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Our School is a British documentary reality television programme on CBBC which first aired on 3 September 2014 and has run for eight series. It uses a fly-on-the-wall format to show the everyday lives of the staff and pupils in secondary schools and follows children as they move from Year 6 into Year 7. From series 5 onwards, the series featured pupils in both Year 7 and Year 8.
| Our School | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Entertainment Documentary Reality television |
| Created by | BBC |
| Directed by | Cher Adamson Chris Chapman Matt Grosch Jamie McLeish |
| Voices of | Jonathan
Thoburn (Series 1 & 2017 Special, 2018 Special, 2019 Special) Trevor Evans (Series 2 & 2017 Special, 2018 Special, 2019 Special) Martin Jones (Series 3 & 2018 Special) Ben Shore (2019 Special) Ewan Nicoll (Series 4 & 2019 Special) Shirley Ballas (Our School Summer Camp) Helena Worth (Series 5 & Series 6) Brandon Swain (Series 6) Lily Kerbey (Series 7) Diane Morgan (Series 8) |
| Theme music composer | Sam Gale |
| Opening theme | "Our School" |
| Ending theme | "Our School" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 7 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kez Margrie Richard Marson |
| Producers | Vanessa Singh Natasha Cox Matt Grosch Cher Adamson Chris Chapman Jamie McLeish |
| Production locations | Conyers School, Stockton-on-Tees (Series 1) Greenwood Academy, Birmingham (Series 2) Firth Park Academy, Sheffield (Series 3) Shawlands Academy, Glasgow (Series 4) Hawthorn High School, Pontypridd (Series 5) Ryburn Valley High School, Calderdale (Series 6) Firth Park Academy, Sheffield (Series 7) Badminton School, Bristol (Series 8) |
| Editor | Various |
| Camera setup | Multi camera Dual cameras |
| Running time | 22 - 30 minutes |
| Production company | Twofour |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBBC (2014–2022) |
| Release | 3 September 2014 – 21 October 2022 |
In 2019, a spin-off called Our School Summer Camp was made, featuring students from series 1, 2 and 3, and some new students, joined by headteacher Shirley Ballas.
Series overview
edit| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 16 | 3 September 2014 | 7 September 2015 | |
| 2 | 15 | 5 January 2016 | 19 April 2016 | |
| 3 | 15 | 5 September 2017 | 12 December 2017 | |
| 4 | 20 | 7 August 2018 | 18 December 2018 | |
| 5 | 20 | 3 September 2019 | 10 December 2019 | |
| 6 | 22 | 26 August 2020 | 23 December 2020 | |
| 7 | 20 | 6 September 2021 | 28 January 2022 | |
| 8 | 20 | 26 September 2022 | 21 October 2022 | |
Development and production
editOur School was commissioned in September 2013 by the production company TwoFour and CBBC (the children's television brand owned by the BBC and primarily aimed at children aged between the ages of 7 and 16).[1] Each series of programmes follows the day-to-day school life of 11-year-olds as they transition from different primary schools to embark on their first year at a secondary school and the commencement of their Key Stage 3 education. The programme uses a fly-on-the-wall camera approach to record the trials and tribulations, the joys and the sorrows, and the successes and surprises, of eleven Year 7 pupils throughout the whole academic year. Each series is filmed in a different school.
Our School was publicly announced in early 2014. The series follows the same overall format as Educating..., another documentary reality television programme on Channel 4 from the same production company which was first broadcast in September 2011 and which also uses fly-on-the-wall cameras.
Our School has run for eight series on CBBC and BBC iPlayer to date, with each series having between 15 and 20 episodes, and with each episode focusing on a particular event, group of students or storyline. In addition, there have been multiple specials in which students and schools from previous series are revisited.
Episodes
editSeries 1 (2014–15)
editThe first series was filmed at Conyers School in the town of Yarm near Middlesbrough. It showed the Year 7 classes experiencing secondary school for the first time and featured some of the challenges they may face in later life.
