Waterloo Road is forged to merge with John Fosters,a former private school. Christopher Meads replaces Eddie as deputy but Rachel is not happy when charismatic Max Tyler,popular with Fosters students,is made executive head as she finds him overly disciplinarian and bullying. Of the new staff Jo Lipsett,new languages head,criticises Steph's teaching method as too informal and not professional enough whilst Ruby Fry sees Waterloo Road as beneath her.Tom,now English head,is unimpressed by newly qualified Helen Hopewell,who,after a run-in with Michaela,accuses her of pushing her downstairs. To add to Rachel's woes,the mother of sisters Lindsay and Emily James is accused of murdering their father. Written by don @ minifie-1

The animosity between the new colleagues continues. Grantly clashes with Ruby whilst Jo continues to criticise Steph and Rachel is unhappy that Max makes decisions without consulting her. New girl Amy has the hots for Bolton and is jealous that he is dating Michaela so gets her revenge when he slights her by claiming he raped her. Rachel is annoyed that Max immediately believes Amy without hearing Bolton out but Kim unearths the truth and is praised by Max. Lindsay and Emily James react differently when Rachel takes them to their father's funeral. Written by don @ minifie-1

Kim and Max share a night of passion which they must keep secret from Rachel. Lindsay,angry that her mother is not bailed for killing the father she hated,goes off the rails,attacking Karla,who has befriended Emily. Tom is brought down to earth when he meets Georgia,who confirms his paternity of Josh. Danielle and Aleesha get drunk and Steph hides Danielle in a cupboard during an assessment,rather than report her. Later Danielle is rushed to hospital after drinking bootleg hooch made by Bolton and Paul from ethanol. She survives but Jo tells Steph that she is the pupils' teacher,not their friend and must retrain in order to learn more responsibility. Written by don @ minifie-1

Pupil Luke Pendle has kept it secret that he lives in a care home but his girlfriend Siobhan,suspicious that he keeps his home life secret,follows him and finds out. She confides in Amy,who informs the whole school,leading to Luke going on the rampage,for which Max gives him litter collecting duties. After another row Luke steals and crashes Max's car but Kim urges the executive head to be understanding and not call the police. He is also thwarted when,behind Rachel's back,he tries to float a scheme splitting students into groups according to their ability,and Grantly leads a petition against it. Not only do several John Fosters staff sign but Kim does too and the scheme is abandoned. Tom tries to bond with Josh despite the boy's resistance. Written by don @ minifie-1

Rachel and Max must bury their differences and put on a united front as the school's open day comes round. Ruby attempts to upgrade the school canteen by putting expensive items on the menu,paid for by her husband John's credit card. However she is appalled to find he has gone bankrupt,thus curtailing her elegant life style. Rachel is annoyed to walk in on Kim and Max sharing an intimate moment and at the open day plans to tell school governor Jen. However she is informed that Jen is Max's wife. Written by don @ minifie-1

Handsome Chris is the object of several schoolgirl crushes but he finds himself compromised by Vicky McDonald who,he discovers,is moon-lighting at a lap dance club in school hours. He follows her to the club but she tells him she will accuse him of sexual harassment if he tells anybody and Rachel is not happy with his handling of the situation. Philip shines at the school's newly established comedy club whilst Lindsay confesses to Rachel that her mother killed her father because he was abusing her and her sister. Written by don @ minifie-1

When quiet pupil Cassie Turner claims that Michaela and Amy are bullying her Helen Hopewell sends them both to the cooler,thus intensifying the two girls' dislike of the nervous young teacher. Finding out her address they trash her flat and she calls on Tom for his help,realising that her future as a teacher may be in doubt. After Cassie has screamed abuse at Ruby and run away Kim tracks her down and it is discovered that she has a mental condition,believing people are out to persecute her. Rachel tells Kim that Max is married and Kim dumps him. An enraged Max turns up at Rachel's home and threatens her and she has to tell him she will ring the police before he will leave. Written by don @ minifie-1

