East Lancashire pupils taught new techniques for exam success

It uses techniques pioneered in the sporting world to movitate them to win.

And bosses of training company Young i2i, who claim to have improved results at Our Lady’s and St John Catholic Arts College, Blackburn, hope other schools in East Lancashire will take up the programme.

Founder Michael Finnigan, 51, said that more than two thirds of the students who had ‘written themselves off’ in their weaker subject gained a C in this year’s GCSEs.

Teachers at Young i2i ran a three-day English and maths alignment course after the school contacted them to try to boost results.

Staff chose a group of 18 Year-11 students who were predicted to achieve a grade C in either maths or English, but were struggling in the other subject.

Mr Finnigan, who has worked with cricketer Andrew Flintoff and the Wigan Warriors players, said the key to success was improving pupils’ attitude to failure.

He said: “These results are testament to the hard work and tenacity of the students.

“We improve their attitude to failure. We teach them to keep going until they get it right.

“And by the end of the course it teaches them they can do anything.

“We get them to think about the bigger things and in comparison GCSEs are a piece of cake.

“The course is designed to help them gain self-belief and get them in the right mindset to focus on their exams. Attitude is a key element to their success.

“Many schools are looking at English and maths alignment as pupils who show an aptitude in one subject should be able to do well in the other. Our Lady and St John is the first school in the UK to use Young i2i to focus on this specific area.”

Pupils were told true stories about people who had overcome adversity and they learned how to juggle to prove they could succeed if they continued to practice and learn from mistakes.

Mr Finnigan, who played in the youth team at Blackburn Rovers, said: “They were buzzing and loving it. “