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‘Work hard. Be kind.’
It’s a simple motto, but one that’s proven powerful at Thornhill Community Academy—a secondary school in Dewsbury that became the foundation for arguably one of Channel 4’s best-ever series, Educating Yorkshire.
It’s the standard set by headteacher Mr. Burton, who became a national hero 12 years ago after helping pupil Musharraf find his voice. Back then, Burton was the school’s English teacher.
Musharraf had developed a severe speech impediment following an asthma attack at the age of five and struggled in nearly every area of school life.
Inspired by The King’s Speech, Burton suggested that Musharraf try speaking while listening to music through headphones. Through perseverance and ingenious thinking, the teenager made the impossible possible.
To this day, it’s a moment that beggars belief. That this entire, unexpected journey was captured on camera is a wonder in itself—but that it ended in triumph? Astonishing.
Now, Educating Yorkshire is back with more emotional gut-punches, returning once again to Thornhill Academy. It comes at a precarious time for the UK’s education system.
Schools are closing across the country, and teachers are abandoning their careers due to unworkable conditions. The pressures have never been higher.
It also returns in a year filled with deep concern for our children. Netflix’s Adolescence was an eye-opening—and all-too-real—story: a young boy, brainwashed by incel culture, murders a female classmate.
Knife crime is rising among young people. And with social media, smartphones, and unfiltered internet access becoming ubiquitous, it’s increasingly difficult to protect young minds – or even understand them.
Rarely does a television show come along that is more important than Adolescence, but just months later, Educating Yorkshire is one of those equally vital moments.
Where Adolescence portrays a terrifying, albeit true, side of British teenage life, Educating Yorkshire reminds us of the other side—one often overlooked: the kids are alright. Many of them, at least. And they’ve never been in better hands than those of the staff at Thornhill Community Academy.
Mr. Burton leads an extraordinary team of teachers who go the extra mile—and then some—to protect and uplift their pupils. It’s a school full of heroes who would be the last people on earth to recognise their power.
Among them is Assistant Head Mel Delaney-Hudson, who goes above and beyond to uncover the cause of one pupil’s behavioural problems.
Riley, a remarkably intelligent student with reading skills well above his peers, rarely makes it through a lesson without being sent out for disruption. He isn’t mean-spirited—he just can’t contain his energy.
Many schools would give up on Riley. Suspend him. Exclude him. But that’s the very last resort for Ms. Delaney-Hudson.
She arranges a neurodiversity test, which finds he’s unlikely to have ADHD. So she digs deeper. She asks Riley to keep a food diary and discovers he’s consuming a month’s worth of sugar before school each morning—along with a cup of coffee and a tin of Pringles. Delaney-Hudson monitors his diet like a hawk, and soon his report cards return with no notes other than: ‘Absolutely fantastic.’
If I wasn’t crying during Educating Yorkshire’s first episode, I was belly-laughing. Children are the unrivalled comedy geniuses.
Amy is the standout star of episode one—a mischievous Year 8 student who appears wildly confident among her friends but quietly battles anxiety and self-doubt.
Over the summer holidays, Amy developed a tic. Her classmates and friends respond with kindness, even declaring their admiration for their classmate, who doesn’t quite understand her worth yet.
She’s hysterical. ‘Why are your tights so holy?’ she asks a friend. ‘They’re holier than the Bible.’
Amy is destined for a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Fringe – and if anywhere is going to instil the confidence in her to do it, it’s Thornhill.
Between lessons, Amy attends self-esteem sessions with a teacher and a close friend. I’m not sure ‘self-esteem’ was even in my teachers’ vocabulary 20 years ago.
Since Educating Yorkshire first aired, schools have changed—because the world has changed.
We’re only beginning to understand the impact those crucial years in lockdown had on children who couldn’t go to school or see their friends. Incel culture is real. Teenagers today are more plugged into social media than ever before and are growing up with tools many of us never had—and still don’t fully understand.
But Educating Yorkshire is one of the most authentic depictions of the challenges schools face—and how teachers quietly, persistently, overcome them.
More importantly, it offers something increasingly rare in today’s public discourse: hope. Hope in our education system. Hope in the children who will leave it more emotionally intelligent, aware, and resilient than many of us who came before them.
It’s the story that often gets forgotten: teenagers are a gift, and their teachers are miracle workers.
I don’t know if another show has delivered so much joy, insight, and humanity since Educating Yorkshire. Clearly, it takes another visit to the same school to even come close.
Educating Yorkshire airs Sunday at 8pm on Channel 4.
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