The first series was made up of 15x30 minute episodes and began to be broadcast on 3 September 2014. The final episode of the series was aired on 10 December 2014.
In 2015, it was announced that a special episode would be added to the first series. This aired on 7 September 2015 and was a catch-up episode that saw the cameras return to see what had happened to the Year 7 pupils, who were now in Year 8.
| No. overall | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | We are Year 7 | 3 September 2014 |
| 2 | New Horizons | 10 September 2014 |
| 3 | Meet the Teachers | 17 September |
| 4 | In Trouble | 24 September 2014 |
| 5 | Finding Friends | 1 October 2014 |
| 6 | Double Take | 8 October 2014 |
| 7 | Goals | 15 October 2014 |
| 8 | I Hate Quiet | 22 October 2014 |
| 9 | Making Progress | 29 October 2014 |
| 10 | Three Is a Magic Number | 5 November 2014 |
| 11 | Behave Yourself | 12 November 2014 |
| 12 | The Beautiful Game | 19 November 2014 |
| 13 | Nothing to Be Scared Of | 26 November 2014 |
| 14 | Love Is in the Air | 3 December 2014 |
| 15 | Christmas Is Coming | 10 December 2014 |
| 16 | Special: What Happened Next? | 7 September 2015 |
Series 2 (2016)
editThe second series of Our School was filmed at Greenwood Academy in Castle Vale near Birmingham.
This series began to be aired on 5 January 2016 and ran for 15 weeks, with the final episode being broadcast on 12 April 2016. It was retitled Our School 2 and followed the same format as Series 1.[2]
| No. overall | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | New Starts | 5 January 2016 |
| 18 | On The Ball | 12 January 2016 |
| 19 | Getting Ahead | 19 January 2016 |
| 20 | Find Your Focus | 26 January 2016 |
| 21 | Change Your Ways | 2 February 2016 |
| 22 | Going Forward, Stepping Back | 9 February 2016 |
| 23 | You've Got A Friend | 16 February 2016 |
| 24 | Who Am I? | 23 February 2016 |
| 25 | My Camera Never Lies | 1 March 2016 |
| 26 | Helping Out | 8 March 2016 |
| 27 | The Hunger Game | 15 March 2016 |
| 28 | We Can Be Heroes | 22 March 2016 |
| 29 | Where The Heart Is | 29 March 2016 |
| 30 | In It To Win It | 5 April 2016 |
| 31 | Show Stopper | 12 April 2016 |
Series 3 (2017)
editBefore the launch of the third series there was one-off special, which saw two students, one from Series 1 and one from Series 2, swap schools for a day and get to know and interact with the other students. The special aired in August 2017.
The first episode of Series 3 of Our School was broadcast on 5 September 2017.[3] It was filmed at Firth Park Academy in the Shiregreen area of Sheffield.[4]
| No. overall | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | New Faces | 5 September 2017 |
| 34 | True Colours | 12 September 2017 |
| 35 | A Goal For Wayne | 19 September 2017 |
| 36 | Meaty Matters | 26 September 2017 |
| 37 | Just the Job | 3 October 2017 |
| 38 | I Can't Do It...Yet | 10 October 2017 |
| 39 | Show Me the Funny | 17 October 2017 |
| 40 | There's No i In Team | 24 October 2017 |
| 41 | The Ghost of Firth Park | 31 October 2017 |
| 42 | Repping and Rapping | 7 November 2017 |
| 43 | Swap the Teacher | 14 November 2017 |
| 45 | Tricky Business | 21 November 2017 |
| 46 | African Adventure | 28 November 2017 |
| 47 | Moves Like Michael | 5 December 2017 |
| 48 | Strictly Year Seven | 12 December 2017 |
Special: When Conyers Met Greenwood
Series 4 (2018)
editThe fourth series was filmed in Scotland, at Shawlands Academy in the Shawlands area of Glasgow.
