Just 195 of 5.7 million GCSE and A-level teacher assessed grades (TAGS) were changed after being reviewed by exam boards last academic year, new data reveals.
Ofqual has released its summer report this morning, showing how TAGs were quality assured after exams were cancelled in 2020-21.
Of the 195 teacher grades changed – which represents just 0.003 per cent of all GCSE, AS and A-level results handed out this summer – 179 decreased, while 16 increased (see graph below).
Students got record-breaking results this year. The proportion of students achieving three As or better at A-level more than doubled from the last time exams were held in 2019.
At GCSE, the proportion of grade 7s and above rose to 30 per cent from 22 per cent in 2019.
Just one in five schools and colleges had their evidence checked by exam boards in the last academic year to make sure grades were accurate.
Boards could not change a grade, but where quality assurance checks found they were not supported by evidence, schools and colleges were asked to revisit the results.
The grade changes were recorded across just 26 centres from the sample of 1,101 schools and colleges who had evidence checked.
Another 159 centres of those sampled were subject to “additional scrutiny”, and 133 had their original TAGs upheld following further examples from staff.
0.7% of VTQ TAGs changed
From October 2020 to September 2021, VTQ awarding organisations issued a total of 4.6 million certificates for their qualifications.
The majority of these were determined based solely on normal or adapted assessments.
But in 10 per cent of VTQs, such as those of technical qualifications in T Levels and approved for inclusion in Department for Education’s performance tables, results were determined wholly or in part using alternative arrangements such as TAGs.
Of the 904,674 TAGs that were submitted by centres for these qualifications, 302,782 were externally quality assured by awarding organisations. Of these, 2,447 TAGs were referred back to the centres for reconsideration and 636 TAG grades were changed.
Students given results early
Exam boards reported 28 security breaches to Ofqual this year concerning GCSEs and A-levels which all related to students being given their results early at 23 schools or colleges.
Students at 18 centres were told their results before results day, ranging from the point teacher grades were submitted to the exam boards to just before release.
This was down to failures in systems, for instance where TAGs were “either unwittingly stored in insecure areas of centres’ networks which students or their parents or carers could access”.
Another example was where automatic notifications were sent to students or their parents through centres’ software for tracking and sharing students’ progress.
Ofqual said in a “very small number of cases” teachers allegedly disclosed TAGs before results day and boards treated these as potential instances of malpractice or maladministration.
Cyber-attack risk
But there were fewer than five penalties issued to schools and colleges in 2021, down from 15 last year.
There were 295 penalties issued to students in 2021, up from 20 in 2020. Thirty-five penalties were issued to school or college staff, up from 25 in 2020.
Ninety five of these were for use of a mobile phone in an exam room, 65 were for using “unauthorised material” and 30 were for plagiarism.
Meanwhile, 77 centres were reported as having been potentially affected by a cyber-attack.
The exam boards put in place “alternative arrangements” to ensure they were able to submit grades, as well as flexibility on deadlines for schools and colleges that lost access to data.
Only 2 in 5 improve grades in autumn
An exam series was held this autumn for pupils who were unhappy with their teacher grade.
At A-level, just under 40 per cent improved their grade. Around 30 per cent achieved the same grade and another 30 per cent received a lower one.
For those that did not improve, summer grades can still be used. Autumn GCSE results day is February 24. For English and maths resits, it is January 13.
Recruitment struggles are leading to “difficult” financial positions, students are “frustrated” with delays to assessments and suffer from practical skills deficits, Ofsted has found this term.
The report is based on 39 inspections of FE and skills providers between 1 and 19 November 2021. Findings from monitoring visits and prison inspections were not included.
Today we have published our education recovery series. Looking at how schools, early years providers and further education and skills providers are responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read all three reports here: https://t.co/yuT6OsKiU7
Here are six key findings from the Ofsted research published today…
1. Providers under ‘growing financial pressures’
Inspectors reported recruiting apprentices had proven “particularly challenging” for providers.
Apprentice numbers were lower than in previous years, the report highlighted, after government figures published in October showed starts fell by almost a fifth between 2018/19 and 2020/21.
While providers had scrabbled together alternatives, with one running short courses to make up for low uptake on a level 5 apprenticeship, other providers have not been able to and face “difficult financial positions”.
