Educational Media Reviews Online

Filmed over the course of an academic year at an Irish boarding school called Headfort, this film showcases two married teachers, John and Amanda Leyden who have taught at the school for over four decades. In addition to teaching Latin and Mathematics, John also advises the school’s rock band. Amanda teaches literature and also serves as the director of the school’s production of Hamlet. This is a sweet film which also focuses on particular students such as a smart boy who struggles academically due to his dyslexia and an awkwardly shy girl who, John Leyden notes, should, “not live a life where she stands five yards back from what everybody else is doing.” At the end of the school year these students have succeeded in surmounting many of their problems. After the age of 13 students at Headfort attend other secondary schools. As the school year ends one views the oldest students tearfully saying their goodbyes to each other and the school as they move on at the conclusion of the film.

True to its title, the film offers many different scenes of a school year including moments in both John and Amanda Leyden’s classes and at their home where they affectionately discuss their students. These scenes clearly demonstrate how well they interact with their students despite the generational gaps. Other scenes include cricket practices, teacher meetings, Hamlet rehearsals, school assemblies, rugby matches, band performances (where some students often sing off-key), and bedtime where homesick children frequently have to be comforted initially. The cinematography in this film is gorgeous with shots of the magnificent school grounds during various seasons including snowy winter/flowering spring scenes and footage of various animals.

The dialogue was often inaudible and occasionally difficult to understand. The closed captioning provided through the streaming version did not help with this issue and was extremely poor. Many words were inadequately transcribed (i.e., “good girl” became “cook out” and “I have one” became “iPhone”). In a scene where a student sings in his native French, the words are literally and inaccurately transcribed into imprecise English text*. Although the film seemed a bit disjointed at times, viewers will become engrossed by the Leydens and the students who attend the Hartford school. The scenes where John advises the rock band participants and Amanda rallies her actors before their first live Hamlet performance are particularly touching. They demonstrate how dedicated these individuals are to their pupils and profession.

School Life is recommended for both college and general adult levels. This film is available for internal use or with a public screening license. Headfort school is set in Ireland but is based on the British school system, has English teachers (the Leydens), and many alumni (featured in the film) continue their education in English schools such as Eton or Harrow. This documentary would support courses in Education and also academic areas that might explore Irish and British-based school systems or society.

* Captions reviewed were autogenerated from Vimeo and do not reflect the accuracy of closed captioning available from Video Project

Awards:
San Francisco International Film Festival, Golden Gate Award, Special Jury Award; Docville, Best Feature Documentary; Visions Du Réel, Audience Award; Magnificent 7, Bel Medic Award

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