toilets, where we hang out sometimes just doing tagging and shit.
This is my one, 'Dicktation'.
So it's a dick, and then you just write 'tation' at the side.
Like, you know, like dictation that you do in English? If you just move your way around the room, you find other things.
"Lick my ballz" - that's one of mine as well.
Who the fuck is Bek? Is it you? I don't know.
Mr James is coming.
He's looking for you.
Oh, fuck.
I'm supposed to be doing detention! Jonah! Come on, mate.
Sir, don't come in! I'm pissing.
Don't look at my dick, sir.
Just hurry up! Sir, you 'll look like a poofter.
Don't look at me.
Hurry up.
Get out, sir.
That's how you get out of detention.
When teachers come in, they look like perverts and they have to go straightaway.
It's the best method.
That was sick, man.
Those on the floor, those on my desk.
I know he's not gonna like me saying it, but he really is wasting his talent doing choreography on an old-hat musical like 'A nything Goes'.
Tell me something I don't know.
You really should be doing your own.
Mmm.
Exactly.
I mean, that's where I belong.
Excuse me Get out.
I need to create my own stuff.
That's it.
I have an urge to do it and I need to do it.
So I mean, I'm dealing with a principal who does not seem to get what it takes to run a successful drama department.
She doesn't think it's worthy of funding.
And Margaret's, " Oh, you 've gotta talk to Meredith.
"She's the head of the department.
You 're not head of department, Greg.
" No, I'm not gonna talk to her.
She doesn't know what she's doing.
Why would I talk to her? And what's worse is I'm I'm competing with Warren Carmichael over at Mercy College who's putting on brilliant musicals.
And 'Bully Elliot', earlier this year, was was wonderful.
They had a boy over there that was bashed into a coma after a bullying incident, and one of the drama teachers wrote a musical about it.
'Bully Elliot', absolutely brilliant.
Greg and I went across incognito.
We didn't want them to know it was us.
It was a fantastic show.
That's what we need here.
Summer Heights High needs its own 'Bully Elliot', and we're not gonna get it with 'A nything Bloody Goes'.
And there's one more thing - I ask one little favour of the principal, "Can I bring my dog to school and take her to class?" And I'm flatly refused.
The fact that Celine has to spend all her time inside, in my office, is borderline cruelty.
Celine is one of the smartest dogs you will ever meet.
Yeah, she's very, very smart.
Celine has an oversize brain.
Um she's got one of the largest brains for a dog of her age and species.
As you can see, that's how you 're meant to hold them.
That's the brain just at the front there.
We've got her with a dog agency, and she auditioned for a Best & Less ad in 2002, and she was unintentionally, she was in the Pets' Paradise commercial, um, few years ago when I first bought her.
She was one of the litter that was in the window, and, um Well, at least, I'm pretty sure it was her in the window.
Celine, you wanna go and see Rodney? Hmm.
Don't touch, just look.
Some of you come from povo families, but that's not your fault.
Some of you, I know, don't even have FO XTEL.
She seems to be a very confident girl.
And I think that will help her to fit in very well here.
Can I have the screen down, please? She'll probably find out that kids are kids, that they have the same issues no matter what school they're in.
These are some photos of the world that I come from.
My friends think I'm an idiot.
They're like, " Why would you go to Summer Heights High? "It's, like, the boganest school in the world.
" It's such a random thing for me to do, but I'm always doing things that, like, push outside the boundaries, do you know what I mean? That's me being an idiot.
My friends say that I look like Mischa Barton in that photo.
I so don't.
I usually try to avoid public school people, you know what I mean? Like, one time I went to this Year 10 formal with this guy from a public school, as a joke.
Me and my friends thought it would be so cool to just check out all the bogans and stuff, do you know what I mean? And it was such a crap formal.
Oh, my God, that's some of my modelling portfolio shots.
They should not be in there.
That's really embarrassing.
I think it's a it's a dumb thing.
Like, I think a lot of public school people are dumb.
And I think that it's not really their fault, that's the thing.
It comes from their parents.
I'm up to 1,000 friends on MySpace and I could always do with more.
The kids have got a lot to learn at this school.
So I'll see everyone on Monday.
Please come up and talk to me.
Um, I won't bite.