The report highlights one, unnamed provider which had limited its intake of apprentices as employers were unable to offer placements and they were focused on training existing staff during the pandemic.
Many apprentices were still on breaks in learning at the time of the inspections, though a proportion had returned to training.
Several providers reported attrition from programmes, due to the pressures of remote learning, lack of face-to-face assessments, changes in employment and limited time for learning.
Apprenticeship programmes at some providers were made “vulnerable to closure,” the report says, due to reduced learner numbers.
2. Delays in assessments a ‘source of frustration’
That learners were still facing delays in taking their assessments was a “source of frustration” for both learners and staff.
Delays have been blamed on the assessments not having been reinstated and providers having to say learners were not ready for examination as they had missed out on learning.
But staff had taken the initiative by setting up facilities on campus so exams could go ahead in better ventilated areas where learners could socially distance.
Test centres were also contacted to secure cancelled slots and the format of assessments were changed, such as by combining exams with coursework and utilising feedback from trainers.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education recently announced a swathe of flexibilities for apprenticeship assessment would continue into the next year, owing to the Omicron variant.
3. ‘Significant deficit’ of work placements created gaps in learning
As Covid-19 reduced opportunities for placements and furlough, learners could not engage with practical elements of their programmes, “key components” of FE and skills qualifications, the report notes.
Many providers cited this lack of engagement as “a significant deficit during the pandemic,” which had created gaps in students’ learning.
Apprentices were given individual support by providers in practical workshops to develop skills and “skills checks” were introduced to ensure learners had the necessary skills to progress.
A number of providers were repeating parts of programmes to ensure learners could progress with the right level of skill and knowledge, including by revisiting elements which had been taught online once face-to-face tuition resumed.
Where learners had been absent for long periods during the pandemic, providers gave extensions and allowed students to repeat elements of their study.
This helped those who had been furloughed complete practical workshops.
One provider was picked out by the report for giving learners the opportunity to join other cohorts after breaks in learning.
But inspectors found evidence of learning loss in other areas of the curriculum, including English and maths, due to coronavirus.
Enrichment activities such as CV writing and interview support, had yet to come back by the time of the inspections.
Providers have also made use of the 16 to 19 tuition fund, announced by the government in summer 2020, to increase staff hours and run individual and small-group catch-up sessions.
4. Safeguarding concerns ‘double’, including around sexual abuse
One provider told inspectors how the number of safeguarding concerns had doubled in comparison to last year, as lockdown ended.
This was not confined to mental health concerns either, as self-harm and sexual abuse were also raised.
Much like during the interim visits last year, Ofsted reports providers continuing to report an increase in poor mental health and wellbeing concerns among learners.
The transition out of lockdown and back to face-to-face learning had caused some learners anxiety, due to having to return to a physical setting and commute.
To support mental health and wellbeing, some providers adapted their curriculum to focus on the topics more, teaching students how to manage stress, improve confidence and reduce anxiety.
There were also existing strategies in place to support learners, such as engagement with external agencies, mental health first aid and communication through newsletters and apps.
One provider was credited for using online wellbeing courses, running mindfulness sessions, and offering the option of working from home to support staff.
5. Pandemic piled the work on staff
Workload on some staff had increased due to the pandemic, the report notes, echoing another finding from its interim visits last year.
This was blamed by providers on a backlog of work and the need to support learners catch-up on education.
The additional demands on staff to support learners during Covid-19 had hurt staff’s mental health, providers also noted.
Inspectors found “a few instances of high staff turnover,” particularly felt in careers information, advice and guidance teams.
Having staff redeployed during the pandemic was given as one possible reason for these staff dropping out.
6. Attendance ‘disrupted’ by the pandemic
Attendance “continued to be disrupted by the pandemic,” the report says, partly due to staff and students having to self-isolate.
While courses continued remotely where they were unable to be delivered face-to-face, providers found learners’ motivation for their programme “dwindled” during the pandemic, due to the shift to remote learning and students’ having to balance study with other commitments such as childcare.
Re-engaging them had been “challenging,” the report notes, though a focus on retention by some providers “had resulted in some providers seeing excellent attendance and learners being eager to engage as the provider moved back to face-to-face learning”.
