80 winners scoop silver at the 2022 Pearson National Teaching Awards

Outstanding teachers, support staff and school and college leaders from across the UK have been honoured for their commitment to changing the lives of their pupils.

A total of 80 winners have scooped silver awards in the annual Pearson National Teaching Awards. The names have been announced to coincide with national Thank a Teacher day.

The silver award winners (full list below) will now be shortlisted to win one of 16 gold awards.

The winners of the final will be announced in the autumn on The One Show, in a week-long celebration of education which sees famous faces honour award winners every night in the run up to the ceremony.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the work that education staff do across the country “has never been more important, and so it is only right that we take this day to celebrate them”.

“The incredible educators who support our children and young people to achieve their potential are some of the finest in the world and I feel privileged to work with them.

“I want to thank them all for everything they do for their students, their communities and for the country as a whole.”

Dame Helen Mirren, David Walliams, Dame Joanna Lumley, Edith Bowman, Rob Biddulph and Emilia Fox are among those calling on the country to pay tribute to school and college staff today.

Michael Morpurgo, the author and president of the Teaching Awards Trust, said: “For so many of us, it was someone at school who changed our lives, was at our side through hard and difficult times, who lifted us up when we were down, helped us find our voice, gave us confidence when we needed it most, and set us on a path that we have followed ever since.

“No matter who we are, school has touched our lives and played a central role in our childhoods. School is about so much more than learning, and we see that now more than ever before. Schools really are the beating heart of our communities.”

Here’s the full list of silver winners.

The Award for FE Lecturer of the Year, supported by the Department for Education

Dominic Whelan, Sandwell College

Ivor Neill, North West Regional College

Jacqueline Turner, North West Regional College

Sean Patterson, Farnborough College of Technology

Steph Lee-Vae, The Bedford College Group

The Award for FE Team of the Year, supported by the Department for Education

The Additional Learning Support (ALS) Team, The Oldham College

The Motor Vehicle Team, The Bedford College Group

The NWRC Level 3 Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Health Studies Team, North West Regional College

The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School, supported by Randstad Education

Abi Hopson, St Nicholas Church of England Primary School

Amy Earl, Newport Primary School

Kira Redmond, St. Peter’s C E Primary, Farnworth

Melanie Burgess, Lincoln Birchwood Junior School

Nicola Richards, Caegarw Primary School

Nicole Alexandru, Millbrook Primary School Nursery Class

Philippa Jovanovic, Coughton CofE Primary School

Rebecca Murton, Castercliff Primary Academy

The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School, supported by Nord Anglia

Caitlin Hayward, The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College

Cathy Bowen, Woodkirk Academy

Esmeralda Salgado, King’s Ely

Michelle Butler, Hockerill Anglo-European College

Sarah Maile, Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College

Susan Sharpe, Southam College

Tara Hall, Fir Vale School

The Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School, supported by Hays Education

Helen Stott, Allerton CE Primary School

Hilary Cook, Highfields Primary School

Steven Brown, Clwyd Community Primary School

The Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School, supported by Hays Education

Andrew O’Neill, All Saints Catholic College

Andy Johnson, Maiden Erlegh School in Reading

Ann Webb, Ysgol John Bright

Grainne McLaughlin, The Gateway Academy

Homeira Zakary, George Eliot Academy

John Weir, Holywell High School / Ysgol Treffynnon

The Award for Lifetime Achievement, supported by the Department for Education

Angela Williams, Huddersfield New College

Carolyn Robson, The Mead Educational Trust

Jackie Gray, Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane

Neville Beischer, Wright Robinson College

Nicholas Capstick OBE, Drove Primary School

Sukhbir Farar, Hamstead Hall Academy

The Award for Unsung Hero

Bill Charnley, St Joseph’s RC High School

Carolynn Southcombe, Cottingham CofE Primary School

Christan Upton, Tarleton Community Primary School

Juliet Demetriou, Woodpecker Hall Academy

Matt Sanderson, Highlees Primary School

Nicki Burgess, Welland Park Academy

Rachel Andrews, Lordswood School

The Award for Outstanding New Teacher of the Year, supported by the Department for Education