And I feel as though I can teach them how to behave in the real world, do you know what I mean? Ben says that you were the ringleader, Jonah, that it was you who threw his bag over the train line.
'Cause it was supposed to be funny! Yeah.
He didn't laugh.
Look, how is it OK for you to bully Ben? 'Cause he's a ranga.
A what?! A ranga, sir.
'Cause he's got red hair.
Orang-outang.
That's what we call them.
And does that make it OK for him to be bullied, because he has red hair? Well, people are racist to fobs To us.
so so we can be racist to rangas.
But redheads aren't a race, Jonah.
But, sir, there's heaps of 'em.
They're everywhere.
I'll tell you what's gonna happen, OK? You 're gonna clean this off Ben's bag.
It's not gonna come off.
OK? And the other thing is, you 're not gonna catch the train anymore.
Bullshit! And THAT means that your father's gonna have to pick you up and drop you off at school every day.
And I don't think he's gonna be very happy, is he, Jonah? I wasn't the only ringleader! These boys were in it too.
You are NOT making it easy.
Do you want this to go to Ms Murray? Take a joke! Don't you even know what 'P unk'd' is? Why don't you watch MTV for once? Do you want to come back this afternoon and try this again, do you? Or are you gonna look at Ben and say, "Sorry, Ben"? Sorry, homo.
No, Jonah, that's not acceptable.
Try again.
Sorry ranga.
Jonah, you are gonna acknowledge Ben as a human being.
Now, look at him and say, "Sorry, Ben.
" You wanna come Sorry, Ben! No, Jonah.
Politely and properly apologise to Ben.
OK, I'll look at him.
Yes.
And shake his hand.
Yes.
And say, "Sorry, Ben.
" Sorry, Ben.
Motherfucker.
No, Jonah.
He's a fuckin' homo! Everyone goes, " Oh, Jonah, he's, like, a dumb-arse Islander.
"And there's no hope for him.
" Sir.
Yes, Jonah.
What's the difference between a dick and a penis? But they don't understand that I'm just choosing to be dumb.
I'm not dumb, I'm just choosing not to be smart at the moment.
But if I put in effort, then I could be really smart.
But I choose not to, and they don't get that.
Yeah, it doesn't matter if I do.
Look.
Doesn't matter.
It goes off.
Jonah's got a lot of problems.
He's up against the odds, really.
Uh what I would like to see is him not get expelled again.
I'd like to see him get through a full term without getting into any serious trouble at all.
And I've sort of taken that on as a mission.
Hey! Get your arse in the car! And with our help, from the school, the staff, and with the support of his family, we can do it.
What the fuck you say to me?! I said I fuckin' love you.
I fuckin' love you, OK? My arse, you love me.
Motherfucker.
Alright, we'll go through it again.
Candice, watching me, please.
And your American accent was pathetic last time.
Thank you, Rodney.
# In olden days a glimpse of stocking was # When I look at where I am now and I think about where I could have been, I have to admit I used to feel unsure.
But these days I couldn't feel more certain.
Drama teaching is where I'm supposed to be.
People say, " Drama - oh, it's a bludge subject, "it's a poofo subject, there's no jobs in it.
" Wrong.
Drama changes lives.
High five.
And I have kids that come up to me in the playground, they say, " Oh, Mr G, we're so glad "that we got involved in that production.
"That was the best experience of my life.
" And I turn around to those kids and I say, "Cool.
" # The world has gone mad today # It looks bad today And black's white today # And staff always on at me, saying, " Oh, Greg, don't confuse your role.
"You 're there merely to educate.
" Wrong again.
I'm not there merely to educate.
I'm there to inspire them.
Thank God you 're here.
Grandma's been raped.
I'm there to teach them the discipline of dance and the craft of the stage.
I'm there to teach them to dare to dream and to bring into their lives a little bit of magic.
Hold it, morons.
And release.
Finally.
Good.
Yay.
High five.
Is that the arrangement you want? Your call, your show.
Mm-hm.
I'm really nervous this morning.
My breasts would have been bigger, but for an eating disorder in Year 8.
Do you have lesbians at this school? Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I'm a bitch.
Point it down.
Shut up and let me explain.
Butterfly.
Foot.
Oh, my God, we're friends.
I have a bit of sad news here.