- The New Boy
- Laugh Out Loud
- Give Us a Try
- I'm Not Your Dude
- It's Great Outdoors
- A Piece of Cake
- Something New
- Frenemies
- Try Being Me
- Express Yourself
- You Can't Win 'Em All
- We're All Scottish
- Deaducation
- Back in the Day
- Paws for Thought
- Eyes on the Prize
- In at the Deep End
- Passion for Fashion
- Edinburgh - Here We Come!
- So This Is Christmas
SPECIALS:
- One Last Term
- Moving Day
- Return to Firth Park
Series 5 (2019)
editThe fifth series was filmed in south Wales, at Hawthorn High School (Ysgol Uwchradd Y Hawthorn) in the village of Hawthorn, Rhondda Cynon Taf near Pontypridd. In a new feature, for the first time year 8 pupils were also featured alongside the year 7 pupils in the show.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Brand New Term | 3 September 2019 |
| 2 | A Class Full of Chickens | 10 September 2019 |
| 3 | When School Sucked | 17 September 2019 |
| 4 | Here Comes Trouble | 24 September 2019 |
| 5 | Plastic Not Fantastic | 1 October 2019 |
| 6 | Lessons in Gunge | 8 October 2019 |
| 7 | A Slice of Pizza | 15 October 2019 |
| 8 | Face Your Fears | 22 October 2019 |
| 9 | Partners in Crime | 29 October 2019 |
| 10 | Our Scary Movie | 29 October 2019 (iPlayer Exclusive) |
| 11 | Teaching Me Tidy | 5 November 2019 |
| 12 | Leap of Faith | 5 November 2019 (iPlayer Exclusive) |
| 13 | Vote for Me | 12 November 2019 |
| 14 | Can't Play Will Play! | 12 November 2019 (iPlayer Exclusive) |
| 15 | And Then They Were Eight | 19 November 2019 |
| 16 | Would You Eat Frogs Legs | 19 November 2019 (iPlayer Exclusive) |
| 17 | Keep Calm and Carry On | 26 November 2019 |
| 18 | The Magic of Christmas | 3 December 2019 |
| 19 | Get Your Act Together | 10 December 2019 |
| 20 | Our School Rocks | 10 December 2019 (iPlayer Exclusive) |
| 21 | SPECIAL: How We've Changed | September 2019 |
| 22 | SPECIAL: Taking The Boys Out Of Sheffield | September 2019 |
Series 6 (2020)
editSeries 6 was filmed at Ryburn Valley High School in the town of Sowerby Bridge in the Upper Calder Valley of West Yorkshire. The first episode was broadcast on 26 August 2020.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lockdown Special 1 | Lockdown: 1 | iPlayer Exclusive |
| Lockdown Special 2 | Lockdown: 2 | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 1 | Every Dream Counts | 26 August 2020 |
| 2 | The Power Of Yet | 2 September 2020 |
| 3 | Twinfinity And Beyond | 9 September 2020 |
| 4 | Don't Touch My Crocodile | 16 September 2020 |
| 5 | The Appliance of Science | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 6 | Teacher's Pet | 23 September 2020 |
| 7 | Where There's a Wheel | 30 September 2020 |
| 8 | Operation Prank | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 9 | Trick Or Teach | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 10 | Anything I Can Do We Can Do Better | 7 October 2020 |
| 11 | Change the World with Kindness | 14 October 2020 |
| 12 | Age Is Just A Number | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 13 | I'm With the Band | 21 October 2020 |
| 14 | The Forgotten Room | 28 October 2020 |
| 15 | Think Before You Sink | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 16 | Set Your Fear on Fire | 4 November 2020 |
| 17 | If At First You Don't Succeed | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 18 | The Seeds of Change | 11 November 2020 |
| 19 | Less Chat More Action | iPlayer Exclusive |
