Ex-teacher remembers 'star' pupil Benjamin Zephaniah

Judy Arliss taught Benjamin Zephaniah while he was at school in Birmingham

A former teacher has paid tribute to one of her “star” pupils – the late Benjamin Zephaniah.

Judy Arliss, from Shrewsbury, was a trainee at one of the Birmingham schools the writer and poet attended during his childhood.

While he struggled with dyslexia, she said he was always writing and that his head was “crammed with hope and love”.

Zephaniah died on Thursday aged 65, eight weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Speaking to BBC Radio Shropshire, Ms Arliss said he went to quite a few schools and “did abscond a lot”.

However, she said: “He was a star – an absolute a star. I taught for 36 years and I can still remember the kids that stood out for one reason or another.

“You couldn’t forget him.”

Benjamin Zephaniah died on Thursday, aged 65

Zephaniah, who was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, left mainstream school at 13 and was sent to Boreatton Park approved school in Baschurch, Shropshire – a place that he “loved”, according to Ms Arliss.

She described him as being “thin and wiry” at the time, as well as having a passion for football.

He was "quite a naughty boy”, which Ms Arliss put down to nobody discovering his dyslexia, adding that his mum would often drag him to school by the ear.

Of his writing, she said: “His handwriting – you couldn’t read it, but he was writing.

"It was very hard to decipher but his head was absolutely crammed with hope and love.”

Ms Arliss met her former pupil for the last time four years ago when he performed at Theatre Seven in Shrewsbury.

She fondly recalled how he “danced” onto the stage and how he hugged her afterwards, but doesn’t think he remembered her.

She said: “He looked at me with those piercing, amazing, intelligent eyes and said ‘well you weren’t my teacher’ and I said ‘no, at that time I was only training’.”

Benjamin Zephaniah left school when he was 13

Ms Arliss, a keen writer herself, handed Zephaniah some of her books, which he said he’d read on his journey back to Lincolnshire.

She said: “By then it was nearly midnight and I said ‘I bet you fall asleep’ to which he said ‘yeah, but what a way to fall asleep’."

Remembered as a “pioneer and an innovator”, Zephaniah wrote five novels as well as poetry for children.

His early work used dub poetry, a Jamaican style of work that has evolved into the music genre of the same name.

He would also perform with the group The Benjamin Zephaniah Band.

His first book for younger readers, Talking Turkeys, was a huge success upon its publication in 1994.

Zephaniah was also an actor and appeared in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders between 2013 and 2022.

He played Jeremiah "Jimmy" Jesus, appearing in 14 episodes across the six series.