Jamie's Dream School

[londonone]

20 in a class
No curriculum
TV Cameras

And they still piss around! Maybe people will start to get a real idea about how perhaps some of the students are in fact not vitims but the architects of their own downfall!

I've probably already said it upthread, but these pupils have misbehaved, etc and yet get the chance of a lifetime to go to 10 Downing Street, meet the PM.... They have had a chance to meet all those wonderful people like Simon Callow, David Starkey, Alastair Campbell, etc and yet they just don't value it. Their portfolios are definitely going to give them a hand up, I think.

last episode tonight then....

Let Jamie Oliver stick to cookiing rather than trying to run the country is what I say.

Good on you Alistair. Jamie's is such an ass, he doesn't seem to realise that there has to be sanctions.

Ooh at "I don't care if you're the Prime Minister, I'll disrespect you back" . Hope DC is extremely respectful to those kids then.

I found the end of the series quite depressing. They obviously tried to make it inspirational and uplifting but all it seemed to prove was that if you have a bottomless pit of money, fantastic resources, unlimited time and ability to work outside the curriculum and health and safety regulations you might possisible have a small affect on a minority of the pupils.

Even the one's who did seem to benefit seemed to be the type of people who had suffered due to circumstance rather that attitude and as such were likely to try and turn their lives around without the programme.

Danielle was meant to be aiming for Cambridge and now...she's going to daytime TV auditions?? They keep on saying these kids are so smart, so intelligent. Does this mean they were capable of a C instead of a U? Or does it mean they really can go to Cambridge?

And that girl, who was originally banned from going on the trip, for goodness sake! She completely burst out at him and insulted him, she writes a three line letter saying "I realise I'll be missing out on a good time so, sorry, there, I said it". It's not out of character for her. If she can lose her temper like that, in a place like that where everyone's acting like they're poor little victims and looking after them, then how out of character is it? In the end you have to look at how much people deserve things and she hasn't done one iota. They're not pushing her to the side, they're stopping her from going on one trip! These kids need boundaries, not placation. He didn't say anything like "f*ck your apology". He said "I accept your apology, so no hostility, but we can't trust you not to put on such a display of bad manners like you did the other day". Doesn't she get that a flippant apology when she's feeling much calmer and more rational can be appreciated without it solving everything? What a brat! She thinks that every 'no' is a punishment, this victim mentality isn't going to do them any good, the mum sounds sensible- what kind of school did she go to?

The education system is NOT stuck 40 years back- oh, so getting your head down and learning what SOHCAHTOA stands for is boring, and you call that hard work? What will ruin kids in the end is an intolerance of boredom. Look at all the opportunities there are for young kids...look at all the Btecs and Diplomas and student discount cards and free mental health services...and they think the government is failing them? I mean they're 17, 18, don't they realise what they're saying?

I really like Jamie Oliver, I think he's a lovely man who really cares about his food revolution and that kind of thing, but I just think he's missing the point on this one. Starkey is right, children do need structure, freedom is for later.

Rankin is a dude.

Yes I think Angelique shouldn't have been allowed to go to NO 10 and I thought alastair Campbell? had the right attitude banning her but then he backed down due to wishy washy head.

her mother seemed so sensible and you cannot understand why she is so out of control.

The head was pathetic and if he is in charge of schools for difficult children you begin to understand why they don't succeed in turning them around.

Mary, if you're being mad enough to repeat the experience, don't forget as a teacher it is permissible to move the furniture around if you need to, and putting the desks in a horseshoe might well have a calming effect on the group. I've got a few more teaching training tips like this if you'd like them - if so, let me know on here and I'll come and find you (we have actually met in RL - can't out myself too much here!!)

I have learned a few things from Dream School:

No-one really cares about the quiet kids, suffering at the hands of the disruptive, angry, aggressive, bullying types seen in this programme.

Henry is the best advertisement I have seen for keeping cannabis illegal. Despite what appears to be a hugely privileged background, he is a dope.

Most of those kids could do with a spell in a military-style academy where they are also set to work helping members of society who are really deeply disadvantaged, i.e.,elderly and disabled people.

Alasdair Campbell should go into teaching

Jamie Oliver should stick to cooking

I think that they could have been identified very early on in education and money spent at that stage to 'turn them around'.
Individually they were fine, but collectively (i.e. 2 or more) they were a nightmare. The level of disruption and the lack of concentration would get anyone down-over a period of time it is soul destroying.
It is sad that the quiet but disadvantaged don't get opportunities.

