Surely made with the best of intentions it failed in the first episode quite miserably. One thing it did point up was the almost impossible job "real" teachers have trying to educate kids who do not want to know with no sanctions or support from anywhere when kids rebel. I was shocked to see David Starkey insult a boy with no real reason (unless it was hidden in the edit) and so lose the class entirely. It is early in the series, though to make a final judgement - it just irritates me that Jamie seems to be saying that all schools could do this to motivate pupils - you mean select just 4/5 to go sailing with Ellen Macarthur? Gimme a break! One thing shone through though- nothing will or can be achieved until discipline, both self imposed and from above is instigated . Kids cannot always blame their schools for their failure, they have to take some sort of responsibility too. This programme does not live in the real world - they acknowledge that I think but that still skews the conclusion.
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