The pressure on teenagers to succeed in school exams is greater now than ever before — especially for girls.
Nell Leyshon created her drama Jess’ Story for Children in Need with young people facing mental health challenges who attend a School which has special facilities and staff .
Part One Jess lives by the sea with her mother , but when her dedication to getting good exam results tips over into an overwhelming obsession, Juliet decides her daughter needs more help than she can provide.
Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts.
Praise for “Jess’s Story”
“In Nell Leyshon’s five-part drama for Children in Need, Jess is 16. The walls and cupboard doors of her room by the sea are covered with revision notes, “different colours for 11 different subjects”. Well organised, then. But “as I look at them the room feels full of the words and I look out of the windows to block them out”.
After a breakdown she finds herself in a psychiatric clinic for children and Jess’s Story follows the process of her treatment and recovery.
Shannon Tarbet plays Jess with great verve.”
– Radio Times