Richard Gerver is headteacher at Grange Primary in Long Eaton, Nottingham. He and his staff have given the children their own town, Grangeton, with a museum, shop, café, radio and TV station, even a town council with an elected Mayor. Three years ago our Key Stage 2 scores were all below 50% and our Panda results were all E stars. Now our SATs results are all in the high 80s to 100%, and our Panda scores are As and A*. The biggest problem was disaffection amongst the pupils. Children didn't have an idea why they were learning, and this led to low morale, says Richard Gerver. Now the children are excited by coming to school to work in their Grangeton' jobs, and can see a direct link between what they are being taught in the curriculum and its application in the real world. It's really good, we get to speak French, not a lot of people our age get to work in a café but we do and it's really good. Georgie, head waitress for the language café, aged 11.

Video Series: Hot Management
Release Date 2005