Case Study of Pupil

Chris came to Belmont School early in year 8 from a Large High School in Lancashire. He was a twin whose brother was very successful in the high school but he came with a long history of non compliance and aggressive behaviours directed both towards other pupils and also staff at the school. This had led to a number of fixed term exclusions and ultimately led to a permanent exclusion. His early experience at Belmont School was problematic with Chris displaying similar behaviours which he had shown in the high school. These behaviours resulted in Chris becoming heavily involved in the schools sanction system whereby he was constantly testing and pushing the boundaries. Much time and effort was spent by the school on Chris to change and modify these challenging behaviours. A close relationship was established with parents who were totally supportive of the school and it became clear that by year 9 Chris was making significant changes in his attitude to the school. It was apparent that Chris was academically able but felt inferior to his twin who was seen as a “high flyer” in his school. Belmont managed to engage and “hook” Chris into the curriculum and with a heavy input from Connexions  a clearly defined career pattern was put in place. Chris excelled in Information Technology and was regularly achieving remarkable results in this subject. By year 11 Chris was seen as a model pupil in the school and regularly used as a role model for others as well as mentoring younger pupils. Chris was used in the Acorn Marketing photo shoot and can be seen to this day on many of the promotional literature.

At the end of year 11 Chris achieved excellent GCSE results (6 GCSE’s at grade C as well as a mixture of further appropriate external accreditations. This has enabled him to access a college course in Information Technology at level 3 and this year he attained the highest end of year results in his year.

In his final year at school Chris also became actively involved in mixed martial arts organised through the schools positive reward system and run by one of the school’s teaching staff. Chris has become very successful in this sport and represents his club at both regional and national events and remains unbeaten in all of his bouts showing enormous potential.

Chris regularly visits school and has been available to speak to our young people to offer help and advice and he is often used as an example of what our young people can actually achieve during their time at Belmont School.