Rule the School

It’s a tribute to the remarkable scope and ambition of the BBC’s children’s output at present that nowhere else would you find, at any time of the year let alone the height of summer, a new seven week series that allows pupils to swap places with teachers then expects them to implement their own curriculum – coursework assessments and all.

Back for a welcome second run, Rule the School continues an impressive sequence of recent CBBC shows that plunge kids into roles and rituals normally patronised by grown-ups – L&K Castaway, DIY TV, Serious Jungle – but which then go one all important step further by coupling those privileges to responsibilities. In this instance, five ordinary children are left almost completely alone to supervise 10 adults, find the right balance between co-operation and coercion, and blend the shameless enjoyment of turning the tables with the rigours of real authority.

This first episode didn’t make clear how both “teachers” and “pupils” were selected for involvement in the show, and instead just dove straight into the first day of term. The participants must have come out of a diligent and thoughtful selection process, however, as they all appeared instantly credible and completely genuine – the kids more so, thanks to being so lucid, on the ball, and just downright witty.

Adam the dance teacher, for instance, set out his stall succinctly: “I think that kids can teach adults quite a few things. We can teach old dogs new tricks.” While the adults testified to how they were looking forward to “learning” from the experience and taking away food for thought, virtually from the off the kids were shown to be of a far more pro-active point of view, thereby precipitating rather than simply stumbling upon the essence of the whole project. It was they who came over as most convincing when discussing what they hoped to get out of the venture. Theo, taking on the brilliant job of “rap teacher”, observed, “We can just give them fun into their lives, which they’ve probably never had,” while Michaela, in charge of drama, emphasised quite rightly, “If they’re willing to co-operate with us, we’re willing to co-operate with them.”

James, the chirpy likeable headmaster, was most adept at expressing clarity of purpose: “I’m a wee bit nervous, but it’s a good challenge.” The test would be “finding a balance between being myself and being a teacher.” It was James who really set the tone for everything that followed thanks to his attitude while getting the adults settled into their dormitories. This was a prospect which one of the “pupils”, Richard, had already rather memorably anticipated as being “exotic, savoury at times”. Matching this for eccentricity was the behaviour of the oldest of the grown-ups, Barbara, who within seconds of making her screen debut bizarrely decided to deface the notice on her dormitory claiming her name was spelt wrong. Witnessing this blatant act James had no compunction in labeling it, “a serious offence – I’ll be talking to the teachers about what to do with you.” When another pupil, Lorna, shuffled in late, claiming she’d not gone to bed early enough, she too was threatened with action at a later date.

Hearing James relate all this to his fellow staff members afterwards it was clear the kids had been able to settle into their roles with ease – and speed. Not obviously playing up to the cameras, the ensemble seemed utterly comfortable with discharging authority and the maxims of their profession – “If you’re willing to learn, I’m willing to teach” – and relished the opportunity provided by the show’s format to stamp their mark on the “pupils” from the outset.

Indeed, James’ initial skirmishes were neatly set up as a prelude to a truly grand event: the first school assembly. This kicked off as it meant to go on when the adults filed in, immediately slumped onto some chairs, only for James to tersely announce, “I haven’t told you to sit!” Earlier on we’d seen Theo declare the staff’s collective intention to “put them in their place straight away.” With the assembly being the first point the entire company were gathered together in one place, there was an excitement in the air as both the viewer and the “pupils” came to terms with what this meant.

There was a slightly combative air to proceedings. When Lorna was asked to stand in preparation for her punishment, James began, “Do you know why you’re standing up, Lorna?” “Because you told me to,” she retorted. James wasn’t having any of this, and went on to dismiss Barbara’s attempt at graffiti with the timeless line, “If you’re gonna do something then don’t do it right in front of my face!” Both offenders were then escorted behind a curtain for their detention: listening to some speed metal music on headphones at full volume. As a footnote to all this the camera then cut to another of the grown-ups, Marlon, in a ludicrously mock-serious interview murmuring how, “The headmaster wanted to assert his authority … the assembly was tense.” His brow furrowed as he insisted, “I need to speak to the headmaster about the punishments, because they seem to be very undercover,” which of course was precisely the point.

Back behind the curtain the two detainees were shown pulling comically awful faces while strapped into their headsets. “How was that?” asked James, briskly, when the ordeal was over. “Excruciating,” they winced. “Good, good,” concluded James. This entire sequence was a wonderful illustration of Rule the School‘s format being exploited to the full, rather than lazily reduced to simple us versus them point scoring. We saw the kids and adults’ respective personalities beginning to come through; a simple but effective exposition on the school “rules”; but above all the sense of everybody of all ages taking pleasure in pushing and exploring the parameters of their new responsibilities.

Later in the programme the adults began their lessons. The best of these turned out to be rap class, helmed by the avuncular Theo. Showing the least amount of nerves of the whole “staff”, he challenged his class to make up a four-line rap about their name, the first step towards fulfilling their main coursework of the term: to become like Eminem. It wasn’t that much of a surprise to find them all up for it. What was really fascinating was how the grown-ups tried to square their task with the urge to retain what they thought was the right sort of dignity. So you had Marlon throwing himself right into it, striking laboured poses as befitting someone who professed to love rap music but wasn’t necessarily that good at performing it. In contrast Nicholas Witchell lookalike Simon was far more intriguing, making up for in energy what he lacked in musicianship. “It’s not the sort of style that I would adopt myself,” he painstakingly explained afterwards, “but I think it fits the music brilliantly. These rappers, they’ve got a message to put across.”

Slightly more conventional was PE, which bore witness to more troublemaking when one of the adults started playing with a basketball before the lesson had begun. “I didn’t say bounce them,” snapped the teacher Susan. “You didn’t say not to,” came the response, prompting Susan to declare, “I will be discussing her behaviour at the next staff meeting!” Then there was the dance class, based around learning a routine from a Justin Timberlake video. Adam was having no nonsense when it came to failing to strike the right moves – “I don’t want to see any of that, because that’s just feeble” – but was so articulate and accomplished in addressing people three times his age he clearly took some of the grown-ups by shock.

It’s that, in the end, which really lifts Rule the School out of the predictable and inevitable. All the featured kids work to earn the viewer’s respect, rather than just expecting you to take their side by default, and struggle to fathom out relationships with their “pupils” that are constructive rather than negative. It’s not just both sides up against each other regardless; James and his staff have their expectations and agenda, and they extend far more than simply giving their erstwhile masters a taste of their own medicine. Thanks to enormously inspired casting and the good sense to play on an audience’s anticipations and need to be surprised, Rule the School delivers the perfect mix of intrigue and irreverence. Same time next week then?