A headteacher in one of the UK's most deprived areas has revealed how he turned his school around, despite pandemic pressures, as he defended criticism of the younger generation.
James Eldon is celebrating this week after seeing his school Manchester Academy win a major teaching award for his efforts to turn it around.
Mr Eldon, who has been in teaching for 30 years - 12 of which as a head - was awarded 'secondary leader of the year' at Wednesday's Education Business Awards.
The accolade comes after the school finally achieved a 'Good' rating from Ofsted in November. Before that, the watchdog had consistently told it to improve after inspections in 2019 and 2016.
But the journey has not been an easy one.
Joining the school in 2018, Mr Eldon said morale was poor, with a high staff turnaround and students stuck in a trap of low expectations.
