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A ONCE-failing Kidd-erminster high school has undergone a sensational turnaround in just two years - with a massive 61 per cent increase in the number of pupils.

Parents who would not have considered sending their children to Harry Cheshire High School a few years ago are now confidently packing them off to the re-named Baxter College.

In the school's Milestones Report, statistics reveal startling achievements since "superhead", Dave Seddon, arrived in 2003 and set about building a team of quality teachers and attracting additional funding to boost resources.

When the former Kidderminster Harriers player took the helm after 12 successful years at Wodensborough High School, Wednesbury, the Kidderminster school was facing special measures.

Staff were demotivated, the school relied heavily on supply teachers and, with just 420 pupils - many of whom were disaffected - children from the catchment area were being sent to other schools in droves.

Today it is a vibrant, busy school, bursting with energy and enthusiasm, having attracted an extra 257 pupils and 43 new members of staff.

Numbers in the sixth form have soared by an astonishing 375 per cent - from 23 to 110 students - smashing the previous record number of 48.

The number of pupils gaining five or more A*-C GCSEs has rocketed by 170 per cent over the two years.

This year has seen a five per cent increase in the A-level pass rate and the attendance rate has improved by 2.5 per cent - to 87.5 per cent.

There have been numerous individual successes, with 27 pupils gaining 10 or more A*-C GCSE passes this year, including one who achieved 15.

In the latest results, all but eight pupils achieved greater than their anticipated score at GCSE and only two youngsters left without qualifications, having found jobs and left early. Previously, more than a quarter of pupils were leaving without qualifications.

Three pupils have been presented with Princess Diana Memorial Awards for achievement against the odds. Others have featured on television and local radio, and gained Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

In the 12 months before Mr Seddon's appointment there were 104 temporary or permanent exclusions - that figure fell to six in the last academic year.

Mr Seddon won the coveted title of West Midlands Headteacher of the Year 2004 and creative arts curriculum leader, teacher, Rosie Moss, was runner-up in the Secondary Teacher of the Year Awards this summer.

Mr Seddon has attracted numerous grants and secured donations of spare equipment from more well-heeled schools and vastly improved the resources and accommodation available to the pupils.

The icing on the cake came when Baxter re-opened last month as a designated business and enterprise specialist school.

"I'm a catalyst and started the snowball rolling - now everyone is pushing it," said Mr Seddon.

"We have quality teachers, responsive kids, and the support of parents who took quite a leap of faith."

In two years, the school's examination results have improved by 20 per cent but are still 20 per cent below the national average. Mr Seddon is determined to keep up the pace of improvements to reach his aim of making Baxter world class and certainly the best in the county.

Two-year whirlwind of change at Baxter College

THE future's bright - the future's purple, is the somewhat offbeat motto of Baxter College, the once crisis-ridden Kidderminster high school.

Headteacher, Dave Seddon, has certainly nailed his colours to the mast after taking the helm two years ago, promising to make the school world class.

The pace of improvement has surprised even him and he is quick to acknowledge the part everyone involved has played, not least the teachers.

Those he inherited have taken on board the changes with enthusiasm and new teachers have swelled the ranks, so that the school is running with a full complement of quality staff for the first time in years.

Discipline and order has been restored to the corridors and classrooms following the introduction of new behaviour and reward systems.

Mr Seddon understood why pupils were disaffected and did not want to go to school and has worked hard to change that perception.

"It's all about raising esteem and giving pride," he said. "We have changed the culture and ethos in a relatively short time.

"It's all about finding things the kids can do and if we can tweak the system so they are taking exams that are more suitable to them, then we'll do it."

It is also about commanding respect and Mr Seddon has quickly earned the respect of his pupils and staff. He is affectionately known as "Dave the Leg" - short for legend - and pupils are sent to his office for rewards, not just tellings off.

Parent, Helen D'Arcy - herself a teacher - was won over by him when she first heard him speak to parents of prospective pupils not long after he took up the post at Baxter.

She and husband, Bernard, of St John's Avenue, had planned to send their son, Jack, to school outside the catchment area until the arrival of Mr Seddon.

"We put our trust in Dave Seddon because he was a very impressive orator," she said. "He had a vision and we were impressed with his staff.

"He seems very easy going and casual when you see him, yet he has this superb discipline and an underlying structure. He has won their respect."

Her family has not been let down - 15-year-old Jack enjoys school, is taking GCSEs early and, as a keen rugby player, was thrilled when Baxter launched its own rugby team.

"There are so many sports and clubs on offer now - they do everything - even mountaineering and water sports," said Mrs D'Arcy.

She has also been impressed by the broad, balanced curriculum offered at Baxter, appealing to both academic and more practically-inclined students and aimed at making all of them well-rounded individuals.

Neighbours, Andy and Wendy Brown, were also set to send their eldest of four daughters to high school out of the catchment area, having experienced unruly behaviour from pupils at the other side of their garden wall.

They, too, however, are now Seddon converts, with 14-year-old Gemma enjoying her second year at Baxter and, like Jack, taking GCSEs early.

"It's brilliant," said Mrs Brown, adding: "It has really lived up to our expectations. We have been impressed by the way they run the school and the money that has been thrown at it."

She went on: "They do put a lot on to their shoulders when they are young. We'll see whether that's a good thing or not but she seems to be coping with it and is doing very well.

"He has got the money, the staff and the discipline and he has got the respect of the children."

For Michael Dickins, the publication of the Milestones Report was a proud moment after 34 years of championing the school as a member of its board of governors.

"As Harry Cheshire it had a long history of underachievement, in spite of the best efforts of those concerned," he said.

Downward trends become self-perpetuating and he knew it needed fresh resources to pull standards back up.

Former deputy headteacher, Allan Gilhooley - now headteacher at Lacon Childe High School, Cleobury Mortimer - started the recovery process when he stood in as acting head for more than a year before Mr Seddon's appointment.

"At Baxter, we were also fortunate in having the support of the LEA when we most needed funding and this has continued," said Mr Dickins.

"We were also fortunate in recruiting Dave Seddon and with him a large number of excellent teachers from a wide area.

"After two-and-a-half years, this is now bearing fruit and I am particularly pleased to see that, increasingly, parents are opting to send their children to the college as a first choice."