Jack Andrews, Middlestown Primary Academy

Rebecca Spence, West Kirby Residential School

Sarah Walker, Carlton Mills Primary formerly Lister Primary School

Simon Wheatcroft, Outwood Academy Adwick

The Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year

Arlene Dilloway, Latton Green Primary Academy

Danielle Aubrey, Moorcroft School

Esta Bernardini, University Academy Keighley

Margaret Mullan, St Mary’s Grammar School

The Award for Making a Difference – Primary School of the Year, supported by PiXL

Marshfield Primary School, Bradford

Port Ellen Primary School, Isle of Islay

St Mary’s CE Primary School, Stoke on Trent

The Award for Making a Difference – Secondary School of the Year, supported by PiXL

Alperton Community School, Wembley

Limavady High School

Northampton Academy

Our Lady & St. Patrick’s High School, Dumbarton

Regent High School, London

The Award for Impact through Partnership

Inspiring Change: Collaboration between Whitefield School, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust & Royal Central school of Speech and Drama – Whitefield School

KYRA – Mount Street Academy

Royal Opera House: Create and Dance Partnership in Coventry – Earlsdon Primary School

VI6 – Clacton County High School

The Award for Excellence in Special Needs Education

Andrew Sanders, Moorcroft School

Ben Rowe, Chiltern Way Academy Prestwood Campus

Helen Shepherd, Royal School for the Deaf Derby

Janice Mitchell, Appleford School

The Award for Digital Innovator of the Year, supported by Nord Anglia

Alex More, Shaftesbury School

Cheryl Shirley, Cheam Common Junior Academy

Fiona Mossman, Mearns Primary School

Jenny Hinton, Parkdale Primary School

Kalam Neale, Barnsley College

Sarah Clark, Queen Anne High School Dunfermline

The Award for Early Years Team of the Year, supported by the Department for Education

The Early Years Team at Dollymixtures Nursery

The Early Years Team at Over The Rainbow Day Nursery

The Early Years Team at Redgate Community Primary School

The Early Years Team at Wellfield Infant and Nursery School

The Forest School Team at Watermead Day Nursery

Williamson provided wine and mince pies for DfE lockdown Xmas party

Fifty staff were invited to “festive drinks” in the Department for Education canteen during lockdown two years ago, with then education secretary Gavin Williamson providing wine and mince pies.

At the time, London was in tier 2 lockdown, where gatherings of two or more people indoors continued to be prohibited unless an exception applied. For instance, where the gathering was “reasonably necessary for work purposes”.

A report by senior civil servant Sue Gray says that in early December 2020, DfE began planning an event to “thank members of staff who had been working in the office during the pandemic”.

Sue Gray

It was discussed between “senior officials” in the DfE and Williamson, who asked members of his private office to make arrangements.

Gray says the event was going to be held in the private office working area, but officials decided to move it to the canteen on the basis it is a “well-ventilated space that would permit easier social distancing”.

On December 7 at 3.52pm, an email was sent from Williamson’s private office internally, inviting “approximately 50 staff” including private office and departmental officials and special advisers.

The email said: “Hi all, We’re planning on having some ‘socially distanced’ festive drinks in the canteen on Thursday. It would be great if you could join us. This is open to Private Office staff and ministers if they are around……

“For those working at home…there are plans for a Christmas Divisional where
people will be able to dial in and have a Virtual Festive gathering….”

About 20 to 30 staff gathered in the canteen at about 5pm on December 10. The report says staff had been invited to bring their own refreshments, including a suggestion to “bring their own bottle”.

However, at the event “there was wine, some of which, along with mince pies, was provided” by Williamson and his private office.

It says Williamson “thanked staff at the event, leaving shortly afterwards to
travel back to his constituency. Some people remained in the canteen for a short
period. The event lasted around 60 minutes.”

Covid-19
Acland-Hood

Susan Acland-Hood, DfE permanent secretary, told MPs last year that it was “to some extent” an organised event.

She confirmed that if any staff were found to have broken rules, they would face disciplinary action. This would include Acland-Hood herself, she said.

The Metropolitan Police did not investigate the party as it was “not considered to have reached the threshold for criminal investigation”.

Although not specifically mentioning DfE, Gray said many of the events, including several at Number 10, should “not have been allowed to happen”.

