Twelve-year-old Courtney from Liverpool has been diagnosed with ADHD, and was excluded from her primary school for disruptive behaviour.
She's now starting her second year as a boarder at High Close School in Berkshire, which is run by Barnardo's and is home to some of Britain's most troubled children.
According to Nikita, Courtney's key worker, she has tremendous potential. But as Courtney approaches her teenage years her behaviour is deteriorating fast.
Struggling to find words for how she feels, Courtney says it's like there's 'a little cell in inside my head that says "don't care". It's like my head's changed.'
Behind Courtney's anger there's an extraordinary family story that stretches back more than four generations, from her mother, Sara, to her great-grandmother, Edna.
Loving and close, these four generations are a remarkable testimony to the strength of their family ties but they're also players in a story of troubled and sometimes violent relationships.
Through the years, the women in the family have turned to each other for support. But despite their love for each other, events in their lives seem to keep on repeating themselves.
As Courtney's mother Sara inches closer to breaking point, Jonathan Newport, the dedicated deputy head teacher of High Close, is running out of ideas.
Courtney's on the brink of exclusion at an extremely understanding school, and keyworker Nikita is worried if she leaves there she will 'fall through the net'.
With the help of her family and teachers, can Courtney turn her life around?
