Holyrood 90210: Glasgow Reality Tv, High school fly-on-the-wall documentary Options

[nippynell]

The more I read of these 'reality' programs the more I think Ben Elton was on the mark when he wrote BLIND FAITH

Scary stuff

Too True!!! I agree with you 100% Mary48.

[*colm*]

If they want to get an insight in the terrible problems which blight education in Glasgow then why dont they go to the source of the problem ..... City Chambers in George Square ..... now that might at least be interesting.

[*brerritrult*]

Has anyone thought of the possible long-term negative implications of this deal? A school should surely be a place for education not entertainment or expolitation.

[*Dinner Lady*]

I thought The Scheme was excellent, I don't think it was exploitative or sensationalist, the people in it wrote their own script. I thought it brought home the reality of the chaotic lives that many people lead.

For similar reasons I would welcome a light being shone into a modern Glasgow school, let's see what happens at the chalk face, it affects us all.

[*kai*]

aha, im actually in second year AT holyrood and ive been regulary filmed! i think its fine to be honest and NO-ONE feels 'excluded' or 'jealous'! trust me! why dont you actually ask us instead of assuming whats best for us?

[Isobel]

Has it reached your TV screens yet?

[Scotsman]

I have not seen it on here as yet Isobel.... but have to say that if it is anything like that terrible Scheme programme that was on the telly then I will not be watching it at all. Let us hope that it shows up how good our kids can be and doesnt make them look bad. I will let you know if I see that it is available.

[Melody]

This film is supposed to be screened in Winter 2011.

[GG]

Scotland's biggest secondary school is to star in a new documentary by the BBC team behind The Scheme.

Glasgow City Council are allowing the makers of the controversial TV show to film at Holyrood Secondary - Europe's largest state-funded comprehensive school.

The show, with a working title of High School, will follow the lives of pupils and staff of the Catholic secondary in three hour-long programmes to be screened later in 2011.

Has anyone seen this programme, working title "High School".

Did I miss it? As Melody says, the series of four programmes was scheduled to be shown in 2011, so time is running out!

The production company is today promting a new feature:

The makers of telly hit The Scheme will follow up their Bafta award-winning series — by turning the spotlight on one of Scotland's most famous streets. Cameras are filming the lives of residents and workers in bustling Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.

Crews have already been seen at The Garage nightclub.

Last night co-producer Jules Keane said: "We wanted to explore what life is really like there.

"We hope it will uncover some interesting characters and will be accepted the same way as The Scheme was."

The documentary — called The Street — is due to hit screens in 2013.

GG.

[wellfield]

Oh' Oh' more sub-titles for us if it's ever shown in the States...there even doing it with English programes.

[GG]

Could very well be sub-titled, wellfield, although not so sure that it will make it all the way to the States. I phoned the school yesterday and they said that they had no idea when it will be shown, commenting that the cameras pulled out many months ago. They were told that the series, of which 'High School' will form 3x1 hour episodes, was due to start broadcasting in September this year.

It would be interesting to know to what (if any) degree of control the education authorities have over the editorial policy. No doubt the producers will be looking for an angle to make the programme as controversial as possible, like they did with the 'poverty porn' production of The Scheme.

GG.

[Jim D]

By picking such a large successful school such as Holyrood, I think the council are trying to take a positive approach to the severe criticism they received for the under-achieving schools. I'm sure the programme will be a success rather than a failure. It hopefully will show how glasgow goes about educating young people, which will probably be a big surprise to people who have been out of the education system for some time. Times have changed since the regime of "learning by threats" - if you don't learn this or that you will receive the belt. Please don't bombard me with stories of "that never happened....". The schools I attended had that type of regime at primary and secondary level. It actually hinder me in my education but I progressed despite it.

As for the "Scheme"? Unfortunately, it was very close to reality. Maybe not the reality of a good number of folk but certainly the reality of people at the bottom end of the poverty ladder. As a young cop, I used to come home from work and relate similar stories to my parents on my days off. They would be ending themselves - and they thought they knew it all staying in a large Glasgow housing scheme. They never knew half of it! Life in the world of the drug scene it totally different. Laughing at other peoples misfortunes? Probably but it was real! How the other half live.

[zascot]

Times have changed since the regime of "learning by threats" - if you don't learn this or that you will receive the belt. Please don't bombard me with stories of "that never happened....". The schools I attended had that type of regime at primary and secondary level. It actaully hinder me in my education but I progressed despite it.

At least we had respect for our teachers which is sadly lacking today. I don`t think the belt had any lasting effect on my upbringing.Today even parents can`t dicipline their own kids, well some parents no authority will tell me how to bring mine up, including the grandkids.

[tamhickey]

I do hope than if this series is ever shown, that it will treat those involved with far more respect than the production/editing team did with "The Scheme". This mob won a Scottish Bafta from their no doubt middle class voters for this poverty porn. It was meant to represent a cross section of society who lived there but instead chose to focus on the most negative aspects of life there. Maybe the majority of people there were just too nice for them and they felt it wouldn't make good television. To me, it's the most lazy and awful way to attract viewers. One of the participants had previously taken part in another documentary from the same team about women locked up in jail. Seeing a pattern here? It's also amazingly fortuitous for this crew to find her in this wee Ayrshire town with her scummy pals.
In other words, the entire thing was already a set up to make the entire populace of the town look as bad and scummy as possible. There was an agenda at work here and instead of a BAFTA, they ought to have been told never to make such a series again.
There's a lot of really good people who happen to live in so-called schemes all over Scotland but for some reason, the BBC seem to want to point to negativity at every turn.

[GG]

Jim D, zascot, I'd agree with both of you that (1) the use of the belt was routinely abused by teachers in schools in Glasgow (can't speak for elsewhwere), and (2) that the lack of discipline in today's society has led to an undermining of authority.

Of course, the breakdown in authority seems largely restricted to woking-class schools, while middle-class and private schools appear to still be able to flourish despite wider problems in society. It would be interesting to find out why this was? And what could be learned to improve conditions and performance in Glasgow's woeful state schools?

GG.