EXCLUSIVE

by Gareth Davies

gareth.davies@essnmedia.co.uk

When West Croydon teacher Emmanuel Ajoku promised to go the extra mile to improve one of his student's grades, no one expected him to lace up his trainers and run it.

But that's exactly what he did to ensure pupil John Iwudibie didn't leave St Mary's High with just one or two GCSEs.

The determined science teacher has devoted hundreds of hours of his free time working with the 16-year-old – not in the classroom but on the running track.

He realised that to get his pupil engaged in the classroom he needed to engage with him outside the classroom.

A year on and St Mary's expects the teenager to achieve at least eight GCSEs with many of his predicted E and F grades transformed to As and Bs.

Update: Emmanuel Ajoku nominated to carry the Olympic flame through Croydon

John's remarkable academic improvement has led him to declare: "I owe it all to Emmanuel. He changed my life.

"Without this help there is no way I would be leaving school with more than a couple of GCSEs."

Mr Ajoku, 31, inspired the turnaround by convincing John that training to be a top 100-metre sprinter was little different to preparing for his exams.

He explained: "I saw in John a boy who loved his athletics, but seemed to have little interest in schoolwork.

"So I asked him if I could come along to his training sessions. Engaging him on this level really seemed to get through to him.

"If I was tiring during training, he would say 'come on sir, keep going'.

"Then on the way home I would explain that, at school, these roles are reversed."

Mr Ajoku's innovative approach had just the effect on John that he was hoping for.

"It was very sneaky," the teenage student laughed. "I didn't realise what he was doing.

"What he was saying made sense to me. He taught me that you can't get anywhere in life without putting the effort in, that if I could do it on the track I could do it in class.

"Before he came along to training I had been excluded for fighting. I trained on the track five times a week and fell asleep in school. I was going nowhere."

Before Mr Ajoku's intervention he was on the brink of dropping out of design technology and performing arts classes, and getting two Es in English.

But he has been getting A, B and C grades in his coursework and, having sat his exams, will find out his results next month.

Mr Ajoku's commitment was born from his belief that teachers must do more than just teach.

He said: "Giving up my time didn't bother me. I am a youth worker anyway and I think it is part of a teacher's job to mentor students."

Now he wants the Government to adopt his approach in other schools across London, and has the support of St Mary's head Ejiro Ughwujabo.

The headteacher said: "Teachers must take a more active interest in their students. Most of the learning takes place outside the classroom."