Expelled pupil helps turn school around as governor

Duane Williams said he was proud of his former school and its transformation

A man who was expelled from his secondary school as a teenager returned as governor - and is credited with helping to turn around its fortunes.

A fight at 14 landed Duane Williams in trouble and he was asked to leave Colton Hills Community School in Wolverhampton.

After getting back on track in his 20s, he spotted an opportunity to become a governor and the school accepted.

He is now chair and during his tenure, the school has gone from requiring improvement to "one of the best performing in the city", staff said.

Mr Williams said he wondered who would remember the "old Duane" as an adult

Mr Williams said the school didn't have the best reputation in the 1990s and early 2000s.

"If you got excluded from another school around the city, externally the local authority would place you somewhere like Colton Hills - it wasn't good when I first started," he said.

His days at Colton Hills ended when he "got into an altercation with another student over a football match".

"I was around 14 years old when I was permanently excluded," he recalled.

He got involved with EYES - Engage Youth Empowerment Services - which was run by his mother and helps to stop young people entering gangs.

It was at a recruitment fair with the organisation when he saw the chance to become a governor.

"In my adult years, I looked back and felt that the school had invested in me at a time where most teachers would have said no," he said.

"If I could give back something to Colton Hills, I would be happy to do so.

"I was very nervous about coming back and wondered which teachers remembered the old Duane."

Some pupils in the school have become poet laureates for the city and have enrolled as army cadets

He said he recalled a "couple of frowns" but that most welcomed him with open arms.

"I remember seeing my old form tutor and he said 'it's good to see you back'."

In May 2013, Ofsted inspectors said the school required improvement. But five years later it was rated "good" and governors are optimistic it will stay that way or increase.

"I'm proud that as a team we can set the vision for the school and we're now seeing it implemented," Mr Williams said.

Duncan Grittins has been at the school for 17 years

Duncan Gittins, assistant headteacher, has been at the school for more that 17 years and witnessed the school's transformation first-hand.

"There was lots of challenging behaviour from students, there was a lot of truancy at the time but since then things have transformed," he said.

"We used to be in a position where the year groups weren't full but that's not the case anymore.

"The grades that the students are getting have improved dramatically and we're now one of the top performing schools in the city."

Headteacher Julie Hunter said the future for the school looked bright

Headteacher Julie Hunter added: "It's very rare for a student with a turbulent past to become a chair of governors at a school and really pay back to the community that he came from.

"It gives the message that anything is possible and every day is a new day to strive to be the best version of yourself and Colton Hills is just part of that journey."