College staff should be given another 1 per cent pay rise this year, the Association of Colleges has recommended in a move that has left unions “furious”.
The unions say this is the thirteenth below inflation offer in a row submitted by membership body, which is causing staff trying to make ends meet “major distress and anxiety”.
AoC chief executive David Hughes admitted the offer will “feel like a kick in the teeth” for staff who have worked through the pandemic but explained the “extremely challenging financial position” of colleges has again limited the pay recommendation they can make.
He said a “more meaningful” pay award might be possible next year.
In October, five trade unions asked colleges to significantly move to restore the “35 per cent cut in pay staff have suffered since 2009”, in a claim that would also close the £9,000 pay gap between schoolteachers and further education lecturers.
In addition, the unions called for the foundation living wage – currently £9.90 or £11.05 in London – to be the minimum for all staff across the sector, and for colleges to become “accredited living wage employers”.
But the AoC said it could not recommend more than a 1 per cent pay rise for all staff.
The unions say this is despite a joint campaign with colleges to win additional funding for the sector and when inflation is at a ten year high. They warn that “trust must be restored now it’s become clear” that the jointly won £400 million funding increase of 2020 is not being passed on to staff.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “This Christmas, college employers have decided to gift staff yet another real terms pay cut. After holding the entire sector together during the pandemic, those who work in our colleges will rightly be furious at this offensive 1 per cent pay offer.
“Colleges have repeatedly used a lack of government funding as an excuse to hold down staff pay, but after joint campaigning resulted in increased funding for colleges last year staff expected their falling pay to finally be addressed. Sadly, employers seem unable to wean themselves off cutting staff pay.”
But Hughes hit back: “The reality is that with no funding rate rise at all for this academic year, and with inflation soaring, colleges are struggling to break even this year.
“Despite recent investment announcements, they have in effect suffered a funding cut again this year of 4 or 5 per cent, and the planned future increases will not rectify the last decade of cuts. The recent spending review should mean that a more meaningful pay award will be possible next year – I sincerely hope that is so, because college staff deserve much better than this.”
The unions did welcome a commitment from the AoC to work with them to develop an agreement on workload, wellbeing and mental health. But they say this won’t resolve the underlying issue of low pay.
Colleges in Scotland and Wales are already accredited living wage employers. But in England many staff only earn the minimum wage. Unions say the AoC needs to do more than encourage college employers to pay the real living wage, it “needs to instruct them to do so”.
Unite national officer for education Siobhan Endean said the “derisory” pay offer goes “nowhere near meeting the rise in the cost of living”, while GMB national officer Avril Chambers described it as “frankly insulting” and “a slap in the face”.
UNISON head of education Mike Short added: “A 1 per cent pay offer is a joke – and not a funny one. There can be no justification for what amounts to another pay cut for dedicated staff.”
He warned that college employees are “struggling to keep their heads above water” as the cost-of-living spirals and could start leaving for better paid jobs elsewhere.
The government has extended its Covid workforce fund until February half-term – signalling that ministers expect further disruption caused by the Omicron variant well into the new year.
The fund, which supports colleges with the cost of filling staff absences, was reintroduced in November until the end of term following the emergence of the new and highly transmissible variant.
It was originally established in the second half of the autumn term last year and provides funding for supply staff and to increase hours of part-time teachers.
Latest attendance data from the Department for Education showed 1.5 per cent of FE teachers and leaders absent due to Covid-19 reasons on Decemeber 8.
Meanwhile, 1.2 per cent of teaching assistants and other staff in FE were absent due to Covid on December 8, up from 1.1 per cent on November 24.
A land-based college is “ploughing on” after being put into formal intervention due to its commercial income suffering a “major impact” from coronavirus.
“As the college’s financial health has been confirmed as inadequate following the assessment of the CFFR (college financial forecasting return) submitted in July 2021, the college is now being placed into intervention in line with the ESFA policy released in July 2021,” the notice reads.
The ESFA has placed extra conditions on the Ofsted grade two college’s public funding in the notice, published today but dated for September.
This includes continuing to work with the ESFA, FE Commissioner Shelagh Legrave, and her advisers Meredydd David and Becky Edwards.
