Secret Life of the Classroom

21 August, 2006 by The_Boss

Channel 4 Tuesday 22nd August 2006 at 9pm

Every year over 650,000 children start school. Film maker, Fran Landsman, spent 11 weeks at Moorlands Infant School in Bath to make this highly original film revealing the dramas that mark theses crucial weeks for the nation’s four year olds. This is a film for everyone whose child is starting school this September.

Next month, around 650,000 children will be dropped off for their first day at school. An anxious time for both parent and child with neither really knowing what lies in store. Who will they sit next to, who will they eat lunch with or play with at break time? Will they find the toilet on their own and how will they cope when they get there?

This film follows a reception class at Moorlands Infant School in Bath to see what the first year at school is really like through the children’s eyes. Film-maker Fran Landsman and Assistant Producer Lucy Pardee spent three months at the school. They knew they had to be as unobtrusive as possible in the busy classroom so they shot and recorded sound themselves. For most of the time they were on their knees in the classroom, filming at the children’s level.

At first the children were fascinated by the camera but soon they virtually forgot it was there – the result is an insightful, endearing and intimate portrait of a secret world.

This is a place where tiny things matter hugely – where miniature sagas occur frequently, making up the real drama of life in reception. Four year old Isaac is used to his mum helping him get dressed at home, so getting ready for gym on his own is hard and a major step towards independence. For Grace, it is the daunting world of the playground which she finds hard to negotiate. She wants to play at shopkeepers but Ella and Rebecca don’t want to let her join in. Dylan has no problems finding children to play with, but he just does not know when to stop being rough.

Over the next few months, the cameras follow how the children deal with these challenges as they learn how to behave and how to cope in the big wide world. The film shows the extraordinary patience and understanding of their teacher, Jane Southwell and her colleagues.

It is her job to introduce the children to the rules that govern how they interact with each other and the world around them. From philosophy lessons, where they learn to listen to each other’s opinions, to cookery classes where they learn to share. Not all the children understand the rules as quickly as others. For some, more discipline is needed to help them realise when their behaviour is not appropriate.

When one boy bites one of his classmates he is sent to the Head Teacher but when the children show an understanding of the golden rules, they are rewarded.

By the end of term Grace and Dylan have become such popular members of the class, they have both been voted on to the school council – and Isaac has learned how to get ready for gym. It is the close observation of the dramas along the way which make this such a special film – a programme not to be missed by anyone whose child starts school this September.

Produce /Director: Fran Landsman
Executive Producer: Sam Organ