“All kids are remarkable,” says film director, Ken Loach. He is talking about Billy Casper, hero of his 1969 film Kes – still the best drama about English education.
“They are failed by the school and the world.”
Isn’t this old sentimental idealism? Soppy socialism? Shades of Corbyn? We don’t want that.
All? Blimey. Remarkable? Crikey. Aren’t some children remarkably feral? Remarkably naughty? Beyond the pale, beyond therapy? Haven’t we got more classroom static than ever before? Aren’t there whole swathes of children who just can’t cope?
Probably, but that surely is Loach’s point.
So many fail, because they are unwitnessed and unrewarded by the present system. They are only recognised by exams. Or not. They learn to fail. When the empathetic teacher invites Billy to tell his story of the kestrel, he is empowered, mesmerising. Only then. It is urgent and necessary – as serious as your life. It is who he is.
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