The news has been life-changing.
Yes! Yes! Don't have time for it, Toby.
Looking for volunteers to cover my playground duty.
No, I don't do my Kermit voice.
Sue says that you 've taken over her pigeonhole.
She's a bloody liar.
I have an announcement.
Move or I'll run you down.
I am excited.
I'm excited.
You got your period or what, miss? Jonah now has a contract.
Fuck you, sir.
"Jared was" Wanking.
The main thing I want to do is to learn to read.
Bullshit children's book.
I don't fuckin' want to read it anyway! If you fuck up in school, that's fucked.
You said put my balls on the ground.
# Being Tongan Come from the island # Why don't you fuckin' kill yourself? # Motherfucker.
# My God! Sorry, Shane.
Mr G has made the right decision.
Miss, you killed him! Are you alright?! I wish I was going back to Hillford.
That's not disruptive - that's entertainment.
The canteen's crap this year.
Yeah.
They changed all the bad foods into the good foods.
They're just tight.
Don't let you do anything.
No iPods, no phones, no hats, no undertops.
I do special history.
Yeah.
We stopped special maths after Year 7.
I've been in every special class since I got into high school.
I remember one excursion, we got to go to this park, and it had, um What were they called? Oh, I don't know.
I didn't go.
Oh.
Unfortunately, bullying's a problem in this school.
White shoes are not on, mate.
Black shoes or you just don't get to play at lunchtime.
So, what I do is I work with the victims, but also the perpetrators.
Get with them one on one to try and locate the root causes of what's going on.
I didn't do it, sir.
Didn't do what, Jonah? Nothing.
I've got a Year 7 boy out there crying, saying you tormented him, you bullied him and you threw his schoolbag over the train line.
How is that appropriate behaviour? There's a difference between bullying and joking around.
I'm joking around with him, sir.
He doesn't get it, it's not my fault.
He takes it serious.
It may be how you see it.
I could tell him a knock-knock joke and he'd start fuckin' crying 'cause he's a homo.
I've got to tell you, it's not appropriate.
Now It's not appropriate because he's a homo.
We were trying to make have a fun time on the way before school.
Was it fun for Ben? Yes.
He just didn't get that it was fun.
Yes.
Weren't even bullying him, sir.
We just punk'd him.
I said, "You got punk'd" afterwards, and he didn't even get it.
He took it serious.
I don't get it.
What does that mean - "punk'd"? It's a show, sir - it's a TV show.
Don't you even watch TV? TV show? Listening! Please, cast.
Liam, I'd appreciate some manners, thank you.
Candice! # In olden days, a glimpse of stocking # Oh, well, the production's open to any students that want to be involved.
And they really love it.
For some it's a highlight of their year.
It's an upbeat sort of a production.
And I think it's a lot of fun.
# Anything goes.
# Right, left, right, up.
Got Mr Gregson helping me out.
He's one of my senior drama teachers.
And he is from a dance and theatre background.
And he's a real asset.
That's where you hold it for the freeze at the end.
She loves my crowd scenes.
I do my I direct the big stuff on stage that she can't handle.
The mayhem scenes, she loves.
And there's plenty of mayhem going on in this production.
There is.
On and off the stage.
That's what I always say.
She's stolen that from me - on and off stage.
Well, I'm in one of my off-years at the moment.
I direct every second production.
So this is Meredith's turn this year.
I tend to do the wow shows, and then each year every second year, we do the the traditionals.
It's difficult for me sometimes taking the the back seat in my off-years.
I find it hard sort of sitting back and letting her, you know, do her thing.
Sometimes I "What's she doing?" But that's her choice.
She makes choices that I don't always agree with.
Listening to your director, please! Mrs Cotton is in charge.
Could I get two strong boys to I have done Lord knows how many shows over the years.
I tend to do the more modern or cutting-edge productions, and I write my own stuff, original musicals.
I've had a fair bit of critical acclaim for that.
And this is, um, big show I did last year, 'T sunamarama', which was about the tsunami tragedy, set to the music of Bananarama.
But, no, I find plenty to do when it comes to doing Meredith's shows.
Thanks, Rodney.
# I get no kick # From champagne # Take a sip.
I've tried to reinterpret the songs with a modern perspective.
