SHE used to be every teacher's nightmare, thinking nothing of barricading classrooms, setting off fire extinguishers and being abusive to staff.

After dozens of exclusions totalling 18 months out of school few teachers would have wanted to see Jodie Turner return to the classroom. But determined staff at Sholing Technology College never gave up on the 16-year-old, who finished up with an impressive eight GCSE passes and an achievement award from Southampton Mayor Councillor Dennis Harryman for personal effort and achievement in education.

Now Jodie wants to thank the staff who helped turn her life around.

"I want to say a big thank you to all my teachers for everything they helped me achieve. I knew my behaviour had been bad and there were lots of meetings before I was accepted back to the school.

"When I returned to school I wanted to prove I could do it but I couldn't have done it without my teachers."

For the first year of her GCSEs Jodie was on a part-time timetable and in the middle of Year 11 she was switched to a full-time timetable.

Her mum Jackie of Forsythia Place, Merry Oak, was so impressed with the 1,040-pupil school that she awarded an engraved silver plate to head teacher Karen Dagwell and other staff who had supported her daughter.

"Jodie started behaving badly in Year 9 because of some family upsets. She had home tuition while she was suspended but really wanted to go back to school.

"There were lots of meetings with education welfare officers and teachers before she was allowed back in January last year. I think she felt she was given a last chance and she really wanted to make the most of it.

"Lots of schools would have given up on her but her teachers really helped. They were encouraging, positive, and should be very proud of themselves."

Although Jodie received a two-day suspension in year 11 she was generally well behaved and passed more than enough GCSEs to go on and fulfill her dream of doing a childcare course at Southampton City College.

Miss Dagwell said: "It was a lovely surprise to receive such a beautifully engraved plate which recognised all the hard work with Jodie and her teachers.

"As the majority of Jodie's time was in our teaching and learning centre a special thank you must go to Sue Handley and her team of learning support assistants."