Zesayous has now come to the end of his school years at Coppice Performing Arts School with a determination, a purpose and an improved knowledge of what he would like to do with his future.
But that hasn’t always been the case. Far from it.
By his own admission, he struggled at school. The classroom environment, in his own words, “wasn’t for me.”
Eventually, it all came to a head and, after one incident of indiscipline too many, he was suspended.
“I always struggled to concentrate in school, and that caused me a lot of problems over the years,” admits Zesayous, Zey for short.
“I would end up arguing with teachers, putting my hand on teachers, doing a lot of stuff that I shouldn’t have done.
“Eventually it led to an incident with a teacher which led to me getting kicked out of school for three months.
“I remember feeling a lot of regret after that, and also guilt, knowing that my actions had led to what had happened.
“There was a lot of pressure on my Mum who had to get other people involved and miss shifts at work to come to meetings – she put a lot of time and effort into me.
“After the suspension, when I came back to school, I was then given the opportunity to work with Wolves Foundation.”
That opportunity came six months ago. And the results have been as positive as they have been transformational.
Kurran Kullar is a Senior Schools Officer (Secondary) with Wolves Foundation, who leads on the Premier League Inspires programme which uses the power of football to help young people develop the personal skills and positive attitudes to reach their full potential.
He and fellow staff linked up with colleagues at Coppice to work with Zey on the PL Inspires programme, including mentoring, which combined to help him find a new pathway which has now seen him set out with the Foundation’s Football & Education Academy to pursue a BTEC course, run in conjunction with the City of Wolverhampton College.
“Zey was someone who was just a bit lost in his pathway and was in and out of trouble and wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do,” says Kurran.
“In a way he reminded me of myself when I was younger, because I also struggled in the school environment whilst having a passion for football and the more practical side.
“We met up and discussed how he could try and finish off Year 11 really smoothly and, over the last six months, have worked with him in sessions both at Molineux and the Foundation Arena.
“We could see how confident he was about football, but that he wouldn’t open up in the same way in other areas, but, over time, that has changed and he has become a different person.
“It was about working with the school and sitting down with him for one-to-one discussion-based mentoring and practical-based mentoring, and him thinking about where he wants to get to.
“It’s not always a straight path and there can be some rocky roads along the way but the staff have been able to help him through it.
“He’s such a good lad who has made fantastic progress and has got a really bright future ahead of him.”
PL Inspires, delivered both within schools or at Wolves’ venues, includes a mixture of workshops and one-to-one mentoring which helps to build self-esteem and confidence and improve behaviour management.
Coppice have taken up the programme for several years now, and Zey is one of the many success stories which have resulted.
“Zey has had to come through quite a few different issues but over recent months we have seen he has been able to control his anger and frustration a lot more,” says Pastoral Manager Mr Hudson Hill.
“He has always had access to support at school, but the impact of Wolves Foundation has been massive.
“As pastoral staff, we have a different sort of relationship with the students to the teaching staff, but we are still a familiar face that they see every single day.
“The Foundation staff come in with no agenda and are a breath of fresh air, working with the students and helping them to believe in themselves.
“In his own mind Zey thought he would never amount to anything, but now he has completely changed his view on what is coming after school and has the college course to look forward to.
“He will hate me for saying this, but he has become a ray of sunshine, showing his amazing personality.”
Zey has then also delivered some mentoring of his own, with a Year Seven student at Coppice who had also been undergoing similar challenges.
This, too, produced hugely positive impact.
“Zey has been amazing with this younger student, he has made such a big difference for him and has changed his life,” adds Pastoral Manager Miss Hindley.
“The younger student’s behaviour really improved and I also think that has helped Zey as well.
“For Zey, there was a time when he would blame everything that went wrong in his life on school, but with the help of Wolves Foundation, and realising that all of us really believe in him, everything is very different.”
And that is also the view of Zey himself, who is very much looking forward to what comes next.
“It’s been great to speak about my passions and has helped me regain my love for football and put me back on a path towards what I want to do.”
