Review: ‘School Life’ goes inside an Irish boarding school for an unusually charming documentary

“School Life” is as charming, intimate and warm-hearted an observational documentary as you’d ever want to see.

Called “In Loco Parentis” when it captivated audiences at Sundance, “School Life” is in some ways as straightforward as its new title as it takes us through Headfort School, the only primary-age boarding establishment in Ireland.

But “School Life” is more than a year in the life of an unusual educational institution located in an enormous 18th century mansion surrounded by lush greenery near the town of Kells, a massive place that was once, like Downton Abbey, the heart of a great estate.

As directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane, “School Life” also provides an empathetic example of what it takes to enable children to learn and flourish as well as an examination of exceptional teachers and an up-close illustration of just how it is they do what they do so well.

The teachers in question are John and Amanda Leydon, who’ve taught at Headfort for 46 years each, though John likes to point out that Amanda has two weeks seniority on him because the trout fishing was so good (“42 in one day”) that he reported late for his first year to take advantage of it.

Given their age and experience, it’s no surprise that “School Life” begins at the Leydons’ small cottage on the grounds as they candidly discuss the possibility of someday stepping aside.

“If we don’t go here, what else would we do all day?” John wonders, and Amanda says, “If I can’t go up stairs, if I get irritable, if I can’t communicate with the students, if I was no good, I’d get myself out straightaway.”

To achieve this kind of intimacy with your subjects, to get the kind of access that allowed children between the ages of 8 and 13 to unself-consciously relax, to allow their emotions to show on their faces, was not something that came easily.

First of all, the filmmakers, who are married, did almost all the shooting by themselves, with Ní Chianáin doing the cinematography and Rane handling the sound.

More than that, they committed to a total-immersion process that involved three years of their being based out of an office at the school. One year was devoted to research and two years to filming, with the first year’s shoot used to ensure financing and the second year used to create the finished film.

Headfort, which is primarily Irish but draws from as far away as the U.S., South Korea and Tanzania, is a caring, open place where students are told “your own education is up to you” and the goal is not just to educate but to create caring, empathetic adults.

Though married and longtime colleagues, Amanda and John have quite different teaching styles, both of which have helped shape the Headfort ethos.

With her love of literature and words, Amanda is something of a big kid herself, as delighted to be reading the “Famous Five” young adult novels as her charges and the moving force behind a gleeful student adaptation of, of all things, “Hamlet.”

With his wispy, flyaway white hair and acerbic manner (“Don’t hurt it, it’s done nothing to you, it’s only a piano,” he says to a would-be musician), John may seem forbidding at first.

But as his students, especially those he mentors in a ragtag rock band, soon discover, John cares as passionately about them as Amanda does, offering encouragement and being always available when they need him.

Though the teachers never vary, their charges, being young, change markedly over time, and “School Life” allows us to watch transformations in Eliza, a strong student who has fears of fitting in; Ted, a shy boy who flourishes in that “Hamlet” production; and Florrie, a young model who initially isn’t sure what to make of the place.

“School Life” is there at the last day of school, of course, and it turns out that saying goodbye to the special place that is Headfort is as hard for us as it is for the students. Something magical happened there, and we’ve been privileged to watch it take place.

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“School Life”

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Playing: Laemmle’s Monica, Santa Monica

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kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuran