Journeys to School: The Gaps in the Grades

Overview

How is it that some schools can succeed in challenging circumstances whilst others with similar demographics are deemed failures? Which models of education are succeeding within the UK?

What can be learnt and applied from the best performing nations and also the most relevant ones to the cultural diversity of young people that attend our schools? Are there patterns in attainment that recur beyond national borders, and how can this be explained?

The documentary will explore, compare and juxtapose the best there is in education from Finland (world leaders in educational standards) and also reflect on the problems in the UK that relate to attainment in Jamaica through both case studies of Jamaican young people and UK schemes such as outreach programs and supplementary schools such as the ones featured in the above video. Schemes that have been providing hope and direction for young people all over the UK to achieve both in education and their future careers.

Previous Influences and Research

'Journeys to School: The Gaps in the Grades' has already been effectively 3 years in the making. Since I first started documenting the supplementary schools that were designed to provide additional support for pupils that were in transition from primary to secondary school (Fix Up Look Sharp).

During this process and also throughout filming the Each One Teach One events, I discovered after talking to the people facilitating these schools that there was a huge gap in attainment between pupils from an ethnic minority background and socially disadvantaged pupils as they entered secondary education.

Methods such as after-school clubs and outreach programs using attainment advisors who visit the homes and parents of students experiencing difficulties have also had spectacular results and these stark improvements led me to question why these methods of additional teaching and student engagement did not play a bigger part in mainstream education.

Many of these schemes are under threat or in the process closing because of recent government cuts and are also far from ubiquitous in many of the UK schools that desperately need them. This is by proxy creating an even more elitist system that will increase the attainment gap and destroy the fragile cohesion between cultures and communities that these extra schools and outreach programs bring.

Why Back This Project?

The only things that can change society in any meaningful lasting way are war & education. Both involve journeys & undertakings that are a marriage of chaos and institutionalism.

The educational journey however, is stifled by something less transparent than violence, hindrances and successes that are different in every country they are found in. This documentary aims to explore these issues by reflecting and drawing parallels between borders and showing templates of teaching and autonomous institutions that can and do make a real difference to young peoples lives and opportunities for the future.

I have already lined up an award winning director (Tom Mansfield) to shoot the documentary and a BBC TV Presenter (Junior Saunders) to present it.

The money I hope to raise through Sponsume will go towards shooting a pitch with broadcast standard production values that demonstrates a tangible high quality template of what it is I want to represent in the full documentary. This short pitch video is essential for the project to be taken seriously with the gravity it deserves from channels such as BBC 2, Channel 4 and BBC 4 to have a realistic chance of getting commissioned.

The time to realise this project and show viewers both the huge potential of UK schools and also the harsh reality of what is currently in store for them can only be now.