The educational landscape in England and Wales is shaped by demands made on head teachers, teachers and pupils to perform within a "field of judgement" dominated by clearly defined outcomes of academic success. This puts schools from socio-economically excluded areas where there are potentially "barriers to learning" at a considerable disadvantage. This article draws on case-study data from an English secondary school in an area of considerable deprivation. The empirical focus revolves around school-participants' perceptions and understandings of the social and emotional dimensions of schooling. The emphasis on the relational and emotional work undertaken by teaching staff underpins the case-study school's approach to challenging the barriers to learning. A number of themes and concerns are reported in this article including relational work in school that extends into the community, the school as a sprawling network of communication and the heighted role of the emotions at a number of levels in school. In drawing on interview data from teachers, school managers, pupils and parents we are developing a model of schooling that approximates to Fielding's conception of a people-oriented learning community.