Nicknamed Hopeless Hopewell for her ineptitude as a teacher Helen faces an official inspection,which she passes with flying colours - but only because she has bribed Amy to keep the class under control. When Helen refuses to give in to further blackmail demands Amy tells Rachel. Max tells Helen he only employed her because they were having an affair and now wants her out. Chris refuses to back Max but Helen decides it best for her to go,though,unbeknown to Max,she leaves Rachel a compromising film of them together. KIm,unaware of this,is taken in when Max says he is getting a divorce to be with her. Lindsay starts to settle down and Siobhan and Luke are reconciled. Written by don @ minifie-1

Rachel accompanies Lindsay to court where she gives evidence of her father's abuse of her. Bullied by the prosecutor she runs from court and is consoled by Rachel,to whom she confesses she was the killer,not her mother,to stop his repeating the abuse with Emily. After Steph warns Kim about Max he tries to get her sacked,trying to make out that Jo wants her out. However when Jo discovers his deceit she threatens to resign if Max does dismiss Steph. Max tries to get Philip to spy on Steph to find fault with her and when the boy refuses there is a scuffle,ending in Philip being injured. When Ruby gets the truth as to what happened out of him and tells Rachel Rachel reinstates both Steph and Jo,leading to Max losing it and vandalising her office. Written by don @ minifie-1

On the last day of term the governors arrive to assess the merger and Max is out to get rid of Rachel. After they row publicly she agrees to resign for the stability of the school. At the Waterloo Road's Got Talent contest organized by Ruby Bolton delivers a well-received poem celebrating Grantly's quarter century in teaching and Philip's stand up,hinting at Max's bullying, goes down a storm with everyone - except Max. He threatens the boy again to keep quiet but Kim,suspicious of what is going on,learns the truth and publicly exposes Max's underhand dealings. Thus it is him and not Rachel whose days at Waterloo Road are over. Written by don @ minifie-1

A new term starts and new pupil Finn Sharkey,whom Chris expelled from a previous school,proves to be a disruptive influence. Grantly allows Bianka Vale to go out with her estranged father Gary on her birthday,unaware that Gary is the subject of a restraining order from seeing his children. When Rachel follows she and Bianka are in danger as Gary plans to blow them up to spite his ex-wife and they have a narrow escape. Whilst Ruby starts stealing school property to sell to pay off her debts Kim finds she is pregnant by Max. Written by don @ minifie-1

Ruby,accompanied by Steph,takes a group of pupils to a farm run by Mark Moran,older brother of Year 10 student Craig. Chaos results from the badly behaved visitors,triggered by Finn,and Josh is sprayed in the face with chemicals whilst the kids steal a pig. Craig tells Ruby that the farm is in a bad way, Mark only taking it on to please their late father and he hoped Ruby would persuade Mark to sell. Mark is desperate and wants to take Craig out of school to help him but Ruby shows that Craig is a good student,dissuading him,urging the brothers to join together and seek financial help. Rachel notices that,despite her peace-keeping,Ruby is not well and offers time off,which Ruby rejects as she needs the money. Finn's bad boy air meanwhile attracts Amy whilst Grantly is outraged by the introduction of a complaints box and Chris takes Kim for her ultrasound. Written by don @ minifie-1

Kim is annoyed when Chris instigates an Advanced Preparation for University course aimed solely at star pupil Ros but he feels it would be wrong to open it to all as it would unfairly build up the hopes of the less bright students. However after a protest by Michaela and the intervention of Rachel,Chris is forced to back pedal. Overweight pupil Aiden Keen accuses Kim of bullying him after she confiscates his sweets but when his mother comes to the school to protest Kim convinces her that she is not only spoiling her son by giving him unhealthy food but endangering his life. Rachel decides to engage a chef for the canteen who will promote healthy eating and the successful candidate turns out to be an old flame,Adam Fleet. Written by don @ minifie-1

