Knighthood for head who turned sink school around

Sir Paul Grant was recognised for changing Robert Clack School in Dagenham from a sink comprehensive with dire exam results and appalling behaviour into one of Ofsted's "outstanding" schools.

He was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours, five weeks after the 2,000-pupil school received an Evening Standard award for excellence in challenging circumstances.

Sir Paul told the Standard he was "stunned". He thought the letter telling him of the honour was a wind-up from one of his brothers. "I thought this was all an elaborate hoax," he said.

His achievement has won him national respect, as well as a £2,000 award in last month's ES School Awards. Sir Paul took over the school 12 years ago, when it faced a gang culture and disruption from pupils who swore at teachers, refused to attend lessons and even started a serious fire.

He suspended 300 troublemakers in his first week to send the message that the "anything goes" culture had to change. It worked - last year Robert Clack School got the best A-level results in Barking and Dagenham borough and some of the best in the capital.

Pupils, who include England under-19 netball international Rochelle Rhodes, 16, and star of musical Thriller Live! Ashton Russell, 15, have the confidence and sense of respect to succeed. But Sir Paul makes clear that teachers must reinforce the culture of high expectations. Robert Clack serves two of England's most deprived wards in a stronghold of the far-Right BNP.

"You can't learn if you're having a conversation with another child in your classroom where a teacher is trying to teach something complex," he said. "You can't learn if you're continually shouting across the room or shouting abuse to your peer group or teacher. "All those years ago I said to all children, 'we have got to change our behaviour. If you respect each other our staff will do the most wonderful things. But this is the bottom line. If you cross it there will be consequences'. In the early days I had to do that a lot."

Sir Paul comes from a large working-class family in Liverpool and said he learned his values from his parents.

He paid tribute to the willingness of staff and pupils to accept that children from poor areas should not be destined for failure. "This honour really is saying to children growing up in challenging circumstances that incredible things can happen if you get the opportunity and work very hard," he said.

"What I feel I brought into the school was total belief that the children and the staff could achieve. I said all those years ago that it could be better. People rolled about laughing. But now there is a genuine belief that we can achieve and do really well."