When I was sent a preview DVD of a new documentary series about a Bradford school, I was expecting something predictably bleak and hard-hitting.

Disruptive children running rings around weary teachers, depressing facts about failing league tables, classroom vandalism, drab footage of tatty streets beneath a grey sky. That kind of thing.

But when I started watching My First Year, chronicling a year in the lives of youngsters at Dixons City Academy, I found myself drawn into a charming little world that is as funny as it is touching.

Blending documentary, animation and music, this is a beautifully-observed slice of school life following a group of Year 7 pupils through their first year of secondary school. For these 11-year-olds, it’s a big time in their lives. Leaving primary school behind, they’re starting the daunting journey from childhood to adolescence.

Bafta-nominated director Ursula Macfarlane, who spent 12 months filming at the school, calls it a “golden age” – not quite a child but not yet having to cope with the complications of being a teenager. She says it was a “wonderful privilege” spending time with these children, finding out about their hopes, dreams and fears.

With each episode following a ‘story’, we get to find out what makes the youngsters tick and see how they cope with the ups and downs of life in Year 7. There’s the hopeless romantic falling for a girl who remains immune to his charms; the shy little girl searching for a best friend, who takes up martial arts to boost her confidence; the flamboyant boy who’d rather sing Abba songs than play football; divas and thespians clashing at the school talent show; friendly and not-so-friendly rivalries emerging during the inter-form football tournament; and the emotional merry-go-round of the end-of-term disco. Youngsters under the spotlight are turned into animated characters, including a lion, a fairy and a mermaid, and each episode ends with an uplifting song, presented in a music video style.

It’s imaginative, sweet, funny and moving – with not a hoodie in sight.

The transition from childhood to adolescence is over in the blink of an eye, and as the years roll by it becomes a blurred memory. Like the children featured in classic documentary series Seven Up, these children have a slice of their lives captured on film forever. I hope they cherish the experience as much as this brief period of their lives.

l My First Year is on Channel 4 on Saturday at 4pm.