Legrave visited the college for its first formal intervention visit on November 22, the college has said.
It must also submit management accounts with a revised cash flow forecast by the 20th of each month.
The ESFA has also warned the college could face an independent business review, which would further assess its financial position.
This is the first financial health notice issued to a college since June.
Pandemic made principal’s job ‘even more challenging’
Principal Luke Rake told FE Week running a college is “challenging” and the pandemic made it “even more challenging”.
Having financial problems on top of that only adds to the challenge, but “we’ve been very well supported by the FE Commissioner team and our local ESFA are very supportive and we’re working through it together to make sure that the right outcome comes out for the people.
“We’re just ploughing on,” Rake said, and will not be cutting back provision or laying off any more staff after ten workers from its commercial arm were let go when Covid hit.
Its deficit in 2019/20 was £1,419,000 before costs such as pension revaluation were taken into account, double what it was in 2018/19 – £662,000. After the pension liability was added, the college’s deficit reached £5 million last year.
Rake
Commercial income, including conferences and its animal park featuring goats, peacocks, ponies and other animals, was £400,000 behind budget by the end of the year.
Rake explained the drop off in commercial income was “primarily” the reason for the college falling into intervention, as they lost £1 million when the first lockdown came in last year.
Following this, the college asked the FE Commissioner for a diagnostic assessment and is now subject to a structure and prospects appraisal.
“Our challenge is primarily our cash reserves position,” he explained as the college’s accounts reveal these were limited at the start of financial year of 2019/20 and took a “major impact” from Covid-19.
College has seen fall in adult learners and apprenticeship numbers
Kingston Maurward is less dependent on government funding than many other colleges: just 65 per cent of its income is from the public purse.
Yet it has acquired a £1.2 million coronavirus business interruption loan from the government, to be repaid over five years starting this month.
That is on top of three outstanding loans totalling £1.5 million from the college’s banks, due to be repaid this year, next year and in 2032 – though Rake is not worried about being able to repay them.
The provider has also acquired a £400,000 rolling overdraft to ensure it has “sufficient working capital and liquidity”.
Despite the negative financial outlook, student numbers on 16 to 18 full time courses have increased by 5.5 per cent.
But the college has seen a “continued reduction” in adult learners, blamed on changes to loans policy, as well as apprenticeships.
Its future cash position is looking “ok,” said Rake and he thinks the college will be able to improve on inadequate financial health this year, but: “A lot will depend on what happens with potential future lockdowns and changes to Covid.
“Our current monthly management accounts are very positive, as a result of a firm hand on costs, and there has been a return of commercial income. So that’s good.”
The Good for Me, Good for FE campaign is halfway to its target of generating £1 million in social value, following a blast of volunteering by colleges.
The sector-led charity drive has accumulated 23,000 volunteering hours, which have been put through a calculator to work out their monetary value towards the target.
Additionally, the campaign’s target of donating 20,000 items to foodbanks has been reached.
‘Campaign highlights the true generosity of staff and students’
The three colleges’ principals – Sam Parrett, Stuart Rimmer, and Jo Maher – have said: “Seeing how the sector has come together to support this initiative is truly amazing.
“We already know what important roles colleges play in their communities, but this campaign highlights the true generosity of staff and students when it comes to supporting others.”
After such a “challenging” year, the campaign’s success is “even more impressive,” they argued, and reaching halfway “is testament to our incredible sector and we thank every single staff member and student who has contributed so far.
“We look forward to hopefully smashing our target next year – and to seeing how much more can be achieved by our fantastic sector.”
Colleges’ volunteering helped foodbanks and healthy living
A number of colleges have put on special events to generate social value, including a Santa dash organised by East Coast College.
LSEC’s Christmas hampers for foodbanks
There has also been a community college kitchen set up by Trafford College, as well as a social action day at Loughborough to support a local homeless charity.
London South East Colleges has donated 124 Christmas hampers to foodbanks, while Lancaster and Morecambe College asked attendees to an open day to bring an item for the foodbank collection.
Lincoln College also combined forces with Morrisons and a local construction firm to provide ingredients and recipe cards for students as part of its ‘eat well and learn well’ initiative.
Staff have also been volunteering in other roles, such as football coaches or supporting St John Ambulance, in their communities.
