Life in the School Lane

A real-life account of teaching in an inner-city primary school

By: Jason Wright, Jason Smart

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

For a decade, Jason Wright taught in the same inner-city primary school in a deprived area of Bradford, West Yorkshire. From the outset, Wright battles socially-deprived children, unruly parents, strange headteachers and never-ending piles of paperwork. Life in the School Lane is a true account of what it is really like to be a primary school teacher in the UK. There is no sugar-coating here.

From the children who don't want to be at school and their parents who question his methods to the bullying tactics of his headteacher and the ever-present threat of Ofsted, Wright’s life becomes consumed with his job. Even so, as the years roll by, Wright finds humour to get him through the bleakness. The stories the children tell him, the funny things they write in their books and the interactions he has with colleagues shows light in the darkness. Along the way, Jason makes some amazing colleagues, teaches a memorable sex education lesson, is caught up in a kidnap attempt, stops a fight between two parents and is accused of assaulting a pupil. For a real insight into teaching in a UK state school, Life in the School Lane tells the real story.