Educating …

Synopsis

Educating … is a British documentary television programme produced by Twofour for Channel 4 that has run since 2011. It uses a fly on the wall format to show the everyday lives of the staff and students of various secondary schools around the UK; interspersed with interviews of those involved and featuring narration from the director and interviewer, David Clews. Filmed on location at schools in Harlow, Dewsbury, Walthamstow, Cardiff and Salford respectively, there have been six series to date: Educating Essex (2011), Educating Yorkshire (2013), Educating the East End (2014), Educating Cardiff (2015) and Educating Greater Manchester 1 & 2 (2017 and 2020).

Main Cast

Seasons

Season 1

2011 | 7 episodes

Educating Essex is a British documentary television programme produced by Twofour for Channel 4 that ran for seven episodes from September to November 2011. It uses a fly on the wall format to show the everyday lives of the staff and students of Passmores Academy, a secondary school in Harlow, Essex, interspersed with interviews of those involved and featuring narration from the director and interviewer, David Clews. The series received mixed media coverage: it was largely praised for its insight into the lives and behaviour of teenagers and the education system, but was also criticised for its depiction of students and teachers using profanity, as well as bullying and teenage pregnancy. The show received numerous awards, including director David Clews's British Academy Television Craft Award for his work on the programme in 2012; in the same year, the show was nominated for a Grierson Award for "Best Documentary Series". What is life really like for today's students and teachers? This series has unprecedented access to an English secondary school to follow a group of GCSE students, and the staff who teach them, as they face the most important year in their education. Passmores School in Harlow, Essex, is a successful school in a challenging area. Under headteacher Vic Goddard, it's been awarded Academy status and is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted. The school has been rigged with 65 fixed cameras — from the corridors to the canteen, and from the headteacher's office to the detention hall — to reveal every detail of daily life.

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Season 2

2013 | 8 episodes

Educating Yorkshire is a British documentary television programme broadcast on Channel 4. The eight-episode first series was first broadcast on 5 September 2013. Its format is based on the BAFTA Award winning 2011 series Educating Essex. It follows the everyday lives of the staff and students of Thornhill Community Academy, a secondary school in Dewsbury, Yorkshire. Filmed at Thornhill Community Academy near Dewsbury, Educating Yorkshire captures every detail of life in the school, from playground hijinks and inspirational lessons to life-changing events. It follows the work of Headteacher Jonny Mitchell to better the chances for all his students and build on successive years of improving exam results. Located at the heart of a diverse northern community and with a student population that is almost exactly half white-British and half British-Asian, the school offers a fascinating insight into modern school life in the UK. Told with warmth and humour, Educating Yorkshire explores the universally-recognisable themes of teenage life and those all-important pupil-teacher relationships that lie at the heart of everyone's formative years.

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Season 3

2014 | 8 episodes

Seeing what our secondary-school teachers have to contend with (and can achieve) in the classroom is an eye-opener, as we saw in the brilliant observational series Educating Yorkshire. Even though they try to be inspirational and encouraging, it can be a struggle. “It’s really hard to balance the idealism with the difficulties of dealing with a bunch of adolescents,” says Ms Smith, head at Frederick Bremer School in east London. Trainee teacher Mr Bispham’s attempts to teach a year-nine class Shakespeare shows how frustrating and challenging it is (rowdiness, swearing, chatting, boredom – he gets it all) but how much he and his colleagues care oozes through the screen.

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Season 4

2015 | 8 episodes

Educating is back, and this time we are in Wales at Willows High School in Cardiff. Educating Cardiff captures every detail of life at Willows and to kick the series off we are introduced to Head Teacher Joy Ballard, her stellar team of staff and some dynamic kids. From Year 7 to Year 11, newly qualified teachers to old-hands, this series shows what it’s like to learn and teach in the Welsh capital. Educating Cardiff captures every detail of what life is like for the students and staff at Willows High School.

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Season 5

2017 | 8 episodes

A warm and honest exploration of what life's like for students and their teachers at Harrop Fold, a secondary school at the heart of a changing community in Salford

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Season 6

2020 | 4 episodes

The series offering moving, funny and dramatic insights into modern schooling and teen life returns to Harrop Fold School, Greater Manchester

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