A headteacher who took over one of the UK's worst primary schools aged 27 explained that the main ingredient of the four-year turn around was 'caring'.
Sam Coy, now 31, took over 210-pupil Benjamin Adlard School in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, four years ago and in his first 12 months at the helm, upped the Ofsted rating two places from 'inadequate' to 'good'.
Nationally, the school's year six pupils were behind their peers by up to nine terms in certain subjects.
Instead of disruptive children being thrown out of classrooms and left to wander the corridors, or being sent to a year head, Mr Coy thought up a clever idea that would help pupils calm down.
Disruptive children were instead sent to the school's forest garden to cool off.
Here, they could plant vegetables and look after chickens and even play a game of conkers.
Among a string of clever incentives for the school's pupils is 'head for the day' where one lucky pupil gets to don one of the head's ties and take on his duties for a day.
Mr Coy, who had previously worked with under-privileged children in Lincoln told The Mirror: 'I can’t take all the credit because it’s been a real team effort.
'When I first joined the school I was a little nervous. There were staff members who had been here for years, which was a bit daunting.'
Mr Coy's efforts were recognised this month with an acclaimed Pearson national award, School of the Year: Making a Difference, which he said he lovingly polishes every day.
The kids are noticeably more polite but the numbers do the talking, too.
Along with truancy being tackled, seven in ten children are hitting their targets in reading, writing and maths - as opposed to just a third in 2014.
Mr Coy's vision for the school is to be the beating heart of the deprived community.
'Benjies' - as it is affectionately known to by pupils - lies in one of Britain's 1,000 worst-off districts, Gainsborough South-West Ward, which has high unemployment and crime.
Seven in ten kids are entitled to free school meals and 40 per cent have special educational needs, compared to a national average of 14 per cent.
Mr Coy's approach has changed life for some of the area's most needy children, including a 10-year-old on the verge of being expelled from another school.
His schemes have also turned around the fortunes of a Year 4 child who could not cope with more than 10 minutes a time in a classroom.
They are both now full-time under the tutelage of Mr Coy and his staff.
Others in the deprived, low-income district have been helped by the school taking on a family support worker, providing free uniforms and running breakfast and young carers clubs.
The creative headteacher is now working on creating a community hub at the school where families can access debt counselling, housing support and a food bank.
He added: 'We want the school to be at the heart of the area. All the staff here are incredible and want to do their very best for the pupils – and that is everything.'
One of the pupils, ten-year-old Keegan, has given Mr Coy and his staff the seal of approval: 'I like this school because they do very good education and Mr Coy always make the teachers do very hard work for the children.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
