When you have been here at school there have been some behavioural issues. Breaking Bad s3e4: Green Light, headmistress to Walter, AMC 2010
Don’t let this school shit distract you, OK. You’re here for one reason only and that’s to sell drugs, OK. Trailer Park Boys s5e7: The Winds of Shit, Julian
In 1960s and ’70s Britain hundreds of black children were caught up in an extraordinary scandal. They were labelled as educationally subnormal by the state and wrongly sent to schools for children with low intelligence. A decision that would have a devastating impact on their lives. Subnormal: A British Scandal, BBC 2021
This is a story that exposed assumptions at the heart of the British’ schools system that has an enduring legacy today. ibid.
But how did these ideas about race and intelligence find their way into the British schools system? ibid.
The leaked report from the ILEA contained a multitude of damning admissions: it revealed that the education authority was well aware that Caribbean children were being wrongly placed in ESN schools at much higher rates than their white peers. ibid.
In 2017 black students were twice as likely to attend a high-poverty school than white students. The Black American Fight for Freedom, caption, BBC 2021
Even at school children were not safe from institutional racism. Black Power: A British Story of Resistance, BBC 2021
It took the entire United States’ army to get me into high school. The American Presidency with Bill Clinton I: Separate But Unequal, History 2022
Since 1970, there have been 1,677 reported shootings in schools across the US, ranging from preschools to high schools. These shootings resulted in 598 deaths and 1,626 injuries. In most cases, the perpetrator was under 18 and living at home. Storyville: Raising a School Shooter, caption, BBC 2022
On April 20 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire at Columbine High School in Colorado. It was one of the worst school shootings in US history. ibid.
He would offer his culprit an alternative: four strokes with the cane, which hurt; or six with the strap, with trousers down, which didn’t. Sensible boys always chose the strap, despite the humiliation, and Trench, quite unable to control his glee, led the way to an upstairs room, which he locked, before hauling down the miscreant’s trousers, lying him face down on a couch and lashing out with a belt. Paul Foot, re Anthony Chevenix-Trench, housemaster at Shrewsbury
This is a lesson in a progressive comprehensive school. A hundred fourteen-year-olds are taking part in a mock-up of an international trade war. In the last six months progressive and comprehensive education have come under constant attack. World in Action: A School of Thoughts, ITV 1976
The House of Lords has severely weakened the government’s bill to make comprehensive education compulsory. ibid.
We investigate the state of Britain’s schools. You’ve probably heard of crumbling concrete but schools’ problems go much deeper. This winter children all around Britain are learning in freezing cold classrooms. So how have things got this bad? Panorama: Britain’s Crumbling Schools, BBC 2024
Around the UK at least 276 schools contain a dangerous crumbling concrete. ibid.
‘The new normal is normal no more.’ ibid. teacher
Four out of five school buildings also contain asbestos. ibid.