| 20 | The Christmas Express | 18 November 2020 |
| 21 | The Show Must Go On | 25 November 2020 |
| 22 | One Last Dance | 2 December 2020 |
Series 7 (2021-2022)
editSeries 7, filmed at Firth Park Academy, started broadcasting on CBBC on 6 September 2021. The series consists of 20 episodes aired over selected weeks of the Autumn and Spring terms of the current academic year as part of the Bitesize programming block. The first ten episodes aired during the first two weeks of the school year before taking a break. The series resumed with the remaining ten episodes from 17 January 2022. The episodes were made available on iPlayer as well.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bin Those Fears | 6 September 2021 |
| 2 | That’ll Teach Them | 7 September 2021 |
| 3 | The Pet Test | 8 September 2021 |
| 4 | The Rabbit Whisperer | 9 September 2021 |
| 5 | Mind Games | 10 September 2021 |
| 6 | Viva Espana! | 13 September 2021 |
| 7 | There's No Planet B | 14 September 2021 |
| 8 | Takeover Day | 15 September 2021 |
| 9 | Grow Your Own Library | 16 September 2021 |
| 10 | From Ramadan to Eid | 17 September 2021 |
| 11 | You Snooze You Lose | 17 January 2022 |
| 12 | Puppy Love | 18 January 2022 |
| 13 | Growing Pains | 19 January 2022 |
| 14 | This Little Piggy | 20 January 2022 |
| 15 | How to Be a Winner | 21 January 2022 |
| 16 | King Tim and the Big Art Scam | 24 January 2022 |
| 17 | Cool to Be Kind | 25 January 2022 |
| 18 | You're Hired | 26 January 2022 |
| 19 | Just Be Fierce | 27 January 2022 |
| 20 | Brave The Stage | 28 January 2022 |
Series 8 (2022) Our Boarding School
editSeries 8 was filmed at Badminton School, an independent boarding and day school for girls in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. The series was scheduled to start on 12 September 2022 but was delayed to a later date due to the death of Elizabeth II. As such, the BBC iPlayer synopsis for the episode "Pen Pals" has a notice saying that it was filmed in 2021 before her death, as she is mentioned in the present tense once. The series is narrated by Diane Morgan.
| Episode Number | Episode Name | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Away from Home | 26 September 2022 |
| 2 | Around the House | 27 September 2022 |
| 3 | Year of the Tiger | 28 September 2022 |
| 4 | Watch This Space | 29 September 2022 |
| 5 | Braving the Storm | 30 September 2022 |
| 6 | All About Emily | 3 October 2022 |
| 7 | Join the Club | 4 October 2022 |
| 8 | All the Feels | 5 October 2022 |
| 9 | School of Rock | 6 October 2022 |
| 10 | Pen Pals | 7 October 2022 |
| 11 | New to the Nest | 10 October 2022 |
| 12 | Can You Cook It? | 11 October 2022 |
| 13 | House Wars | 12 October 2022 |
| 14 | What's On Your Mind? | 13 October 2022 |
| 15 | How it Started/How it's Going | 14 October 2022 |
| 16 | Take the Plunge | 17 October 2022 |
| 17 | The Staff of Destiny | 18 October 2022 |
| 18 | How to Get a Head | 19 October 2022 |
| 19 | Prom Planners | 20 October 2022 |
| 20 | School, Good Vibes Only | 21 October 2022 |
References
edit- ^ Catherine Booth Bible College (1989), CBBC, Office of Media Ministries, OCLC 1057737839
- ^ Cameron Decker (14 April 2016). "Our School - Series 2: New Starts - BBC Documentary 2016" – via YouTube.
- ^ Elvis Javier Mattos Villegas (5 September 2017). "Our School - Series 3: BBC Documentary 2017" – via YouTube.
- ^ "We Are Year 7, Series 1, Our School - Credits - BBC - CBBC". BBC.
