Educating Cardiff

[thatstoast]

Will anyone be watching? It starts on C4 at 9. I'm in South Wales, previously in Cardiff.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I agree with PlayingSolitaire and cardibach about Jessica, she would have been totally normal in my academic all girls school, girls like her were the majority.

[Icimoi]

The uniforms! all those hoodies and coats on the corridors!

But really, what on earth does all that matter? It mystifies me why we fixate so much on uniform in the UK. Isn't it much more important that they turned round a girl who was about to give up on school so that she got 8 GCSEs?

[clary]

icimoi for me it's about following the rules.

I decided in the end that they had no rule about school shoes as so many people were wearing trainers. Fine if that is the rule.

But where I work students wear a uniform and if they don't they are breaking the rules. Other rules include not talking across a teacher or another student; not swearing at a teacher; not banging a door open so it hits a teacher or a student.

I think that once students break one rule, they might think that any of the rules are fair game, which is why I pick them up on uniform. Of course as such it makes no odds what sort of shoes they have on - and yet it does.

[cardibach]

Isn't it much more important that they turned round a girl who was about to give up on school so that she got 8 GCSEs? Of course. But I'm suspicious about this. I've been teaching since 1988 and in my experience a child who is really the way Leah was portrayed won't get that sort of result. You try hard with them, of course, but if they have missed as much education as that, GCSEs above C grade are out of reach. I don't want to sound defeatist/prejudiced, but that is my experience.

[ShellyF]

I wonder how Leah's friend got on.I'm thinking she may have been called Courtney.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I watched it last week .

I said to DH that Mr H ineraction with Leah was .
The waiting for her outside the exam hall............. "Oh well done for turning up" type of thing.
Yes there are loads of pupils who will get left in the slipstream. The ones who maybe do need extra help but are worried they'll look nerdy or Teachers Pet if they ask.
Jess and the teachers she liked , all the laughy carrying the books etc.. Maybe they were trying to wean her away?

And once Leah goes off to 6th form, she won't have someone phoning her up, texting, to make sure she gets there.

I know it's all heavily editied. Not sure I'll watch tonight.

[TheSecondOfHerName]

I don't like the way the toilets open directly into the canteen area.

[madein1995]

Quite enjoyed it tonight. Thought Aaron was really sweet, and glad Assad started to buck his ideas up. Felt a bit sorry for Aaron with his difficulties settling into secondary as I found it a bit tough myself in year 7, but nice the head of house looked after him and happy he made some friends.

[ImperialBlether]

God, that Assad's smirk is really annoying. His poor mum. They didn't say whether he has a father at home, but he really needs some strong male influence.

[annielouise]

I agree with others assessment of Jess. She was great! Why the head felt she wasn't social enough I don't know. She'll really go far in life - clever and perceptive. There just wasn't enough similar kids to her there, that's why she stood out as an anomaly. In a way her strength rising above all the rubbish was amazing. I'd love a local private school to offer her a scholarship/bursary for A level. She'd shine. Didn't she get 11 A*s?

Assad is a pain in the arse. Too many of these kids around but the teachers seemed quite blunt with him which I thought was good and what he needed - wipe the smirk off his face anyway.

[InimitableJeeves]

clary, i think there is virtue in learning to follow sensible rules. Work hard and behave in class, no bullying, no drugs, be polite - those are rules every child needs to learn and will always stand them in good stead. Wear exactly the same clothes as everyone else even though it will make zero difference to your primary purpose for being in school, i.e. learning - who needs to spend precious time learning that? If you subsequently go into an occupation which requires a uniform you'll pick it up quickly enough.

[DriverSurpriseMe]

Glad I wasn't the only one who was pissed off at the portrayal of Jessica. I thought it was outrageous that they portrayed her as being the one with the problem, instead of the reality, which is that she was the proverbial big fish in a small pond. It's shit being a clever kid in a crappy school.

[Baconyum]

Anyone watching tonight?

Missed the name of the girl wearing sunglasses in class. (Dd said she had a migraine really? Then go home!) But right away the evidence of why the school are struggling to get through - her mum!

"Yea well some teachers are like that" don't undermine the teachers that are undoing damage you've maybe done at home!!! Arghh!!

[BrendaandEddie]

its a slack school. Driving me nuts

[buggerthebotox]

I saw it, although it's getting tedious now. Sunglasses girl was a pain in the arse, and Angry Girl came good but at what cost? These kids are getting so much attention it beggars belief.

[MyballsareSandy]

Depressing watching this. I think the teachers seem dedicated to helping the troubled kids but at what cost to the others? So much attention and focus on them.

And I can't believe the hoodies, nail varnish, make up, trainers, jewellery, gum chewing, fizzy drink swilling, and the back chat to the teachers/attitude ......... jeez.

My DDs go to a very ordinary south london state school which has its problems but there were shocked at this and said a lot of it wouldn't be tolerated in their school.

[thatstoast]

The 'troubled' kids are probably the majority. I genuinely despair about the state of education in Wales. There seems to be very little aspiration on all levels.

[KenDoddsDadsDog]

I'm gobsmacked at this school . Long may DD stay small !

[BrendaandEddie]

Apparently the amount of parents to actually let their children take part in it is very very small, that is why they often over focused on trouble kids whose parents props are not involved in the education as they might be. Or the kids just like the limelight. Your average plodding kid who works hard and is no trouble in lessons simply isn't covered

[MozzchopsThirty]

Head has gone. New head is great
I know a few of these kids
It's a terrible area with a lot of poverty, deprivation and poor parenting which we are trying to rectify

[absolutelynotfabulous]

How do you think the new Head will work out, Mozzchops?

[InimitableJeeves]

The fact that the programme focuses on the time the staff spend with a few troubled kids won't reflect the reality. The cameras aren't going to spend time filming successful lessons where everything goes to plan because there's no drama in that, nor are they going to film the deputy heads drawing up timetables, writing reports, monitoring teaching, attending meetings, and the millions of other things they do. It doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

And if people like them don't give a bit of time to the more troubled kids, what are we going to do with them? Chucking them out is hardly going to achieve anything, is it?

[MozzchopsThirty]

I'm not a teacher so can't comment on what he will do
However when I've had to deal with him he has been pleasant, approachable, useful, professional, I have a lot of respect for him and I know some of the children do too

[Baconyum]

Oh boy! Interesting having an Italian teacher there. Education is highly valued in Italy and they would not put up with half the nonsense we do in the UK from the pupils OR the parents!