A head teacher who turned a Birmingham school from one of the worst in the city to one of the most improved in the country said there can be no excuse for failure.

Perry Beeches Secondary School in Great Barr was named a “failing school” by Ofsted and was ninth worst in the city for GCSE results last year.

The proportion of teenagers gaining the benchmark five or more GCSEs graded A* to C including English and maths was 21 per cent - well below the Government target of 30 per cent for all schools.

The school was among 17 in the West Midlands, including six in Birmingham, whose dire results put them at risk of closure.

However, this year Perry Beeches more than doubled its pass rate to 51 per cent. The phenomenal improvement comes a year and a term after Liam Nolan took over the school.

Last night he attributed the success to a focus on “old fashioned” values and a strong sense of wanting to right the perceived injustice previously done to pupils.

“When I took over staff were divided and demoralised. Behaviour was wild. There were kids in corridors, students not in lesson. There was a scrappy uniform, 13 per cent of students were leaving without a single qualification and the focus was on managing behaviour not on teaching and learning.”

Mr Nolan described the situation as “devastating”.

“This is why I am in the job - to ensure that on my watch that is not happening. These kids are now out in society and it is not good enough. Never on my watch is that happening.”

One of 11 children from inner city Manchester, the 41-year-old says his own experience of growing up poor and deprived fuelled his passion to help youngsters from a similar background.

He said: “I know what it is like. The only way of breaking through that is education.”

A product of the National College of School Leadership, Mr Nolan previously worked at an inner city school in Wolverhampton and one in Derbyshire before moving to Perry Beeches as head in April 2007.

He described the secret of his success as bringing “control and discipline” into the school.

“Fundamentally it is about tight discipline, a uniform and creating a corporate identity and being rigid about it.

“There’s none of this trainers lark or ties being worn half way down your shirt.”

Mr Nolan said success was also achieved by being “hard on staff”, and admitted those who did not cut the mustard were forced to leave.

“There was blood on the floor. There was no option. I expect them to teach. Teaching and learning is central, the admin is peripheral.

“I am a teacher. I teach English. English has gone from 33 per cent to 66 per cent. It is really important colleagues see me in the classroom. I am not just someone they see sitting in his office dictating.”

Mr Nolan claimed a greater emphasis on teaching had created more motivated pupils and reduced exclusion rates by 75 per cent.

“This is not about excluding naughty children, it is about bringing back old traditional values. When my senior team walk into a lesson, students stand up and you say good morning to them and they say good morning back.

“You create a world where they want to achieve, a can-do culture so that the cool and trendy thing is that you achieve and get rewarded for achieving.”

shahid.naqvi@birminghampost.net