# I get no kick from champagne # Swirl around.
We work well together, and I help her out when, you know, if Meredith's feeling lost with anything, and, you know, I point out where she might be going wrong.
And it's a real help.
# I get a kick # Out of you # You # You # Make it really aggressive and macho.
# You, you! # The program's a first, I believe.
And I think it's brilliant.
It really is giving an opportunity for one of our girls to go to another school that's totally different and experience a life that's nothing like what she would experience here at Summer Heights.
It's a swap program.
And I guess they're hoping to prove that you can get an equally valid and valuable educational experience in either the public or the private system.
And we're looking forward to meeting our exchange student, aren't we? Perhaps, Chantelle, would you like to We've got a The school sent us over a tape so we'd be able to see the student in it.
Thanks, Chantelle.
At Hillford Girls Grammar.
We pride ourselves on cultiv ating girls who can succeed in not just one but many areas.
At Hillford.
Girls like me are offered a world of opportunities.
Music.
And more music.
And.
Of course.
Academia.
It's a well-rounded education in an amazing environment.
Hi.
Miss.
Hi.
Ja'mie.
What's all this? Looks like too much fun.
Haven't you got an assignment due tomorrow? Oh.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Miss.
Library.
Here I come.
Yes, well, she's sponsored kids, she's modelled for 'Dolly' magazine, she's been nominee for Australian of the Year.
And she's still only 16.
To be honest, I can't wait to meet her.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
I'm Ja'mie.
It's so cool to be here.
I'm Mrs King.
Nice to meet you.
This is Chantelle.
Hi, Chantelle.
Get my bag - it's in the back.
Um oh, my God, so you 're going to Hillford? Yep.
That's really cool.
You 'll fit in.
There's so many Asians there.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
It's so cool to be here.
Get back in the car.
You 're not coming in with me.
'Bye.
My name is Greg Gregson, but the kids at school call me Mr G, which is, um sort of an abbreviation that some of the more popular teachers seem to get.
And I've been a senior drama teacher here at Summer Heights for nine years now.
Coffee, coffee, coffee before we teachy teachy.
Always interested in the performing arts - singing, dancing, acting.
And Mum always says that even as a baby, other babies were crying and and in a sort of monotonal way, but if I'd call out to Mum, rather than "Mum" like other kids, I would go "Mum.
" You know, and sort of # Mum.
# I was always dancing and choreographing stuff.
And I remember doing I choreographed the whole 'Xanadu ' soundtrack, performed it for my friends at my ninth birthday.
Got into teachers' college, majored in drama there, and just thrived.
I was very, very known for the shows that I'd done there.
But I did little mini musicals.
We did 'Starlight Express' as a one-man show.
I did 'Cats'.
It was just a cabaret, one man.
Probably the one that you might may have even heard of, um I did 'Bubble Wrap', which was me and a couple of other boys.
I would emerge from various types of packaging.
I was at industry level at that stage.
And I thought" Hang on, I know a job where I can sing and I can dance "and I can act every day and get paid for it.
" And it was drama teaching.
Welcome to the magical world of drama.
No, I'm always joking with the principal.
I always say to Margaret, "You 've got yourself "an entertainment industry professional "for the price of a teacher, "so where's my pay rise?" Well, occasionally you come across a very special student.
You 're a legend, sir! For me, Jonah Takalua is a lot more than he seems on the surface.
Fuck you, sir! Jonah is an at-risker.
Easy with the language, Jonah.
He comes from a single-parent family.
Lost his mother at an early age.
He's physically a lot bigger than most of the students his age.
And you can easily forget that he's really just a 13-year-old kid in Year 8.
Gimme it! There are attention deficit issues.
He's been on and off Ritalin.
I made it in the centre.
There's a problem with aggression with Jonah.
Two minutes, pussy! Fuck you, motherfucker! There's a lot of built-up frustration in the boy.
Do you want Skunk Boy? Do you want Fatty? Or do you want Sexy Beast? Jonah always makes shit up, man.
Bullshit.
He's a fucking liar.
I don't make shit up.
He even made shit up that he met, um, 50 Cent in the fucking city.
I did meet 50 Cent in the city.
Shut up.
Shut up.
When he was here on the fuckin' tour.
He made up he had a girlfriend too.