She said: “Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the
heart of government.

“The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.

“It is my firm belief, however, that these events did not reflect the prevailing culture in government and the civil service at the time.”

Staff say overcrowding hampered bomb scare evacuation at DfE’s Sheffield office

Staff at the Department for Education’s office in Sheffield struggled to evacuate following discovery of a “suspect package” because of overcrowding, civil servants have told FE Week.

Workers at the offices in St Paul’s Place, Sheffield, were ordered to evacuate at around 1.55pm on May 18, the same day that DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood visited.

The department has asked staff to work from their offices more often, but the Sheffield building has nearly double the number of desks than staff.

But it resulted in queues in the building’s stairwell and to get off upper floors, staff reported, due to the volume of people working in the building.

FE Week spoke to two civil servants and understands several more have complained about the incident.

We revealed last week how staff at DfE offices had been forced to work in corridors and canteens after the government’s return-to-the-office edict because of a shortage of desks.

Figures obtained by this newspaper show Sheffield staff outnumber desks at St Paul’s Place by almost two-to-one, with just 790 workstations for 1,489 staff. It is not known how many worked from the office on Wednesday.

DfE admits evacuation ‘quite slow’

In a message to Sheffield staff after the incident, the DfE said the evacuation was caused by a “police incident due to a suspect package”. South Yorkshire Police was unable to find a record of the incident when contacted by FE Week, however.

The DfE said it understood the evacuation was “quite slow as we needed to push building occupants to evacuate at the front of the building and away from the incident”.

Staff were asked to re-enter the building “approximately 10 minutes later, following the direction from police”, the DfE said.

However, one civil servant, who asked to remain anonymous, said they had not managed to make it out of the building by the time the order to return came through.

“There was that many people in the building that no one could exit. I didn’t even get more than 15 steps from my desk before the crowd of people in front meant there was nowhere for me to go.

“The stairwell was full of people and it did not move, we were trapped. There were fire wardens stuck on each floor not able to get out and direct people away from the building.”

They described the incident as “really scary”, adding: “We had been told to evacuate and yet couldn’t do it. There was an air of panic.”

Top DfE boss visited the same day

Another staffmember said the building was particularly busy on Wednesday, as DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was visiting the office that day.

However, staff said the incident was not brought up in a subsequent all-staff meeting.

The order to return to the office follows pressure from the efficiency minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and comes after the DfE came last in a leaked list of department occupancy last month, with just 25 per cent of staff working in the office.

One staffmember said the DfE was “only interested in their position in the cabinet office league table”.

“We as a department do not have the appropriate infrastructure in place to cope with the return to office arrangements as they stand. There is not enough space for us all, we cannot be accommodated safely and it’s having a devastating impact on morale and mental health.”

Some staff missed evacuation order

FE Week understands the order to evacuate was also not heard by some staff because the tannoy system did not work in all meeting rooms.

“There is a heath and safety disaster waiting to happen,” a staffmember said. “Imagine how panicked everyone would had been standing still on a staircase trying to evacuate if there was a smell of smoke, or visible signs of smoke.

“There would have been a stampede, a crush which would have led to many people loosing their life due to inadequate evacuation plans, poor planning and an office that has too many people in it for the infrastructure to cope with.”

The DfE’s message told staff to familiarise themselves with fire and security plans for the office, “including the location of the evacuation assembly points”.

“Any staff trained as fire wardens should support and clear the floors as part of their role.”

The message also called for feedback from staff and fire wardens to “support the team in improving the management of future incidents”.

The DfE declined to comment on the incident when approached by FE Week.

However, it did explain it had asked staff to “start by looking at” spending 80 per cent of their working time in the office, but claimed it had given managers “flexibility” to adjust that to between 60 and 80 per cent.

These arrangements “can include even more flexibility in exceptional circumstances due to issues like caring responsibilities or health concerns”.

The DfE claimed the approach “fits with the amount of desk space we have, gives us full and vibrant offices but also retains flexibility to work in different ways when needed”.

Open University to partner with colleges to fill higher technical education cold spots

Colleges are being sought to partner with The Open University to plug higher technical education cold spots across England.

