Former head who swapped private school for comprehensive marvels at transformation

A former headmistress who was shocked when she swapped her exclusive private school for a tough east London comprehensive in a BBC documentary has returned nearly 20 years later to find it “completely transformed”.

Gillian duCharme was head of Benenden, in Kent, when she spent a week teaching at Forest Gate Community School in 1997 for A Class Apart, a programme in the Back To The Floor series.

In one scene, a shaken Mrs duCharme struggles to control unruly pupils. As her pleas for calm are ignored, she turns to the camera and sheepishly admits she fears a riot might erupt.

Nearly 20 years later, Mrs duCharme returned to teach a French lesson and found pupils behaved very differently. She also met headteacher Simon Elliott, who has taken the school from an Ofsted rating of “requires improvement” to “outstanding” in three years.

Mrs duCharme said it had been “completely transformed”. “The type of children coming here hasn’t changed,” she said. “It is still a wonderful, diverse and invigorating environment. What has changed is the atmosphere. Simon has installed a culture of aspiration and ambition. The pupils are incredibly well behaved, which is not something I experienced last time. I am deeply impressed.” Of the TV show, she said: “I think the purpose was to make a private school headmistress look like a bit of a twit. Having said that, I can’t say that it wasn’t a very difficult experience. What happened on screen was a fair reflection of what happened.”

Mr Elliott said: “We have big aspirations for our pupils. We believe that background should not be a hindrance to success. I wanted Gillian to come along, firstly to see how things have changed, but also to get some advice from her.

“We want to replicate practices that have made the top independent schools so successful. Gillian has a wealth of experience in this area.”

Mrs duCharme, 78, has taught in the US, Europe and Asia and consults on school recruitment and governance for educational leadership organisation Resource Group 175.

She is also a member of the European Council of International Schools, the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls.