A TEACHER has transformed pupils by turning their hand at singing.

Jeremy Dale, Year 11 leader at Shoeburyness High School, was asked to find a way to boost the attainment and self-esteem of some of the Year 11 boys at the school.

He wanted to try something different and less conventional.

Mr Dale, who has a love a singing, came up with VoiceMale - an all boys choir where astounding singing talent wasn't required, but a determination to succeed in something unknown to them was.

Mr Dale, who is an English teacher at the school, said: "Whilst other colleagues are great at target settings and analysing data to brilliant effect, it is not my strength.

"I needed an approach that was more human. These boys had spent the previous ten years of their education not responding to target setting and data analysis, hence the existing problem.

"There was no point in doing more of the same, something different was clearly needed.

"I like singing and these boys needed, more than anything, to raise their self-esteem by seeing that if they worked really hard at something totally alien to them they could actually achieve palpable success that would get them applauded, so I decided we would make them into a choir."

Mr Dale believes the intervention is unique amongst secondary schools anywhere in the country, and has seen a fantastic change in the boys of VoiceMale, in terms of their attitudes and grades.

The passionate teacher made sure the boys were singing songs they wouldn't know so that they would have to work hard learning them.

The almost 100-strong choir of 15-16-year-old boys attend singing practice every Monday and Tuesday morning and wear orange polo shirts to differentiate them from the rest of the school, who wear red polos.

They have since taken on a variety of different performances after the success of the project, and they will soon sing with operatic legend, Sir John Tomlison at their annual Christmas concert.

The concert which is at full capacity already, is free, but a collection will be taken on the day to raise money for The British Heart Foundation, in honor of a Year 12 student who sadly passed away from a heart defect last year.

Mr Dale added: "Some members of staff at our school have even admitted to being in tears when they've seen VoiceMale performances."