Ten years ago the nation fell in love with the Bafta and Emmy award winning series, Educating Yorkshire…
Millions tuned in every week to watch the students and staff of Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury, revealing the unvarnished highs and lows of life in a 21st Century secondary school. Most famously watching Year 11 student Musharaf, with the help of his inspirational English teacher Mr Burton, triumph in miraculous fashion over his stammer.
Building on the legacy of Educating Yorkshire, but in a wholly new reinvention of the brand, Thornhill is opening its doors to cameras once more to tell the stories of modern Britain through the eyes of one brilliant school. And there are a lot of new stories to tell. Things have changed in the past decade, for the school and for the country.
Mr Burton has stepped up and he’s now in charge of Thornhill, in his first role as Head Teacher. But, his wit and sparkle remain just the same. Supported by a new team of heroic staff, he has a lot on his plate. The school is on the up but, like all schools in Britain, there are challenges at every turn.
Everything from a rising tide of teenage anxiety, to exam and friendship pressure, to a national attendance crisis and the impact of mobile phones and social media. Nationally, the profession is having a tough time too. It is harder than ever to recruit new teachers, across the country nearly a third leave the job within five years.
Channel 4 cameras will watch as the staff and students of Thornhill navigate the joys and challenges of secondary school life. As the staff guide the students and their storylines criss-cross and intertwine, the result will be a series which speaks to a bigger picture – of how you grow up, survive, and thrive in today’s Britain.
The series will be filmed over 2024/2025 and aims to be on Channel 4 screens by the end of next year.
Educating Yorkshire proved itself to be one of Channel 4’s best performing factual shows with streaming audiences and its return is part of the broadcaster’s Fast Forward strategy to accelerate Channel 4’s transformation into a public service streamer.
David Clews and Grace Reynolds, who both created the original Educating brand, will Executive Produce, alongside David Brindley.
Headteacher Mr Burton:
“I’m excited to welcome Twofour back into our school over the coming months. The national challenges the profession faces are well publicised, and at Thornhill, I’m really proud of how our staff and students work together to thrive through those. Our values – ‘work hard and be nice’ – are at the centre of all we do; I have no doubt that viewers will see those come to life in our brilliant community.”