I do have a fuckin' girlfriend.
What's her name? She's from my old school.
What's her name? What's her name? I don't know.
Amanda or some shit.
This is Jonah's third school in 18 months.
Uh, he was expelled from the other two, once for setting fire to a student's locker and the other for defacing the principal's car.
Take you out here.
Oh, my God! It's so kind of, like, not shady.
Do you know what I mean? Like, there's not that many trees.
Like, I think when they were choosing people, like, they wanted someone who was good at pretty much everything.
And because it's gonna be on the news and on TV and stuff, like, I don't wanna brag, but I think they wanted someone decent-Iooking.
It's way less, like, not crap, but less povo than I thought it would be.
That's cute! I love that! Oh, my God.
What does that mean? I love your bins - they're so random.
And teachers at my school are always going, "Ja'mie, oh, my God, you 're the most likely to succeed," and stuff, 'cause I'm, like, the smartest non-Asian in Year 11.
This is my blazer colours.
And I'm good at sport and everything that Asians can't do, so I'm such a good ambassador for the school.
The buildings are so kind of grey.
Yes, they are.
No offence.
I think I'm really gonna love it here.
Like, I've got a really good feeling about it.
Public schools are so random.
And I make friends really easily.
Hi.
I'm starting on Monday.
Ja'mie.
I can't wait to start.
Sorry, just saying hi.
We used to have huge bushes here once, but we had a girl raped behind them, so we had to have them removed.
Chopped down.
And, as you can see, the kids have done an anti-rape mural behind, which is nice.
And we've got our state-of-the-art gym down there.
Hello.
Hello.
This is Toby, one of our specials from the special education centre that we have here at the school.
It's a separate part of the school, down the bottom, but we allow them to play with the normal kids at recess and lunch, and that sort of thing, so Um, yeah, so Normally we're not allowed to touch them like this - the students at the school - 'cause of the child protection laws, but we usually turn a blind eye with these ones.
You know, this sort of this sort of thing's fine.
That sort of thing not fine.
Fine.
Not fine.
Miss, I need your help.
Shh, shh.
Quiet, Jonah, please.
I don't know how to do it.
I can't be quiet if I don't know how to do it.
I teach Jonah Takalua Year 8 English.
Gonna help me or what, miss? He's disruptive, he interferes with other students' learning, um, and he can be very rude.
Oh, miss, you farted! Miss just farted! Jonah, time-out.
Miss! Oh, that's Time-out now! I don't wanna go to time-out.
It's not my fault you farted.
I have set up a time-out desk, which is at the back of the classroom.
Cap off, Jonah.
I'm in time-out, not actual school.
Give it to me.
You 'll get it back at the end of the class.
And when he's sitting there, he knows that he's been behaving in an inappropriate manner.
You can't take that home with you, miss.
He really doesn't seem to want to learn.
And I know that myself, along with other staff members, often feel like we're wasting our time with Jonah.
Only one talking is you.
Shush! You 're the one talking.
Teachers at this school are so racist.
They always blame me for shit.
If anything ever happens at school, teachers go, "Jonah, he must have done it.
" If shit goes missing or or any kids are crying or some shit, they go, " Jonah must have fuckin' done some shit.
" Jonah, please.
Sorry, miss.
I'm just allergic to some shit up here.
Must be allergic to your fart, miss.
Miss Wheatley's just a bitch.
She doesn't even smile when she walks through the playground.
Hey, miss.
Hi, miss.
She doesn't.
She's never gonna get a boyfriend if she's so serious all the time.
Why don't you smile for once, miss?! Have you got your period or what, miss? Jonah really is a Annoying.
Yeah.
He just screws up the whole classroom really badly.
Once we had to write a short story for English, and he didn't do any of it.
And the night before, he called me and asked me to repeat the whole story word for word for him and the next day he submitted my story under his name.
It's boring to do work.
If you don't care about it, why would you do it? I'd rather do fun stuff.
And you can do fun stuff when you 're an adult, so why can't you fuckin' do it when you 're at school? My drama classroom is my my haven.
It's It's where I I come alive.
# Welcome to Mr G's room # G's room, G's room # Welcome to Mr G's room Come inside # Most of the time it's just chill out with beanbags, pillows, cushions, that sort of thing.
