The praise postcards are symbolic of the efforts at Brownhills to shift the culture of low aspirations which formerly dominated the school and the community. Through the awards evenings, the displays of work and constant insistence on high expectations from the staff, the culture is changing dramatically.

In addition, there is the all-important hard evidence of success. In 1988, 4 per cent of the cohort gained five GCSEs at grades A-C. Four years later 13 per cent did so. This year it was 22 per cent.

Sue Chesterton has received one or two suggestions that she should probably be satisfied with around 22 per cent in a school in a disadvantaged urban area, with high unemployment and a tradition of expecting little from education. She dismisses such complacency. Her sights are set on continuous improvement. If her success rate were to double before 2000, she would still be demonstrating her quiet but firm commitment to improvement.

“You can’t look at cohorts as so-called bad years,” she says. “You have to think about your knowledge of the group: what are the barriers to their success and how can they be removed?” Nor does she care to describe any year as particularly “good”: that can cause complacency, she believes. The job of school management is never to panic - whatever the pressures - and always to aim very high.

It is clear that Ms Chesterton’s commitment and steadfastness has communicated itself to her staff. John Pepper, a maths teacher with management responsibilities, says that the staff are constantly stumbling across new ideas. The climate in the school means they now have the courage to implement them. John Pepper has recently implemented a voluntary system of additional tutorials for small groups of pupils.

Twelve staff volunteered to give extra attention to the needs of 60 pupils. The demand came from the pupils, the staff responded, and the evidence suggests that the pupils involved performed noticeably better at GCSE than peers of similar ability.

The English department has involved artists-in-residence in its literacy strategy. Pupils are constantly encouraged to read and review books. In technology, participation of pupils in a science and technology week at the local college raises aspirations and encourages staying on.

Meanwhile, Dave Riley runs a community education project from Brownhills which, among other things, teaches parents how to support the children’s education.

Here they learn what the demands of coursework on children will be and how they can encourage their children to read and to study. “It is all part of changing aspirations in the community,” he said.

A few years ago, a pupil told him she wanted to be an estate agent. “Why not become a chartered surveyor?” he asked. The pupil had never heard of such a thing then, but recently Dave Riley heard that she had joined the profession. In Brownhills, as in other successful urban schools, the real meaning of high expectations lies in such details.

The pupils are the first to acknowledge that the peer group culture has changed. They say they are proud to attend Brownhills and that the atmosphere in the classroom has changed dramatically over five years.

Sue Chesterton places great emphasis on discipline. “If that’s wrong, you can never get the classroom experience right,” she says. Rather than concentrating on punishing offenders, the management team overhauled the rewards system - praise postcards included - and tackled the aspects of school life which seemed to create opportunities for trouble.

Lunchtime caused discipline problems and seemed to encourage some to pupils skip the afternoon lessons, so Brownhills decided to change to a continuous day.

There are always lessons in progress now. Each part of the school in turn has a 40-minute break during which pupils must stay on the premises. School finishes early - at 3.05pm - but is followed by 90 minutes of additional voluntary extension activities including an oversubscribed homework club.

Sue Chesterton recognises that the school’s success depends on the quality and commitment of her staff. The improvement strategy consciously involved all of them from the beginning. “They have to give a lot, but the growing evidence of success provides its own rewards,” she said.

She acknowledges, too, that participating in a school improvement project with other local schools, the local authority and nearby universities helps to give Brownhills access to new ideas and the encouragement to take risks.

The increasing attention that the school’s success is attracting provides further encouragement. Sue Chesterton particularly appreciated the congratulatory phone call from Staffordshire’s chief education officer, Philip Hunter, when this year’s GCSE results were published.

The popular image of school improvement is one of a charismatic head wielding authority and driving staff and pupils on. The Brownhills experience belies that picture.

School improvement here is to do with absolute commitment to high expectations, an openness about performance data, a pragmatic “what works” approach in which taking risks is encouraged and in constant attention to details like the praise postcards.

The Brownhills story is a cheerful one so far. If the commitment of the head and staff is anything to go by, there are further encouraging instalments to come.

Michael Barber is professor of education at Keele University, Staffordshire.

Four roads to recovery Research suggests that the key factors in raising pupils’ achievement include: * Purposeful leadership * Involving staff in decisions * Consistent teaching philosophy * Pupil autonomy * Parental involvement * A busy, work-centred environment * Limited focus in teaching sessions * Good staffpupil communication * Academic and social progress checks * A positive, supportive climate.

But how are these achieved in practice? Here and on the next four pages we look at how primary and secondary schools set about raising all-round pupil attainments against the odds and the contribution that governors can make.