“Basically, there’s summat wrong with me. I’m like … a psychopath. Genuinely!” A teenage girl with the face of an angel is confiding in Mr Wilson, one of the student managers. He listens solemnly, but his mouth twitches with the beginnings of a smile.
“I’m going to start by disagreeing with you,” he says with all the seriousness he can muster. “You’re not a psychopath.” The girl in the sky-blue hoodie relaxes and rewards him with a broad smile.
Welcome back to Thornhill Community academy on the outskirts of Dewsbury for Educating Yorkshire Part 2, where once again the 900 pupils – witty, sensitive, smart, vulnerable and endlessly engaging – are the standout stars of the series.
Much has changed in schools since Channel 4 last filmed at Thornhill more than a decade ago. TikTok, vapes, Andrew Tate, gender-questioning, anxiety, mobile phones and high levels of school absence are now everyday issues across the sector. And of course there was Covid – the biggest disruptor to education since the second world war.
Headteacher Mr Burton and deputy head Mrs Ali meet the challenges of school with warmth and humour. Photograph: Tom Martin/Channel 4
Negotiating these challenges is Matthew Burton, 42, the inspirational English teacher from the last series who moved the entire nation with his efforts to help Musharaf, a year 11 student, overcome his stammer. He is now headteacher.
A decade on he strides around Thornhill in his new hi-vis gilet, with the words “Work hard, be nice” emblazoned on his back, his warmth, humour and enthusiasm undimmed.
“Nobody goes into teaching for life to be easy, because schools aren’t,” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “There’s lots of complexities to being in schools and being a teacher, but also, it’s such a unique profession.
“You genuinely get the chance 99 times out of a 100 to go home at the end of the day having done something positive for somebody, and there aren’t that many professions where you get that opportunity.”
Mr Burton has allowed the cameras back into his now-famous secondary school because there’s a teacher recruitment crisis in education and he wants to help. He wants everyone to know what a great profession it is and how brilliant it is to work with young people.
Riley in year 8 wants to know why he can’t sit still. Photograph: Tom Martin / Channel 4
“Some of the stuff around schools and education can be really challenging as a teacher to read and it doesn’t always align with my thinking,” he says. “It is a fantastic, fantastic profession.
“These are the remarkable and amazing young people who you’re working with. This is what it’s about – speaking on behalf of the profession, demonstrating some of the challenges but also some of the absolutely fantastic things that happen in schools.”
So what has changed since the first series was broadcast in 2013? “One of the biggest changes has been how much technology has advanced,” he says promptly. “Children are going round with mobile phones in their pockets which are incredibly powerful computers that can effectively do pretty much anything you want them to.”
Amy in year 8 feels deeply about her friendship group. Photograph: Tom Martin/Channel 4
In one episode, where pupils are discussing screen time, it emerges that some children are on their mobile phone for more than 15 hours a day, despite a school-wide ban. “If it’s seen, heard or used it’s confiscated, and that’s the bottom line,” says Burton.
In other scenes a boy is found hiding a vape down his trousers, AI proves a growing challenge and teachers find themselves dealing with the long tail of Covid, supporting growing numbers of pupils with mental health issues and special educational needs.
Episode one features Riley in year 8, who’s blond, bright and getting in trouble. “What happens in my head, it’s just a mess,” he says, wide-eyed. His mum thinks he has attention deficit hyperactive disorder; the school wonders if it’s his diet and experiments with reducing his sugar. Riley just wants to know why he can’t sit still.
Mr Geary teaching a class. Photograph: Tom Martin/Channel 4
Then there’s Amy, also year 8, who goes to school only for the hash browns (“sent from the heavens above”) and her friends. But the stresses and strains of teenage friendship sometimes prove too much for her. She has developed tics and often wanders into the student manager’s office. “In my friendship group I want everyone to be happy,” she says sadly after being blanked by one of her mates.
“One of the things that always impresses me about students is how aware of their emotions they are and how emotionally literate they are and vulnerable when they need that support,” said 42-year-old Burton, now a father to three children. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a generation of young people who will be as open about wanting and needing that support and that help.”
But it’s hard. Times have changed, even since the last series and life for many children has become more challenging. “The world’s different, isn’t it?” says Burton. “It’s a very complex place to be in, a very complex time to live.”
Educating Yorkshire Part 2 is on Channel 4 on Sunday at 8pm