Josh is now living with Tom,who plans a birthday party for him. However Tom is shocked by his son's callousness to girlfriend Lauren who,in order to erase a large birthmark from her back which has caused her to be mocked by the school, steals hydrogen peroxide to bleach it out and ends up with an acid burn. Ruby organizes a clothes swap among the students but is caught by Rachel taking the best clothes for herself and warned by Rachel about her increasingly strange behaviour. Adam's new menu is a great success,somewhat to Rose's annoyance and when Adam and Rachel get locked in a store room together they have time to catch up on old times. Written by don @ minifie-1

Rachel feels Adam is trying to be one of the kids after he has been seen at a gig with some sixth formers but he tells her to lighten up as he feels she is taking life too seriously. On work experience day Finn becomes Chris's teaching assistant and tries to get his class to mutiny. Chris gets revenge by giving him total authority and standing back as he is laughed at by his pupils. In revenge Finn starts to vandalise the staff room and is stopped by Kim,who tells him he should be more adult. Sambucca runs off from her work experience in a sports wear shop,stealing a pair of shorts for boyfriend Bolton,with whom she spends the day in hiding. Written by don @ minifie-1

Finn encourages Amy and Josh to take illegal drugs,resulting in bad trips for them both. When Josh confesses everything to Tom he is surprised that the father he took to be liberal is angry and retaliates by spiking his food. As a result Tom starts to hallucinate when driving Kim for her scan,crashing the car though both survive. Chris is planning a sports partnership with an elite school and entertains Camilla Heyes,its head. However she is unimpressed by Josh's actions and the school in general and it is down to Steph to get her on side. Adam discovers that Ruby is on anti-depressants and agrees not to tell anybody providing she takes them. Written by don @ minifie-1

Ros,aware that Jo is a lesbian,develops a crush on her and tries to kiss her,leading a shocked Jo to tell Rachel. However when Ros declares her love for Jo publicly and says that she has been actively encouraging her, Rachel has to suspend the French teacher. Ruby perks up when Adam gets her assisting him on his takeaway meals initiative. However when it all gets too much for her due to a surfeit of orders she panics and hits the fire alarm. Adam covers for her but gets her to promise she will be responsible in respect of her medication. Rachel takes Adam to task but anger turns to romance. Written by don @ minifie-1

Kim and Chris find their relationship in danger of becoming more than professional . On a visit to an art gallery Finn persuades girlfriend Anna to prove her devotion by drawing their names on a valuable painting,which she does,but is caught on CCTV. Further trouble occurs when Chris's girlfriend Annas turns up and a jealous Kim goes into labour,resulting in a trip to hospital and a Caesarian. Steph meanwhile is dating Chris's father Ollie whilst Ruby has a crush on Adam,who is helping her move to a flat after a split with her husband. Written by don @ minifie-1

Things are going from bad to worse for Ruby. With her husband suing for divorce and Rachel putting her in charge of the end of term prom the knowledge that her beloved Adam is marrying Rachel is too much for her and she freaks out,destroying the wedding cake before locking herself in her room. Rachel is forced to speak to her about her drug abuse and persuade her to seek help. After her defacing the painting Amy is kept apart from Finn but plays up in class and the already harassed Ruby is in no mood to be lenient,leading to Rachel suggest she suggest Amy go to another school. Bolton and Sambucca play it cool with each other,inviting others to the prom and Rachel is shocked that Steph considers financing it with a nude calendar. Written by don @ minifie-1

When Finn's parents tell him they are moving away with him he persuades the increasingly dependent Amy to take part in a suicide pact with him but they are prevented by Chris,who follows them to the beach where they intend to die. The prom looks to be in danger of cancellation when the hotel hosting it is flooded but fortunately Ollie comes to the rescue,impressing Steph. Despite having gone to the prom with different partners Sambucca and Bolton realise their attraction to each other and reconcile. Adam is perturbed that Rachel is still putting the school before their relationship,especially when she forgets to book the honeymoon hotel because of the concern over Amy and Finn. And so to prove him wrong,she resigns,to move away with him. Jo and Kim also leave. Written by don @ minifie-1