H Is for Harry

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?

Fifteen years on from Tony Blair's mantra,

"Education, education, education,"

and our schools are apparently in stagnation.

Despite big increases in educational spending,

there's been no improvement over the last four years in maths,

reading or science.

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.

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. -

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.

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.

- Cheese! -

That one worked! Thank you very much!

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.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

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.

Plate, knife, fork, cup, water.

Plates, knives, forks, cups, and water.

- No, why? -

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."

I'm done.

Did you call Hanah?

We'll see if you're on the list, but you might be, Harry, okay?

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.

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.

Whoo!

Bye, Krishnan. Bye, Rajesh.

Bye, Aaron. Bye, Connor.

Well done. Great.

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.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Biscuit! Come on. Come on.

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?

Yeah, but no one cleans them out.

- It's your work. - 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-- - There was nothing.

- There was nothing. It was just... - None of this.

It was literally just plain grass everywhere.

Soon, there will be a big swimming pool right there.

- It's in the shed now. - 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.

- 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.

It's grammar time! Are you ready to start these classes?

- Yeah! - 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.

Grammar time!

Every Thursday, you have grammar time.

- Do you love grammar? - Yes!

Say it after me, I love grammar!

I love grammar!

Okay. What is the full stop for?

It needs a full stop to separate these two ideas.

Good, Robin. We're gonna go "hmm" where the full stop should go.

- I'm gonna say, "One, two, three, hmm." - Hmm!

You can make the face as well if you want.

- One, two, three... - Hmm!

Good. Try it together.

- I walked down the hill... - Hmm!

- My friend was waiting for me... - Hmm!

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..."

Hmm! And the noise? I didn't hear it.

- Hmm. -

"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?

- Tension. - Tension. Excellent.

I think that deserves a merit, Nacis.

- Can we have a merit for Nacis? - Thank you.