Educating Essex

The first programme of the series joins Passmores School's deputy head Mr Drew on the front line of school discipline.

Dealing with emotional teenagers, enforcing detentions and maintaining the school's high standards - as well as teaching history - is all in a day's work for Mr Drew. Some love him, others love to hate him.

It's the last few days of term before Christmas and Mr Drew has more to contend with than a few snowballs in the playground. When a row over school uniform escalates, an accusation from a pupil threatens to derail his entire career.

SERIES SYNOPSIS

What is life really like for today's students and teachers? This series has unprecedented access to an English secondary school to follow a group of GCSE students, and the staff who teach them, as they face the most important year in their education.

Passmores School in Harlow, Essex, is a successful school in a challenging area. Under headteacher Vic Goddard, it's been awarded Academy status and is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted.

The school has been rigged with 65 fixed cameras - from the corridors to the canteen, and from the headteacher's office to the detention hall - to reveal every detail of daily life.

I found it was important to watch documentaries that relate to our final piece as we can take bits that work well to develop our work. We are in the process of editing so watching documentaries such as these help, even if they are small things, it just helps to get those extra ideas.