GCSEs: It’s all good for self-confessed ‘troublemaker’ (From Oxford Mail)

GCSEs: It’s all good for self-confessed ‘troublemaker’

10:00am Friday 24th August 2012 in Education

BY HER own admission Jorna Begum was ‘a troublemaker’ who did not care about her grades, her education, or a career.

But teachers at the Oxford Academy knew there was more to the teenager than the tough facade and refused to give up on her.

Now – two years after failing her GCSE maths and English – the 18-year-old is the proud owner of a pass in both and can become the first in her family to go to university and pursue her dream of becoming a nurse at Oxford Brookes.

She said: “I wasn’t the best of students. I got into a lot of trouble for things like fighting, swearing at teachers, everything.

“I just didn’t care about school or learning and didn’t see the point in getting GCSEs .

“I was suspended a few times and was close to getting chucked out.

“But the teachers here didn’t give up on me.

“They pushed me and helped me realise I didn’t want to end up working in a shop. I wanted to be a nurse.

“I have had so much help and support from here, at school and at home. It feels amazing to pass. My family will be so proud.

“I couldn’t have done it without the help of everyone here.

“If they had given up on me, I would have given up on myself. But they didn’t.”