Waterloo Road (series 11)

What was supposed to be a peaceful protest soon gets out of hand and spills out into the neighouring streets, causing traffic to come to a standstill. In the ensuing confusion, Head of English Coral Walker rear-ends the car in front of her, causing it to knock over Chlo Charles as she is crossing the road in front of it. It appears Chlo's injuries are superficial and Amy gives her first-aid for a sprained wrist in the school.

Later that morning, former pupil Danny Lewis is discovered on the school premises. He has been living with his dog Angel in the boiler room over the summer holidays as his mother has abandoned him. Danny is allowed to re-enroll at the school and social worker Jamilah Omar finds him a room at a local hostel. After a heated meeting in which headteacher Kim Campbell threatens to resign, the LEA reluctantly agrees to rebrand the school, adopting the name of 'Waterloo Road', “a local school demolished some 10 years earlier”.

That evening, Chlo Charles collapses at home. She is rushed to the hospital but succumbs to an internal head injury, leaving Donte and their two children devastated.

The ripples from the school's rebrand continue to be felt. A few pupils refuse to recognise the new name. History teacher Neil Guthrie feels the decision was rushed. Parents including Nicky Walters, who works in the school canteen, voice concerns about the potential cost of brand-new uniforms. In an effort to break completely from the past, William Beswick's royal blue and grey are dropped in favour of the claret and gold colours of the old Waterloo Road.

Kim and pupil Shola Aku represent the school at Chlo's committal service; however, their presence isn't welcomed by Donte, who blames the school for the death of his wife. Unable to complete his eulogy, he walks out midway, only to witness the tardy arrival of old school pal Janeece Bryant. The two alumni have a heart-to-heart and Janeece helps Donte through the rest of the service. Meanwhile, Kim takes the opportunity to visit the grave of her son Dexter, who it transpires died as a youngster.

Donte struggles to adjust to the demands and responsibilities of being a single parent. He pops into Waterloo Road to sort out some administrative issues. While on the premises, Coral is advertently trapped in the canteen's walk-in freezer. Donte comes to the rescue and releases her. Upon learning of the vacancy for a school caretaker, he asks Kim for the job in an attempt to bring some normality back to his life.

Meanwhile, Danny is having problems at the homeless shelter with co-resident Mac, who steals his shoes. Mac turns up at Waterloo Road as he suspects Danny is instrumental in his eviction from the hostel for theft. Before things get out of hand, music teacher Valerie Chambers intervenes, and in a storyline reminiscent of Steph Haydock and Maxine Barlow, the teacher ultimately offers to become Danny's guardian and accommodate him in her own home out of concern and sympathy.

Meanwhile, during an interschool basketball match, Preston is unfocussed and finds himself benched. Unable to cope with the twin pressures of home and school, he resorts once again to bulimia.

Amy has arranged a drama workshop for the year 11 and year 12 students. Coral, who has been given the task of monitoring the workshop, is not convinced by its techniques, but Kim is fully supportive. Kelly-Jo is disruptive during the workshop and has a breakdown; she launches a sculpture through a window, which smashes. Donte calms her down, recognising that she may be exhibiting the symptoms of ADHD.

School council elections are underway with Samia putting herself up as Year 11's representative. At the hustings, Noel McManus throws his hat into the ring on a platform of populist promises and is duly elected later that afternoon.

Tonya delves into the circumstances surrounding the death of Neil's wife and upon finding no record of it, coupled with the fact that the location of her burial is in some doubt and Neil's interest in wife-murderers, she jumps to the conclusion that foul play may have been involved. She decides to quite literally dig further, in Neil's back garden, in the hopes of finding a body. After a confrontation, Neil confesses that his wife is not dead and has left him for his best friend.

Not a strong believer in pastoral care, Neil finds himself taking Norullah Sayyid, an Afghan pupil, under his wing after learning of his separation from his brother while at a refugee camp in Greece.

The coroner's inquest returns an open conclusion and reveals the details of Coral's involvement to Donte for the first time. Bewildered by the verdict and learning of Coral's feelings of responsibility, he resculpts the bodywork of her car with the aid of his sledgehammer. Overwhelmed with the events of the day, Kim finds refuge in the arms of deputy head Lindon King.

When Samia and the cheerleading squad learn of a boys-only groupchat in which boys rate the schoolgirls on their looks, there is outrage and a hunt to discover the identity of the ring leader. Suspicion falls on Dean, but Samia is stunned to learn that the group founder and admin is none other than her own boyfriend, Preston. The squad alter their cheerleading routine into the form of a protest during a basketball match being observed by a regional scout and Erica Thorn from the LEA. Lindon inadvertently lets slip to Erica about other incidents at the school of which she was previously unaware.

Danny receives a text message from his mother asking to see him as she happens to be in the area. Having missed her a great deal, he agrees. What starts amicably soon deteriorates when Danny realises that his mother is there at the behest of her boyfriend Vinny McCullen in an attempt to retrieve money that Danny took when he was abandoned. Later, a couple of Vinny's henchmen armed with baseball bats pay Danny a visit at a houseparty later and Danny draws a knife.

Coral has reached an inflection point in her career and feels that her time at Waterloo Road is at an end. After expressing regret to Donte at how events have turned out, he extends an olive branch by asking her to help with the administration of a charity he intends to set up in memory of Chlo.

Vinny makes an unexpected appearance at the end-of-term concert. When Danny notices, he tries to make good his escape, but is cornered on a stairwell. In the ensuing scuffle, Danny stabs Vinny in the abdomen but drops the knife and flees the scene as Music teacher Valerie Chambers arrives. The police arrive and fail to locate any weapon.

At the meeting with Erica, Kim finds she is out of room for manoeuvre. She suggests Joe as her replacement but Erica favours Lindon's more authoritarian approach and offers him the post of Acting Head. He declines, realising that he lacks certain qualities that Waterloo Road requires. Kim, disillusioned by all that has taken place, clears her desk and leaves to consider her future.

In the closing scene, Val is seen retrieving a knife hidden behind the whiteboard in a classroom.