Good for Me, Good for FE was recently buoyed by a £750 donation by the Skills and Education Group, won in an online vote by readers of FE Week and its sister paper Schools Week.
The campaign says this money has now been donated to the Trussell Trust foodbank charity.
Congratulations to Good for Me Good for FE for getting the most votes on Day 3!
The Scouts, the FA, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, and SLQ Sports Leaders have also helped offer volunteering opportunities across the country.
Pictured top: Participants in East Coast College’s Santa dash
Ofsted has pushed back its research into T Levels by a year due to the pandemic.
A thematic survey looking into the implementation of the government’s flagship qualifications and its transition programme in their first two years was announced in December 2020.
An interim report was due out in September 2021 with the final report planned for September 2022. But a spokesperson for the watchdog told FE Week: “We’ve had to push back our T Level thematic survey by a year because of the pandemic.
“We will publish an interim report in autumn next year, with the final report being published in autumn 2023. In all other respects, our approach will be the same as what was announced previously.”
Visits to T Level providers ‘will continue’
The thematic survey involves visiting a sample of the over 100 current T Level providers and applying Ofsted’s education inspection framework to assess educational effectiveness and the quality of education.
This is intended to give an independent overview of the quality of T Levels, including strengths, weaknesses, areas for improvement and good practice, which can be fed back to government and stakeholders.
Ofsted says these visits “have started and will continue until next spring”.
T Levels have already faced disruption of their own
Ten T Levels are now available for delivery, with three having been rolled out in the first wave in 2020 and a further seven starting last September.
Six extra courses will start in 2022, followed by another seven in 2023.
The pandemic has already taken a heavy toll on the new level 3 qualifications, cutting off opportunities for students to fulfil the 315-hour mandatory industry placement.
After an FE Week investigation this month found 9 out of 10 T Level providers had missed enrolment targets for the second wave of T Levels, the Department for Education admitted there have been “some challenges” in securing placements “as a result of Covid-19”.
Students who started their T Level in 2020 can now spend a maximum of 40 per cent of their placement hours remotely after the government issued a new flexibility in November.
The NHS, local councils and employers are also being pressed upon to offer up more industry placements after colleges have struggled to find enough for their students.
Close contacts of all Covid cases should take daily lateral flow tests for a week meaning they can stay in the classroom if they are negative under new rules introduced today.
Education leaders were told of the “new national approach” in an email from the Department for Education (DfE) sent at around 5pm yesterday.
It states fully-vaccinated adults and children aged between five and 18 years and 6 months should take a lateral flow test every day for a week instead of self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who has Covid.
Close contacts will be expected to report the results online each day and can attend their education provider following a negative result.
Those that test positive should self-isolate and order a confirmatory PCR test. A negative PCR result would override the initial lateral flow test.
The daily testing applies whether the contact tests positive for “Omicron or not”. Staff who are close contacts but not doubled-jabbed should isolate for ten days.
Previously, close contacts of Omicron cases were told to self-isolate for up to 10 days, while close contacts of other variants were advised to take a PCR test.
The guidance states that close contacts will be notified by NHS Test and Trace. It is unclear how the service will know which students and staff are close contacts without the education provider playing a role in providing that information.
The DfE told leaders in its email last night that daily testing for Covid contacts will “help protect education settings by reducing transmission and will also help keep pupils in face-to-face education”.
Test shortages
However, people in England are currently unable to order test kits online due to “exceptionally high demand” following prime minister Boris Johnson’s national address last night.
The DfE states that all staff and secondary aged students should have access to a box of seven lateral flow tests.
Additional tests are “available through the standard ordering process” or can be ordered “emergency replenishment” via 199.
Social media was yesterday flooded with numerous reports of people unable to access the ordering portal.
They are met with a message stating: “Sorry, there are no more home tests available right now. Try again later. Or, you can go back and try to book a test site appointment instead.”
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned: “Due to exceptionally high demand, ordering lateral flow tests on gov.uk has been temporarily suspended to fulfil existing orders.”
It advised those in need to collect kits from local pharmacies, community site and “some schools and colleges.”
The guidance adds that for pupils with SEND who struggle or are unable to swab daily, “settings should work with students and their families to agree an appropriate testing route, such as assisted swabbing”.