# And take your shoes off and find a spot on the floor # Welcome to Mr G's room # My teaching methods are fairly unique.
Someone join in.
I get pretty experimental.
And I go crazy sometimes.
I just I just let loose.
Enter the room.
Oh, thank God you 're here.
I've I've been shot.
Thank God you 're here.
Where have you been, bitch? 'Boring' is not a word that you hear in this room.
Spin around, Chinaman.
Spin around, spin around.
If there's something boring to do, we find a fun way of doing it.
And he's dead.
Slap the butcher! Slap the butcher is one of the fun games that we play.
I'm gonna slap you, Emily! I'm gonna slap you! It deals with the idea of possession in theatre.
One thing that I like to do from time to time is I just perform for the kids for a whole lesson, just to give them a sort of benchmark of how things are done.
So they can see at someone at a professional industry level handles the performance side of things.
And that, in a way, gives them confidence.
Rrow! Rrow, rrow, rrow, rrow! There's still a drama syllabus that I have to cover.
Most of what I do has a grounding in education.
There is a lesson to be learned.
Five, six, seven, eight! I'm a dancer from way back, so once a week I pay a visit to the special education centre, where I teach special dance.
Has anybody seen some dancers? Yes! Dance doesn't discriminate.
Virtually anyone can do it.
Arms, arms.
Horsey, horsey.
Shimmy and up.
They have some interesting moves that I've never seen before in normal people.
Their bodies move in a different way.
What I find is that they like a firm hand.
They're just they have everyone, "Ooh, look after the special kids.
"Ooh, you better be nice to them or they'll crumble.
" Pathetic, Cosima.
Pathetic.
I mean, they'll never make it professionally as a dancer, but if you get stuck into them, they seem to respond quite well.
Why are we not on the floor, everyone? Why are you not down, Jessica? Disappointed in you this week.
Not good.
Thank you, Mr Cameron, for your welcome.
And thank you to the traditional landowners of Summer Heights, the Wiradjuri people.
My name is Ja'mie.
J-A-apostrophe-M-l-E.
Weird name, I know, but you 'll get used to it.
Yes, I come from one of the most expensive private girls' schools in the State, but I'm actually really cool.
Please don't be intimidated by me.
People always go, " Private schools create better citizens," but I would say they create better-quality citizens.
Studies have shown that students from private schools are more likely to get into uni and end up making a lot more money, while wife-beaters and rapists are nearly all public-school-educated.
Sorry, no offence, but it's true.
We're Poly Force.
Poly Force.
We're the only full Polynesian people here in the whole school.
What's it good for anyway? Yeah, I'm one of the best breakdancers in the whole of the school.
Yeah, you 're the best breaker in this whole suburb.
Yeah, in the whole suburb.
I live for breakdancing, and I wanna do it professionally when I get older.
Well done, boys.
Done good.
'Fobs' mean 'fresh off the boat', 'cause we're all Islanders, like, Samoans and Tongans.
Yeah, and we've got a reputation for being, like, really tough and stuff.
And teachers are fully scared of us.
Yeah.
They have this rule where we're not allowed to go more than 10 metres from the fence on the boundary of the school in case we beat the shit out of pedestrians and stuff.
And kids.
We don't attack people.
Yeah, but we've got a reputation for being violent and stuff, so we might attack someone.
We never you never know what we might do.
This is the boys' toilets, where we hang out sometimes just doing tagging and shit.
This is my one, 'Dicktation'.
So it's a dick, and then you just write 'tation' at the side.
Like, you know, like dictation that you do in English? If you just move your way around the room, you find other things.
"Lick my ballz" - that's one of mine as well.
Who the fuck is Bek? Is it you? I don't know.
Mr James is coming.
He's looking for you.
Oh, fuck.
I'm supposed to be doing detention! Jonah! Come on, mate.
Sir, don't come in! I'm pissing.
Don't look at my dick, sir.
Just hurry up! Sir, you 'll look like a poofter.
Don't look at me.
Hurry up.
Get out, sir.
That's how you get out of detention.
When teachers come in, they look like perverts and they have to go straightaway.
It's the best method.
That was sick, man.
Those on the floor, those on my desk.
