The shocking true story behind Small Axe’s finale Education about black student battling segregation at school

SMALL Axe’s finale Education is based on creator Steve McQueen’s experience at school as a young boy.

The anthology film series, which was created and directed by the British filmmaker, is due to release its final episode of the sequence this Sunday.

Small Axe first hit our screens on November 15 2020 with a short film called Mangrove, which was followed by three others called Lovers Rock, Red White and Blue, and Alex Wheatle.

The last instalment of the series, titled Education, will highlight the struggles that black students had to go through at school in the 1970s.

They will be told through the character of 12-year-old Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy), but will sadly focus on the experiences that director Steve McQueen, 51, had to deal with as a young boy growing up.

Opening up about the season finale, the filmmaker recently told : “I had an unfortunate time growing up as a black child in the British Education system.

“Sadly, I was not alone.

“Before our research began, I had never heard of the ‘Educationally Subnormal Schools’ that were being formed in the 1970s in this country.

“As we dug deeper I realised there was a narrative within this neglect.

“I combined my own experience with the source material to tell the story of a young Kingsley.”

Small Axe: Education will see the youngster, who has “a fascination for astronauts and rockets”, get moved to a special-needs school because of his supposedly troublesome behaviour.

A group of West Indian women realise how unjust his move to a different school is and they try to sort the problem out themselves.

The recent trailer teases what viewers can expect – and it’s not one to miss.

The opening scenes hear actress Josette Simon’s character talking over a montage of clips from the show.

She says: “They say our children are too loud, or too slow, or too lively.

“The school system has a policy of targeting our children. There is a deeply rooted cultural bias.

“As a collective we stand a chance.”

Kenyah Sandy and Josette Simons will be joined on screen by the likes of Tracey Beaker’s Sharlene Whyte, Homefront’s Daniel Francis, The Long Song’s Tamara Lawrance and The Witcher’s Josette Simon.

Watch Small Axe: Education on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Sunday (December 13) at 9pm.