Air cleaning ‘marketplace’ launched
The Department for Education has launched an online “marketplace” for schools and colleges to buy purifiers to help tackle Covid, recommending units which cost up to £1,170 each.
But the units are not available to private training providers.
The government yesterday confirmed deals with six approved suppliers to sell two recommended units for state funded education settings at agreed prices, with colleges now able to place orders.
The products are the Dyson Pure Cool Formaldehyde TP09, which costs £424.82 per unit, and the Camfil City M, costing £1170 per unit. Multiple general retailers are selling the Dyson unit for around £600 online.
Both products are said to remove more than 99.9 per cent of ultrafine particles in the air.
The DfE told leaders by email: “In the very few cases where an area of poor ventilation has been identified and this cannot be resolved through opening windows and doors or minor repair works, it may be appropriate to consider the use of an air cleaning unit as an additional mitigation whilst further remedial work is undertaken to improve ventilation.
“However, it should be noted that they are not a substitute for ventilation and should never be used as a reason to reduce ventilation.”
If Melissa Tisdale and her students aren’t laughing, they’re crying. The FE lecturer of the year explains how to build the highest-quality relationships around
A car has just careered through one of the many puddles in Walsall, a town in the West Midlands, and soaked my feet. I’ve had to get up too early, it’s cold, the sky is grey, and no one looks very happy. And now I’ve got to meet the FE lecturer of the year with wet ankles and frizzy hair.
Walsall seems home to good folk, if the friendly station staff are anything to go by, and it also feels small and forgotten. I’m just starting to regret my career choices (zooming around the country looking for education institutions) when a giant sign saying ‘Walsall College’ appears on the concrete horizon.
I turn the corner into a courtyard, and an impressive piece of modern architecture suddenly rises up in front: the college is huge. Dozens of students are streaming in and out, and a giant glass front stretches skywards to reveal multiple floors built from beautiful wood.
At the reception desk, all the mini dramas of a community are playing out. One girl in glamorous gothic make-up and boots I now want for Christmas is getting help with paperwork.
Another girl has forgotten her asthma inhaler and a staff member is reassuring her that a taxi has been booked for home and she can take it back to college too. Students of all ages, sizes, disabilities and ethnicities queue up or sit around in the vast atrium, chatting between classes.
Improving matters further is the prompt arrival of Melissa Tisdale, who won the gold award for the FE lecturer this year in the Pearson National Teaching Awards. She’s only 30, and whisks me off to her classroom several floors above, folding into her chair like a cat in its favourite spot.
It is warm, and I am intrigued by the huge cameras, floodlights and a vast green screen down one side of the room. Tisdale is a media studies lecturer, specialising in film and TV production. The miserably cold streets seem a world away now: everything feels quite exciting and possible.
Tisdale in her green room
It turns out that her students feel the same. Part-way through our conversation, Tisdale reveals that when the judges researched the nominations for FE lecturer, they spoke to her principal, line manager, the team, staff members in other departments – and her current and former students.
During one of the calls with judges, Tisdale was pacing up and down the corridor outside her classroom, “twiddling her thumbs and feeling like a spare part”, while her manager sat inside on the call with students. Then her manager came out – crying.
“I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘The kids are crying’, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, why are the kids crying?’, and she said, ‘They’re all in floods of tears’.” (I’m slow to catch on at this point, too – why are they crying?).
For explanation, Tisdale shows me a video of the Zoom call with about six of her students testifying to the judge. Most of them are holding back or wiping away tears.
One girl clearly says: “My confidence has changed drastically. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t know Mel.”
Here we come to Tisdale’s core approach. I’m not sure what I thought the FE lecturer of the year’s ‘secret ingredient’ would be (of course, there is no such thing), but I’m pretty sure I didn’t think it was acceptance. More like subject knowledge, or a brilliant new careers programme, or something.
“The thing I do first and foremost, when I get a new group of students, is I say, unapologetically, you are in the media department now. Who you are is completely accepted here. Whether you have a different pronoun, a different name, whatever your sexual orientation, you can be who you really are here.
“Maybe they’ve struggled, or their parents don’t understand or accept it. So having that safe place where they can be who they are is so important.”
