Why did you want to take part in the project?
When the series was first discussed with me my first reaction was that it would never work! There's a reason we train teachers for at least a year and I thought that untrained teachers, however able, just wouldn't be able to cope with these challenging kids.
But the more I discussed the idea with the production team, the more interested I became. I think the series raises a lot of issues about how we educate young people, and why nearly half are leaving school without the magic 5 GCSEs at C or above, including English and Maths.
I think the series shows a broader audience just how tough a job teaching is. It shows some of the challenges facing students too. And it has given those twenty kids an amazing second chance to succeed.
Do you think the series helps the cause of education and teachers?
Absolutely.
The key points I hope viewers take away are that teaching is a tough, but rewarding, job; that however able people may be in other walks of life, teachers need to be trained; and that we need to work out why nearly half of schools are leaving school without the magic 5 GCSEs at C or above (including English an Maths).
But most youngsters in most schools get it right most of the time and for me successful teaching is down to the quality of relationships.
What's been the reaction to the series from other teachers?
Of course the series has prompted debate in the profession, as well as more broadly, and that can only be a good thing. Some people love it, others not so much, but the challenges of teaching are getting a prime time audience.
Some people have worried that the series has been downbeat, and focused too often on the students acting inappropriately. But I think the scale of the challenge was pretty clear from the beginning, and I think anyone watching now will have started to see the kids taking on board the lessons and really turning a corner.
We had some difficult times but also many positive ones, just like all schools do. I think the Downing Street visit was a real achievement, and I was very pleased to win a bet with some of the production crew, that I could get the students to sit in silence during assembly for a minute! I'd urge anyone to watch the series to the end before making up their minds!
Why does the series feature celebrities instead of professional teachers?
They could have filmed a series in a real school and I'm sure we could have helped those kids. But that would have made a very different programme and maybe one that wouldn't have engaged so many people.
I think the debate the series has provoked shows that it has hit a raw nerve and brought the challenges around teaching to a broader audience. It's been fascinating to see how such high achievers have got on - and often really struggled - faced by some challenging behaviour! They've certainly taught some amazing lessons.
And it shows why we give teachers at least a year's training! All of the 'star' teachers, however expert in their fields, came away with a renewed respect for what teachers do every day.
Why weren't more clear rules laid down on discipline? For example, why were the students allowed to use their mobiles and have access to the web in class?
While there were some key ground rules, and the students signed a contract about how they would behave, the programme makers decided to allow the teachers to impose their own rules.
The early days of the project were a huge learning curve for all of us - students, teachers, the production team and me!
We quickly realized that we had to impose the kind of discipline structures that I use in my own school - the chaos that reigned early on proves just how vital that is!
And why were the students made to wear uniforms?
I believe schools should adopt a dress code, it's something we have in my own school.
The uniform in Dream School came down to the rather prosaic issue of continuity - each programme was actually filmed over several days and the production team needed to have the kids wearing the same clothes.
Do you think that the series portrays the whole story of teaching and your time at Dream School?
Of course a series like this has to condense hundreds of hours into seven hour-long programmes and you can't show every moment, especially the dull bits where everyone behaved impeccably! Although you can see longer lessons on the series web site.
That's the nature of TV and you'd be naïve to expect otherwise. But I think that over the seven programmes, you get to know the kids - as well as the teachers - and get to see that they are a great bunch who, for a variety of reasons, were crying out for a second chance.
I think I'm big enough and tough enough to take a few knocks and I hope people come away with a rounded view of what we tried to achieve.
What have the young people got from the Dream School experience?
I think we need to start from the fact that all these young people had left school without the magic 5 GCSEs above grade C and wanted a second chance to succeed. They've had a range of challenges facing them and most of them are actually really bright, they just needed that extra help to succeed.
What have they got from it? Well, nearly all of them are now in education, training or employment. There's a very compressive support system for them which is properly funded (by YouTube) and they are being helped to get where they want to go in life by an educational specialist.
One of the best examples is Nana Kwame, who left school with no GCSEs, but will be taking A levels this Summer and has received two provisional offers from universities that's some achievement!
