Mr Drew's School for Boys

Mr Drew's School for Boys
Title card (2014)
GenreDrama, education, behaviour management
StarringStephen Drew
Narrated byNick Frost
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
ProducerViki Kolar
Production locationWrittle University College (Essex)
Camera setupMulti camera
Dual cameras
Running time60 mins (including advertisements)
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
ReleaseApril 29 (2014-04-29) –
May 20, 2014 (2014-05-20)
Related
Educating Essex (2011)

Mr Drew's School for Boys is a British television programme which aired on Channel 4 from April until May 2014. The programme follows "Mr Drew" (Stephen Drew), who previously featured in another Channel 4 documentary, Educating Essex during his tenure as Deputy Headteacher at Passmores Academy. In the series, Mr Drew is the Headteacher of a summer school in Writtle, Essex for boys who are challenging and have behavioural issues, with most of them being excluded from their schools. All boys in the programme were under the age of 12, with the youngest aged eight.[1]

The series premiered on 29 April 2014, with the first episode attracting a viewing audience of 1.7 million.[2]

Background

The programme features eleven boys from around the United Kingdom who have challenging behaviour and have been excluded from mainstream school. In an attempt to improve their behaviour, the eleven boys have enrolled in a summer school programme, led by Mr Drew and a small team of teachers and pastoral support staff.[3] The boys' parents also feature in the programme, with their parents receiving lessons and guidance on effective parental techniques and support which will hopefully improve their sons behaviour.

The synopsis for the programme was inspired by UK Government statistics released at the time which revealed that boys aged 12 and under are almost six times more likely than girls to be excluded from school.[3]

Cast

Max Carr (left), PE Teacher Dominic Volante (centre) and Max's mum, Ruth (right) in Episode 2

Summer school staff

  • Stephen Drew; "Mr Drew": The headteacher of the summer school. Previously featured in Educating Essex as one of the schools Deputy Headteachers (2011)[4]
  • Dominic Volante: Teacher of PE
  • Mark Grist: Teacher of English & Drama
  • Lindsay Skinner: Teacher of Mathematics
  • Benjamin Vidler: Teacher of Science

Narrator

Episodes

No.TitleWritten byOriginal release dateUK viewers
(millions)
1"Episode 1"Viki Kolar, Vicky Bray & Lisa Cox29 April 2014 (2014-04-29)1.7m
The boys are not keen to play by the rules and there is an altercation before they even make it to their first class. Two of them skip lessons and insult Mr Drew when he investigates.
2"Episode 2"Viki Kolar, Vicky Bray & Lisa Cox6 May 2014 (2014-05-06)1.6m
A week into summer school and Mr Drew starts tackling the families' problems head on. He is confronted with some shocking video footage and uproar over the school's healthy snacks policy.
3"Episode 3"Viki Kolar, Vicky Bray & Lisa Cox13 May 2014 (2014-05-13)N/A
The boys must play a football match against a local team where they're not allowed to swear or foul. Can they rise to the challenge or will the beautiful game turn ugly?
4"Episode 4"Viki Kolar, Vicky Bray & Lisa Cox20 May 2014 (2014-05-20)N/A
Summer is almost over, but before the boys return home to their normal schools, there is an end-of-term family camping trip, with team activities, marshmallows, and some flare-ups!

Reception

Catriona Wightman from the Digital Spy praised the series for its ability to "not paint these boys out to be absolute terrors", but also highlighted the "impossible task" that Mr Drew or Channel 4 had set for him, recognising the challenges of the boys' behaviour in the series.[5]

Pat Thomson, Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham criticised the programme, claiming that the majority of boys from working families who may display challenging behaviour would not be able to afford fees associated with a summer school programme similar to what was featured in the programme.[6]

The Metro gave the series favourable reviews, claiming that "Mr Drew had been missed" since his last appearance on television in Educating Essex.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mr Drew's School for Boys; Happy Valley – TV review". the Guardian. 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  2. ↑ "Mr Drew's School for Boys welcomes 1.7m".
  3. 1 2 Power, Vicki (April 19, 2014). "Educating Essex: Mr Drew's new school for badly behaved boys". the Guardian.
  4. ↑ "Harlow school punishes pupils for scoring below 90% in maths". BBC News. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  5. ↑ Wightman, Catriona (April 29, 2014). "Mr Drew's School For Boys review". Digital Spy.
  6. ↑ Thomson, Pat (13 May 2014). "It's good TV, but most excluded boys can't afford Mr Drew's summer school". The Conversation.
  7. ↑ Hewett, Emily (2014-04-29). "Mr Drew's School For Boys: The nation's favourite teacher is back!". Metro. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
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