An engaging four-part series on BBC ONE Northern Ireland goes back to school to follow the staff and students at an educational institution with a difference.
Second Chance School, starting on Monday, October 01 at 10.35pm, goes behind the doors of Loughshore Educational Resource Centre on the Shore Road in north Belfast, which is the daytime home for some of the city’s toughest young ‘unteachables’.
Some of these children have been expelled from mainstream schools. Some have come from backgrounds where they’ve been deprived socially and emotionally and are referred because of special educational needs.
Others arrive at Loughshore having been identified as vulnerable or ‘high risk’ to themselves or others. Filmed over a year, the series comes face to face with a tough, yet affectionate, group of pupils and an inspirational female principal, Geri Cameron. Second Chance School is a no-holds-barred, and, sometimes poignant insight into their often troubled lives.
Geri and her staff work tirelessly to make up for the shortcomings of their pupils, who are often not catered for by the traditional education system. Geri reveals how, with an individual curriculum to suit each pupil, Loughshore aims to create an environment that maximises the potential of each student.
Loughshore has its own specific ‘code of conduct’, a set of rules by which the pupils are expected to adhere. At the core of this code is the idea of showing respect for the surroundings and each other. The idea of forgiveness and a clean slate is also at the core of the Loughshore code.
Second Chance School also reveals the lack of an adequate safety net for post 16-year-old under achievers, because the school currently can only keep pupils until this age - the same age at which children ‘in care’ are also forced to leave their children’s home.
Clare Campbell, producer
of the series said:
"I think viewers can expect to experience a lot of contrasting emotions
when watching Second Chance School. It's certainly a very tough place but
the goal at Loughshore is the same as at any other school - to educate the
pupils and to provide them with a good platform for their future.
“I hope viewers will get a glimpse into the lives of these troubled teens and perhaps get a better understanding of how difficult their short lives have been. It will also let viewers see the challenges faced by the staff at Loughshore whose dedication and commitment gives the pupils hope for the future.”
The series reveals the frank and sometimes forthright interaction between staff and pupils with unrivalled access to a previously unseen world that contains strong language from the start.
Second Chance School is a Hotshot Films production for BBC Northern Ireland.