Watched 'Katie - My Beautiful Face' after Dreamschool. The gulf between the young, fit people who piss everything away then blame everyone else, and the people with facial disfigurements who have had lifetimes of being bullied and for whom every day is a battle, almost made me cry.

The thing is, going out and living life in society isn't about being fine individually because you do have to work collectively- i.e. 2 or more people in an office, doing work you don't like, making your own money without a safety net.

I think the fact that there are no consequences is a major downfall in the school system. If you get a level four when you're meant to get a level six, they just note it down and tell you you're bright anyway. Children are not always naturally prompted by self satisfaction and this kind of system only discourages achievement by (realistic) self satisfaction.The real shock comes later on, when you don't know how to work and you realise that you're competing with kids from other countries who've had a work ethic since they were five.

French schools might be strict, Chinese schools might be brutal, but they get the job done. It's not like they have a nation of geniuses. Their average kids are average like the ones over here, but if they a) recognise the value of working hard and b) develop that kind of instinct work ethic, then they're going to outperform the gifted kids over here. And what's with telling children who can spell properly that they're gifted? 'Gifted' is turning into a means of distinction between 'will' and 'won't' rather than a means of useful idenitification, which will ultimately turn out to be damaging because people with inflated egos do not make good employees, future leaders of the country (might we have an example?) or role models.

Children do need heaps of structure. There needs to be a clear separation between fun and school. They need to realise that for at least five hours a day, they will have to concentrate and that 'anger problems' aren't going to excuse them from that. There does not need to be mutual respect between teacher and pupil. The confidence of some of these kids is incredible, I don't know where they get it from.

I am just watching this on iplayer and as I work with disruptive kids I am really interested but am totally pissed off with Jamie in the final episode saying Alastair Campbell was wrong to tell Angelique she can't go to Downing Street. The one thing these kids need more than anything is sensible boundaries and consequences for their actions. I bet she is allowed to go and a good lesson remains unlearnt. The whole thing is a load of tosh.

I know there are a myriad of issues that mean kids misbehave at school and the thing that comes over again and again in the work I do is that there are no boundaries - allowed to stay up and play Call of Duty until 2 or 3 morning, go out and come home when they want and so on. The kids on Dream School and the ones I work with all want respect but seem totally unable to give it in return and everyone pussyfoots around the issue. If you start with reasonable boundaries when they are little then it is much easier to continue when they are teenagers.

I think Jamie and the pathetic head need to take a running jump.

Feel better for that and will now continue to watch the rest - I may be back!!

Harlot, I wonder what you will make of the oft repeated message from Jamie - and the kids - that they have been let down by the system and that is why they have failed..?

Bakelite - if only it was that simple. I have a lot of respect for teachers -I know there are some rotten ones but that is true of every profession. I work quite closely with teachers and am also a school governor, so have a fair bit of insight as an outsider. Schools seem to be expected to do far more than the remit to teach and tbh kids like Jamie's lot and the ones I see are a nightlmare to teach. The system isn't ideal and not everyone thrives in a school but the ones we have seen need help to deal with their family issues - it is the family which has let them down not the school system.

Jamie had dyslexia and struggled, I imagine, without support but he came from a loving secure family. Maybe the school system at the time did let him down but his background meant he has been able to succeed. It is a different kettle of fish with the dream school lot. I am making quite big assumptions, but from what was shown there were a lot of emotional issues going on that led to them acting out in school and becoming more and more out of control and so it goes on. Those kids do have to understand at some point that they play a part in their creating their own success/failure and it isn't always the fault of others. However, if they are anything like the students I see they also need a hell of a lot of help and support to understand that and to be able to go forward from what can be very unhappy home lives. I do have a theory that school, because it is a place with boundaries and structure, is a safe place to act out their rage and unhappiness.

Anyway I hope to God that St. Jamie isn't going to be asked to be an education advisor based on what was shown. It was all very superficial

Harlot - you speak total sense. I totally agree with this: The one thing these kids need more than anything is sensible boundaries and consequences for their actions. I bet she is allowed to go and a good lesson remains unlearnt. The whole thing is a load of tosh.

And this The kids on Dream School and the ones I work with all want respect but seem totally unable to give it in return and everyone pussyfoots around the issue

I got sucked into watching Dream School but all it did is make me understand better why the kids are like they are - because they are allowed to get away with it.

I can't believe I am saying this but the recent documentary showing what happens when the military takes over schools is exactly what seems to be required for these young people. Jamie's Dream School was a depressing failure on so many levels and just rewarded shit behaviour.