Educating Essex - Season 1

Season 1

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.

Network

Episodes7

DatesSep 22, 2011 - Nov 3, 2011

Episodes

Season 1Episode 160 min

Episode 1

It's the last week of term before Christmas and Deputy Head Mr Drew has more to contend with than a few snowballs, when a row over school uniform leads to an accusation that threatens his career.

Sep 22, 2011

Season 1Episode 260 min

Episode 2

This programme features the age-old problem of bullying. From cyber-harassment to an old-fashioned scrap, bullying is something that every school faces.

Sep 29, 2011

Season 1Episode 360 min

Episode 3

Charming but cheeky Vinni was a model student when he started at the school. But since the break-up of Vinni's parents' marriage his behaviour has deteriorated.

Oct 6, 2011

Season 1Episode 460 min

Episode 4

Final year students Sky and Liam discover they're expecting a baby. Sky desperately wants to finish school, but will she manage to when the baby is due at the same time as her GCSEs?

Oct 13, 2011

Season 1Episode 560 min

Episode 5

Carrie and Ashleigh are at the heart of the biggest and loudest clique in school. But when they fall out, their argument spills into the classroom and could disrupt more than their friendship.

Oct 20, 2011

Season 1Episode 660 min

Episode 6

Has Deputy Head Mr Drew finally met his match in clever but complicated student Mollie? Can the teachers coax Molly and her talented sister Charlotte to apply their energy to academic work?

Oct 27, 2011

Season 1Episode 760 min

Episode 7

As leaver's day, exams and the prom approach, the school tries to prepare Ryan, who has Asperger's, for life outside school. And the staff try to keep Vinni on the straight and narrow.

Nov 3, 2011