'I expected to go to Park Academy sixth form near Manor in Sheffield - now I've gone to Eton instead'

Now he has told how those plans were kicked into touch - when he got an offer from the £50,000 public school that taught Prince William and several former Prime Ministers asking him to go to them instead.

Now, former Park Academy pupil Kiijon is taking his A Levels at Eton College, and hopes to be a successful actor after taking up drama.

Kiijon was given his place at Eton after his school, Park Academy, helped him apply for a scholarship at Eton, through its Orwell Award programme.

Now’s he studying Ancient History, English Literature, and Drama, while serving as the secretary of Eton’s Afro-Caribbean Society. On top of that he is ‘Vice Keeper’ of the basketball team, which involves managing teams, games, and practices, and a member of the exclusive school’s Theatre Society.

He lives in a boarding house with 50 boys during term-time and is a house captain. He is now thinking of applying to Oxford when he goes to university.

He had been head boy at Park, and was the third person to apply for a scholarship at the school. But Kiijon is the first ever Sheffield youngster to be offered a place under the scheme

He said: “I applied in September 2022. Exams and interviews were in the November, and we found out early December. I think it was a Tuesday when I found out.

“I think at the start of year 11, I’d aspired low. I didn’t think I’d even get shortlisted, and as time went by I got less confident.

“When I found out I was really excited. When my headmaster got the email he said ‘Kiijon, you should be so proud of yourself.”

Kiijon, born and brought up in Sheffield by his mum and dad along with four sisters, remembers the reaction of his mum, Celena.

He said: “Come December, I was sat in my room, probably doing some homework. Then my mum walked in with tears in her eyes, and she said ‘Kiijon - you did it,’. I said ‘mum, why are you crying, what’s up?’ She said ‘you got in’. I said ‘got into where?’. She said ‘Eton’. I said ‘No way!’ I checked the email. We hugged each other and my mum started crying. It was really nice and we celebrated with the family as well.”

His friends ribbed him that he would ‘become posh’ and leave them, and never speak to them again.

“But that’s just friendly talk,” said Kiijon. “And they were very supportive. At first I didn’t tell them because I didn't know how they would see me leaving the city to go to a different school. But they found out, and they were really supportive. And I still talk to them - every single one of them. And the teachers were ecstatic, really excited for me.”

He gets to go back home every three weeks, and there are family dinners at Eton, where his loved ones join him. His house master has suggested he invites his friends up, and that they do them a dinner, too.

He said when she first saw him down at Eton, his mum was really excited. He said: “All she saw was Prince William and Prince Harry. But she thought I’d found somewhere where I could be myself and excel at what I do.

“The first time I put on the uniform, she was so excited, she posted it everywhere, into the family group chat, and every small milestone from there, she’s constantly celebrating. She was so excited to come to the dinners and meet all the parents. She’s just as part of the family as I am really.

He said initially he had thought he would be walking into a place full of posh kids - but now says that was completely wrong.

“I came down here and everyone was super-welcoming,” he said. “They included me with everything, and tried to set me on so many different opportunities.

He said people were very humble, and at first he felt that he had imposter syndrome, but that went away with the welcoming reception that he received, and the support that was available, which he said was unmatched. He felt homesick at first, but was kept so busy that he says he did not have time to miss home.

He loves playing basketball - but does not fancy trying the famous Eton Wall Game, as he did not fancy the amount of mud that was involved. He said he had watched it. and understood no one had won it in around 90 years because it is so hard to score a point.

He said the basketball court was huge. ”If you’re a basketballer, it’s your dream court,” he said.

He said: “If I’d not gone to Eton, I would have gone to sixth form in my local school. They have a sixth form at Sheffield Park Academy. I’d probably have been studying the same things. But I feel with Eton , you’re opened up to a whole new world. You’re given so much more opportunity.

He points to the facilities and clubs that are available, giving opportunities he would not have received at a comprehensive.

He hopes to go on to study English literature, and wants to get involved in charities. His dream is to take up acting, and create enough influence that he can also establish his own charity.

Acting is something he has grown to love in the theatre club and in his drama A Level. He has just written a play with fellow students, called Men Can Wear Tiaras Too, as part of his A Level, which they also performed together. “

He said he’d never taken park in a play at Sheffield. He said the opportunity was never shown to him, and now he wanted to keep doing it.

He would love to follow in the footsteps of Old Etonian Tim Hiddleston

The Orwell Award is awarded to boys in UK state schools whose academic achievement may have been held back by personal circumstance. The Award is assessed both on academic potential and against specific criteria, such as if a boy has refugee status or is a looked after child, if he is in the first generation of his family to go to university, if he is in receipt of the Pupil Premium or if he currently attends a school Ofsted has identified as ‘requiring improvement’ or in ‘special measures’.