I know he's not gonna like me saying it, but he really is wasting his talent doing choreography on an old-hat musical like 'A nything Goes'.
Tell me something I don't know.
You really should be doing your own.
Mmm.
Exactly.
I mean, that's where I belong.
Excuse me Get out.
I need to create my own stuff.
That's it.
I have an urge to do it and I need to do it.
So I mean, I'm dealing with a principal who does not seem to get what it takes to run a successful drama department.
She doesn't think it's worthy of funding.
And Margaret's, " Oh, you 've gotta talk to Meredith.
"She's the head of the department.
You 're not head of department, Greg.
" No, I'm not gonna talk to her.
She doesn't know what she's doing.
Why would I talk to her? And what's worse is I'm I'm competing with Warren Carmichael over at Mercy College who's putting on brilliant musicals.
And 'Bully Elliot', earlier this year, was was wonderful.
They had a boy over there that was bashed into a coma after a bullying incident, and one of the drama teachers wrote a musical about it.
'Bully Elliot', absolutely brilliant.
Greg and I went across incognito.
We didn't want them to know it was us.
It was a fantastic show.
That's what we need here.
Summer Heights High needs its own 'Bully Elliot', and we're not gonna get it with 'A nything Bloody Goes'.
And there's one more thing - I ask one little favour of the principal, "Can I bring my dog to school and take her to class?" And I'm flatly refused.
The fact that Celine has to spend all her time inside, in my office, is borderline cruelty.
Celine is one of the smartest dogs you will ever meet.
Yeah, she's very, very smart.
Celine has an oversize brain.
Um she's got one of the largest brains for a dog of her age and species.
As you can see, that's how you 're meant to hold them.
That's the brain just at the front there.
We've got her with a dog agency, and she auditioned for a Best & Less ad in 2002, and she was unintentionally, she was in the Pets' Paradise commercial, um, few years ago when I first bought her.
She was one of the litter that was in the window, and, um Well, at least, I'm pretty sure it was her in the window.
Celine, you wanna go and see Rodney? Hmm.
Don't touch, just look.
Some of you come from povo families, but that's not your fault.
Some of you, I know, don't even have FO XTEL.
She seems to be a very confident girl.
And I think that will help her to fit in very well here.
Can I have the screen down, please? She'll probably find out that kids are kids, that they have the same issues no matter what school they're in.
These are some photos of the world that I come from.
My friends think I'm an idiot.
They're like, " Why would you go to Summer Heights High? "It's, like, the boganest school in the world.
" It's such a random thing for me to do, but I'm always doing things that, like, push outside the boundaries, do you know what I mean? That's me being an idiot.
My friends say that I look like Mischa Barton in that photo.
I so don't.
I usually try to avoid public school people, you know what I mean? Like, one time I went to this Year 10 formal with this guy from a public school, as a joke.
Me and my friends thought it would be so cool to just check out all the bogans and stuff, do you know what I mean? And it was such a crap formal.
Oh, my God, that's some of my modelling portfolio shots.
They should not be in there.
That's really embarrassing.
I think it's a it's a dumb thing.
Like, I think a lot of public school people are dumb.
And I think that it's not really their fault, that's the thing.
It comes from their parents.
I'm up to 1,000 friends on MySpace and I could always do with more.
The kids have got a lot to learn at this school.
So I'll see everyone on Monday.
Please come up and talk to me.
Um, I won't bite.
And I feel as though I can teach them how to behave in the real world, do you know what I mean? Ben says that you were the ringleader, Jonah, that it was you who threw his bag over the train line.
'Cause it was supposed to be funny! Yeah.
He didn't laugh.
Look, how is it OK for you to bully Ben? 'Cause he's a ranga.
A what?! A ranga, sir.
'Cause he's got red hair.
Orang-outang.
That's what we call them.
And does that make it OK for him to be bullied, because he has red hair? Well, people are racist to fobs To us.
so so we can be racist to rangas.
But redheads aren't a race, Jonah.
But, sir, there's heaps of 'em.
They're everywhere.
I'll tell you what's gonna happen, OK? You 're gonna clean this off Ben's bag.
It's not gonna come off.
OK? And the other thing is, you 're not gonna catch the train anymore.
Bullshit! And THAT means that your father's gonna have to pick you up and drop you off at school every day.
