School Life – In Loco Parentis (2016)

Directed by: Neasa Ní Chianain, David Rane | 99 minutes | documentary

When you think of a boarding school in Ireland, you quickly get Harry Potter associations. In the documentary ‘School Life’ we follow the ups and downs of two passionate teachers, coincidentally also a married couple, who have been associated with the Irish Headfort School for generations. The green surroundings, the beautiful Georgian building with countless staircases, an auditorium full of painted portraits and the students dressed in uniform: you expect someone to take their wand and shout “Wingardium Leviosa” every moment. But in ‘School Life’ the magic is not in the lessons, but in the interaction between the inspired teachers and the students.

John and Amanda Leyden are employed by the boarding school, the only one in Ireland, for the same amount of time apart from a few weeks. Amanda has been teaching literature for 46 years and knows how to get all her students excited, whether it’s “The Famous Five” or Shakespeare. As the years go by, her body is not always cooperating, and she is increasingly thinking about stopping work. The house where she lives with her husband and colleague John belongs to the boarding school, it used to be the butler’s house, so retiring has far-reaching consequences. Is she actually ready to say goodbye to her working life?

Teaching and dealing with children is also in John’s blood. With a wonderfully dry sense of humor – showing that he may be old, but more in touch with the youth than his younger colleagues – he not only teaches his core subjects Latin, music and mathematics, but also a hunger for general knowledge. His conversations with the children are the funniest fragments in this well-made documentary. And the practice sessions with the school rock band (Ellie Goulding, Rihanna!) are the proverbial icing on the cake. The fact that John gets help from a former schoolgirl and that the current school director himself also went to Headfort as a boy, only shows how nice this place is to grow up.

And of course we also get to know some of those growing children. The quiet and super-intelligent Eliza, who wins almost all prizes at the end of the school year, will conquer your heart, just like the opposite Ted, who struggles with dyslexia, but grows in confidence in the time you get to know him. Also, former child model Florrie and the shy Barbara fight their bears on the road. Beautiful and moving to see and above all: that is not imposed on you by the film style or by melodramatic music: filmmaker Neasa Ní Chianáin lets the images speak for themselves.

‘School Life’ offers a unique and intimate insight into everyday life at a boarding school. The children seem never aware of Chianáin’s camera, which is of course a requirement for a successful documentary on this subject, but above all a great achievement. She must have used a magic wand herself to make this happen.