Tisdale with her media class
Colleges talk about inclusion a lot, but Tisdale literally doesn’t seem to be able to stop talking about it. And she does it without using hackneyed phrases like ‘EDI’ or, indeed, ‘inclusion’. She just keeps talking about building her students’ confidence in whoever they are, over and over again.
“I’ve seen students who have come here, and they’re like a shell of a person. There was a student who came out as trans, for example. When they started, they wouldn’t speak and wouldn’t make eye contact.
“After four months, they were laughing, joking, and they did a presentation. It was because they could be who they were. We validate their feelings. It’s really important they know someone really, really believes in them.”
Another girl, she tells me, was at the college for four years, starting on a level 3 and moving through a higher national certificate and higher national diploma.
When she finally left – which Tisdale laughingly says “broke my heart” – she was significantly more confident than when she came, she says. Students like her persuaded the judges that Tisdale deserved the top award.
As if perfectly timed, a boy pops his face through the classroom door, silently giving an inquisitive thumbs up. Tisdale beams at him and says: “Thank you so much, it nearly made me cry! Thank you.” He grins again and disappears.
What’s that? I query, bewildered. It turns out Tisdale lost a close friend of hers yesterday. She had shared with the class what had happened and when she returned to her desk later, two of her students – usually cheeky chaps “full of banter” – had laid out Starbursts in a heart shape with a message from the class inside saying “We hope you’re OK now”.
Having accepted her students so thoroughly, they clearly went to extra lengths to show they accept her too, particularly on a down day.
Tisdale with her media class
It appears Tisdale has been recognised at a college, and then national, level for the sheer quality of the relationships she has with students. This doesn’t mean she’s not mad about her subject: she has a Masters in it and is currently pursuing a PhD.
But she explains she can only get across how mad she is about media studies because of how hard she works at prioritising great relationship with the students.
She explains: “When you do your teaching qualifications, you have to talk about what your teaching pedagogy is. I say first and foremost, rapport with the students. Without that, you have nothing.”
Tisdale’s own experiences, and her close observations of those around her, have inspired this approach. Her mum brought her up, encouraging her at every turn. “She’s the person I look up to for everything. She especially taught me that I am complete as who I am. This is something I really try to enforce on the kids now,” continues Tisdale.
“They spend so much of their lives thinking they’re not a whole person until they meet another person. I teach them, you are complete as who you are.” In an online world that hugely idolises romantic love, such a tour-de-force lesson from Tisdale must make a genuine impression on her students.
She also didn’t fit in at school (“I was a greebo,” she tells me, which is apparently a bit like an emo ̶ straightened black hair, alternative music) and was unhappy. Instead, she turned to “bad TV” like Sex and the City and One Tree Hill, getting into characters and plotlines: “That really started my love of TV.”
Media is a subject that particularly allows students to come out of their shell and feel accepted, and learn about others, she explains. She has set up a film production company for her students called Future Flames Productions.
One of their next projects is with pupils with special educational needs at Derwen College, “because they’ve not done that before, and it’s so important they work with different people”.
At the 2021 Pearson Teaching Awards
Another big influence on her thinking has been her best friend, Ronald Kafesu, whom she met at Bournville College in Birmingham. “Ronald used to dress in college in what was seen as that stereotypical manner for black young men, and he is so successful in his career now.
“He inspired me so, so much, because his life was not easy, and he had to work harder to prove to people he was good.”
After college, which Tisdale describes as “the best days”, she went on to South and City College in Birmingham for a higher national diploma in media production and was “the only white person in the class”.
Such experiences have meant “my passion to be an ally was just normal to me”, she says. Now her PhD is about how white filmmakers can stereotypically portray black characters.
This is what is different about Tisdale: she doesn’t talk about inclusivity as something that objectively it is good to be – she’s breathing it all the time in a way which, I must admit, I have rarely seen in someone not from a minority background.
How do we create more staff like you in FE? I ask her. Will she lead from the top?
“Progression scares me a bit, because you get further away from the kids. But I am ambitious.” She leans back, laughing for the thousandth time in our interview. “People ask me, have you got kids? And I say, yes ̶ I’ve got 122. They’re all my kids.”
