Educating Greater Manchester celebrates the power of friendship as Syrian refugee Rani melts Britain’s hearts

SYRIAN schoolboy Rani stole the hearts of the nation on tonight's Educating Greater Manchester.

The lad was at the heart of Channel 4's fly on the wall series about life in British schools, which has returned for its fourth series to Harrop Fold School in Salford.

In just an hour, viewers saw the shy 11-year-old ask a teacher for help after another pupil pushed him, kicked him and swore at him - but by the time the credits rolled, he had made a best friend for life, and even enjoyed his first trip for "tea" outside of his own home.

Jack, Rani's new buddy also captured viewers' hearts with his 'old head on young shoulders' soundbites.

Speaking about the new pupil, who joined the school after fleeing from Syria with his family, he explained how he realised he was struggling to settle in.

He said: "I can see it's difficult for him because he can't bond with other people."

However, Jack made and effort and with a bit of patience - and some very cheeky grafitti on the back of a van - the lads' friendship was sealed with an after school pizza and chips dinner.

Meeting Rani's dad after the boys had finished an after school club, Jack's mum was on hand to take him home for tea.

"Is it his birthday?" asked Rani's puzzled dad Khaled, as he too experienced this milestone of childhood for the first time.

Rani's language issues saw him placed in a remedial class to work on his English and get him up to speed.

With some encouragement from his teachers, he explained where he was from and how sometimes he would see people shot dead on his way to his old school.

Other pupils were encouraged to ask him about his old life, and soon he was leading the other children through an Islamic prayer.

When he was asked what it means to be a Muslim, he explained: "I'm not allowed to eat bacon or touch dogs."

Ignorance and misunderstanding was a common theme that ran through the entirety of the episode, with other pupils who had fled from Syria and Afghanistan struggling with misjudged and unkind comments from their peers.

One boy was left upset when he was compared to Osama Bin Laden, and there was a flare-up when a Polish girl who hadn't seen any black or Asian people until she moved to the UK, referring to a group of refugee pupils as "terrorists".

To the teachers' credit, such incidents were dealt with calmly, sternly and quickly, with their determination to make an inclusive, save environment for all pupils clear to see.

More evidence of their dedication to pastoral care came in more tragic circumstances.

Cameras were at the school the day after a suicide bomber struck an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people, and saw how the teachers prepared to support and explain the events to the children.

Some of the school's pupils were there when it happened, but thankfully none of them were hurt - at least not physically.

There was an uncomfortable scene as one boy wept as he recalled being caught up in the madness.

But for all the sobering moments in tonight's episode, there were plenty of happy moments.

From Rani 'graduating' remedial class and joining his "brother" Jack in the main year 7 classroom, there was more fun when a group of boys drew rude doodles on the back of a very dirty van.

The boys responsible were hauled in to the headteacher's office - and despite him admitting to a colleague he found it amusing - he made sure to give them enough of a fright that they will probably all aspire to grow up to be car wash owners.

People at home loved tonight's show, and took to Twitter to praise Channel 4 for their sensitive and interesting portrayal of the modern school system.

One posted: "Jack and Rani were adorable. If everyone in the world was like those two we'd have no problems at all."

Others added: "Rani and Jack are the definition of a 'friendship goal'" and "Proud of Jack and his Mum. If only there were more like them. Rani and Jack great kids!!"

Rani and Jack appeared on This Morning today and got a brilliant response from viewers.

And Channel 4 is launching a new show where couples and families use robots to solve arguments.