And I don't think he's gonna be very happy, is he, Jonah? I wasn't the only ringleader! These boys were in it too.
You are NOT making it easy.
Do you want this to go to Ms Murray? Take a joke! Don't you even know what 'P unk'd' is? Why don't you watch MTV for once? Do you want to come back this afternoon and try this again, do you? Or are you gonna look at Ben and say, "Sorry, Ben"? Sorry, homo.
No, Jonah, that's not acceptable.
Try again.
Sorry ranga.
Jonah, you are gonna acknowledge Ben as a human being.
Now, look at him and say, "Sorry, Ben.
" You wanna come Sorry, Ben! No, Jonah.
Politely and properly apologise to Ben.
OK, I'll look at him.
Yes.
And shake his hand.
Yes.
And say, "Sorry, Ben.
" Sorry, Ben.
Motherfucker.
No, Jonah.
He's a fuckin' homo! Everyone goes, " Oh, Jonah, he's, like, a dumb-arse Islander.
"And there's no hope for him.
" Sir.
Yes, Jonah.
What's the difference between a dick and a penis? But they don't understand that I'm just choosing to be dumb.
I'm not dumb, I'm just choosing not to be smart at the moment.
But if I put in effort, then I could be really smart.
But I choose not to, and they don't get that.
Yeah, it doesn't matter if I do.
Look.
Doesn't matter.
It goes off.
Jonah's got a lot of problems.
He's up against the odds, really.
Uh what I would like to see is him not get expelled again.
I'd like to see him get through a full term without getting into any serious trouble at all.
And I've sort of taken that on as a mission.
Hey! Get your arse in the car! And with our help, from the school, the staff, and with the support of his family, we can do it.
What the fuck you say to me?! I said I fuckin' love you.
I fuckin' love you, OK? My arse, you love me.
Motherfucker.
Alright, we'll go through it again.
Candice, watching me, please.
And your American accent was pathetic last time.
Thank you, Rodney.
# In olden days a glimpse of stocking was # When I look at where I am now and I think about where I could have been, I have to admit I used to feel unsure.
But these days I couldn't feel more certain.
Drama teaching is where I'm supposed to be.
People say, " Drama - oh, it's a bludge subject, "it's a poofo subject, there's no jobs in it.
" Wrong.
Drama changes lives.
High five.
And I have kids that come up to me in the playground, they say, " Oh, Mr G, we're so glad "that we got involved in that production.
"That was the best experience of my life.
" And I turn around to those kids and I say, "Cool.
" # The world has gone mad today # It looks bad today And black's white today # And staff always on at me, saying, " Oh, Greg, don't confuse your role.
"You 're there merely to educate.
" Wrong again.
I'm not there merely to educate.
I'm there to inspire them.
Thank God you 're here.
Grandma's been raped.
I'm there to teach them the discipline of dance and the craft of the stage.
I'm there to teach them to dare to dream and to bring into their lives a little bit of magic.
Hold it, morons.
And release.
Finally.
Good.
Yay.
High five.
Is that the arrangement you want? Your call, your show.
Mm-hm.
I'm really nervous this morning.
My breasts would have been bigger, but for an eating disorder in Year 8.
Do you have lesbians at this school? Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I'm a bitch.
Point it down.
Shut up and let me explain.
Butterfly.
Foot.
Oh, my God, we're friends.
I have a bit of sad news here.
The news has been life-changing.
Yes! Yes! Don't have time for it, Toby.
Looking for volunteers to cover my playground duty.
No, I don't do my Kermit voice.
Sue says that you 've taken over her pigeonhole.
She's a bloody liar.
I have an announcement.
Move or I'll run you down.
I am excited.
I'm excited.
You got your period or what, miss? Jonah now has a contract.
Fuck you, sir.
"Jared was" Wanking.
The main thing I want to do is to learn to read.
Bullshit children's book.
I don't fuckin' want to read it anyway! If you fuck up in school, that's fucked.
You said put my balls on the ground.
# Being Tongan Come from the island # Why don't you fuckin' kill yourself? # Motherfucker.
# My God! Sorry, Shane.
Mr G has made the right decision.
Miss, you killed him! Are you alright?! I wish I was going back to Hillford.
That's not disruptive - that's entertainment.