Living with the Brainy Bunch

BBC TWO, 8.00PM

Ash Ali is headmaster of Chessington Community College, a fast-improving school with a few problem pupils. Among them are Jack and Hollie who, on the surface, are comically awful teenagers. Hollie gripes constantly, throws strops and storms out of classrooms if things aren’t going her way. Jack is sullen, lazy and has clocked up 15 suspensions in the past year. It will come as no surprise that their behaviour is rooted in low self-esteem, although their parents unquestionably indulge their foibles. Ali’s novel solution is to place Hollie with Holly, tap-dancing head girl and gregarious boffin, and Jack with Tharush, a Sri Lankan immigrant by way of Italy, whose talents are only matched by his work ethic. Now that Jack and Hollie are in the bosom of new families for six weeks, it’s hoped that a new environment, greater discipline and rigid routines will see their results improve and attitudes pick up. There are setbacks on the largely familiar narrative trajectory, but it’s cast to perfection and, as a demonstration of the importance of parenting in academic achievement, the experiment gets an A-star. GT