Channel 4 lifts the lid again on The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds

26 October 2017

Channel 4 lifts the lid again on The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds

Award-winning documentary series returns to the channel Tuesday 7th November at 8pm

Channel 4’s award-winning documentary series, The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds is back.  The series that offers viewers a fascinating insight into what goes on when you drop your little ones at the nursery gates returns for a new series compromising of two episodes revealing the The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds and a further two parts uncovering The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds.

It’s summertime and in a specially rigged school in North East London we welcome a new batch of 4 and 5 year olds from up and down the UK to the all-new Secret Life nursery. As each of the new children meet one another for the first time, we’ll observe how they interact, play together – sometimes harmoniously, sometimes less so – and learn essential skills that they will continue to develop through to adulthood.

Kicking off the series with the 4 year olds we’ll explore how the age group learn to recognise and deal with emotions. In the second episode, we uncover how friendship and romance develop in the playground and what happens when 4 year olds fall out.

Later in the series the spotlight is on the 5 year olds, showing how personalities develop at this age, as children establish their identity within the group. We also uncover how 5 year olds learn to deal with risk, uncovering how they overcome fear and display bravery.

As before, our team of experts are watching all the action unfold from behind the scenes. Fans of the show will recognise Professor Paul Howard-Jones, (Educational Neuroscientist, Bristol University), Dr Sam Wass (Developmental Psychologist, MCR Cognition & Brain Unit, Cambridge) and Dr Elizabeth Kilbey (Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Oxleas NHS Trust) as they analyse and comment on the children’s behaviour and development. We also welcome two brand new experts in the form of Dr Laverne Antrobus (Consultant Child and Educational Psychologist, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust) and Dr Shona Goodall (Senior Clinical Psychologist, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust Hospital).

The new 4x60” series will broadcast an initial 4 episodes on Channel 4 from Tuesday 7th November at 8pm and the two-part special will air early next year

The official companion book to The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds is published by Macmillan on 2nd November. Co-written by creator and executive producer Teresa Watkins and neuroscientist Paul Howard-Jones, the book delves deeper into the science behind the children’s behaviour, examining the crucial stages of development between the ages of 4-6, when children learn how to make friends, understand emotions, care about others and acquire the social skills they need to become adults.  Full of hilarious and touching moments, the book not only offers an insight into the magical world of childhood, but also shows us what big people can learn from little people.   

Press information and interview opps: Mark Collins or Mary Bobroff at Mark Collins PR

Tel: 0207 205 2700 / Email: markc@markcollinspr.com / mary@markcollinspr.com

 

Scientist Biogs for The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds

Dr Elizabeth Kilbey

Dr Elizabeth Kilbey is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the NHS who has spent the last 12 years working with children both within the NHS and privately. After completing a degree in Psychology (University of Birmingham), and an MSc in Child Development (Institute of Education), she completed her Doctoral Clinical Psychology training at Canterbury Christ Church University College.  After qualifying she pursued her predominant interest in developmental psychology and worked within a specialist service supporting children under 5 and their families.  Following this Dr Kilbey has continued to work clinically in the field of developmental disabilities and is now a Trust  Clinical lead for developmental difficulties such as Autism and ADHD. Dr Kilbey has her own private practice offering complex differential and diagnostic assessments for children at the request of parents or schools.  She is known for her work in the media around the area of parenting expertise and children's development and she’s recently published her first book on raising children in the digital era.

Dr Laverne Antrobus

Laverne is a Consultant Child and Educational psychologist at Tavistock and Portman NHS trust and is also a tutor on the professional doctorate in child and educational community psychology. She also works as a child psychology consultant privately. For over 20 years Laverne has worked with children who present with complex social, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric difficulties and is currently working in one of the Tavistock’s specialist multi-disciplinary teams supporting children and families who are struggling with conditions such as autism, ADHD and depression. In the past she has worked for Hammersmith & Fulham and Enfield working with teachers to support children’s learning needs in school. Her expertise has led to her appearing regularly on TV where she is often asked to give a psychological perspective on issues that affect children and their families. She is best known for her roles as a psychologist on House of Tiny Tearaways and Little Angels. Laverne has also authored material on child development. She has also served on award juries for the Griersons and RTS.

 

Dr Shona Goodall

Shona has been working as a clinical psychologist within child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) for over 10 years. She is currently one of the senior clinical psychologists at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Her expertise is in mental health issues ranging from depression and anxiety to eating disorders and self harm. She provides interpersonal therapy to adolescents, children and families. She also works as an academic tutor and lecturer for Sheffield University’s clinical psychology unit.

Professor Paul Howard-Jones

Paul Howard-Jones is Professor of Neuroscience and Education at the School of Education, University of Bristol. After completing a degree in Engineering (Manchester University), and a PhD in Medical Physics (Exeter University), he pursued post-doctoral studies in speech perception at University College London. He then took a break from academia to work as a teacher of Technology at Ralph Allen School in Bath, before becoming a trainer of primary and secondary school teachers and inspector of schools based at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (1996-2003), while also gaining an additional degree in Psychology (Open University).

Since arriving at the University of Bristol in 2003, Professor Howard-Jones’s work has entirely focused on issues at the interface of cognitive neuroscience and educational theory, practice and policy. He applies diverse research methods from computational brain imaging studies to classroom observations in order to understand learning processes and their potential relevance to educational learning, and he is currently leading a major trial applying such understanding in secondary school science.

Professor Howard-Jones was a member of the UK's Royal Society working group on Neuroscience and Education(2011), authored numerous reviews and one of the first text books in this area (Routledge, 2010), worked with the Wellcome Trust and Educational Endowment Foundation in their efforts to launch their major funding programme for Neuroscience and Education(2014), and has participated in many international academic and public debates regarding the interrelation of these two diverse subject areas.

He is currently completing a fellowship at UNESCO (Geneva) focused on the relation of neuroscience to global educational and cultural contexts. He is more widely known for his contributions to Channel Four’s “Secret Life of Four Year Olds” and other broadcasts, and his second book “A Short History of the Learning Brain” will be published by Routledge in 2017.

Dr Sam Wass

Dr Sam Wass gained a first-class undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, and did his PhD at the Centre for Brain Cognitive Development in London. After this he was awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, based at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge. He is currently funded by an ESRC Future Research Leaders Fellowship, based at the University of East London.

Sam’s research examines how stress affects concentration and learning capacities during childhood. In East London, he works with children growing up in diverse socio-economic status backgrounds. He is also a collaborator on projects in London, New York and Canada with clinical populations (children with Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Rett Syndrome). His research has been funded by the Medical Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the National Institute of Health Research, the British Academy, the Nuffield Foundation, and others. 

In addition Sam is also very active in the public communication of science. In addition to his role in the award-winning Channel 4 series The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6-Year-Olds, he  has fronted press campaigns both for charities (National Trust, Save The Children) and for commercial organisations (Tescos, Dulux, Ikea, Nikleodeon, the Cartoon Network). He has appeared on all TV networks (BBC, ITV, Sky), radio (BBC Radio 4/5, Sky) and all major national newspapers (Sun, Mirror, Daily Mail, Times, Telegraph, Independent, BBC News).

ENDS