Under the scheme announced today, The Open University will work with colleges that do not currently offer higher technical education, or want to expand the range of courses they offer.

The government has backed the initiative with £10 million – cash which will be used to “increase the capability” of around 10 to 12 colleges to provide those higher education courses and accredit them.

“For too long, people have had to look beyond their hometown for higher education courses,” said minister for higher and further education, Michelle Donelan.

“The government is backing The Open University with the funding and support to partner up with local colleges to offer high-quality higher education and training, targeting cold spots across the country, so everyone can upskill wherever they live.”

The DfE said new courses created through the scheme will be shorter than a traditional three-year degree, offering a mix of blended, face-to-face and on-line learning.

The scheme aims to help more people to secure high skill, high wage jobs to help tackle the cost of living.

It comes ahead of the introduction of the lifelong loan entitlement in 2025, which will give adults access to flexible student finance for different courses throughout their lifetime.

“The OU has strong name recognition nationally, and colleges have the reach and the local reputation to engage adults from every community,” said David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges.

“Working with the OU they will be able to offer a wider range of courses to the people that need them most. Together, these partnerships will help more people get the skills they need to succeed in the labour market.”

Unit for Future Skills

The announcement comes as the government launches its new Unit for Future Skills – which will provide “high-quality and accessible data” on skills and jobs from across government.

As a first step, new data is set to be published today that shows the jobs, sectors and regions people work in after gaining a qualification.

The DfE said this is the first time the government has brought together data on higher education and further education, making it “easier for people to see where their training can take them – for example, showing the routes young people take through high-quality technical education to get good jobs where they live”.  

More data is expected to be published in the autumn.

Colleges set to benefit from funding

The government said that colleges and universities are also set to benefit from up to £32 million of additional funding as part of the Higher Technical Education Skills Injection Fund.

This money will be used to invest in equipment and facilities that will support technical studies, and boost training opportunities with businesses in key areas such as digital, construction and health care.

The funding follows an £18 million investment last year, which supported 100 further and higher education providers to invest in new equipment, such as virtual reality goggles and air quality testing equipment.

Principal chosen to captain new UK shipbuilding skills taskforce

The government has announced the chair to steer its new skills taskforce for the UK’s shipbuilding industry.

Captain Dr Paul Little, who is chief executive of City of Glasgow College, will lead a team of 20 members from across the UK as part of the project.

The cross-government National Shipping Strategy was launched back in March and includes a commitment for the Department for Education to develop a skills strategy for the sector, which currently supports 42,600 jobs.

Little has had a part-time maritime career that included deployment with the US Coastguard. He has also “transformed” five UK tertiary institutions and has what the government called a “strong international reputation”. 

“I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as chair of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce, as it will allow me to combine my lifelong passions for skills and maritime,” Little said.  

“Some of the very best and most famous ships throughout history were built in yards across the UK, by a talented workforce of naval architects, master technicians and skilled apprentices.”

Little will be joined by 20 members from across the UK, providing coverage from industry including SMEs and larger organisations, training providers and trade representative bodies.

The first meeting of the taskforce is expected to take place in June, and members will soon begin working with the wider industry to explore skills needs and shortages.

The taskforce will last for 18 months and aims to build a picture of the industry’s skills needs and provide solutions to skills shortages – particularly those related to new and emerging technologies and zero-emissions shipping.

“Making sure we can deliver more opportunities for people to train or upskill will be essential to providing the UK shipbuilding industry with the talent pipeline it needs to thrive and get more people into jobs,” skills minister Alex Burghart. 

“I’m delighted [to] announce the appointment of Captain Dr Paul Little as the Chair of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce. 

“I know he and all the other members will bring the experience, passion and understanding needed to make this Taskforce a success. I look forward to hearing about their work as the strategy develops.”

There are currently 16 apprenticeships available for the maritime industry. There are also a number of level 3 qualifications for the sector, as well as traineeships.

The taskforce will explore what other courses are needed to supplement the existing offer.

The 20 members of the Taskforce are:

  • Linton Roberts, Chief Technology Officer, Cammell Laird Ship repairers and Shipbuilders Ltd and A&P Group Ltd.
  • Adrian Bevin, Head of Curriculum, Technology, South Devon College
  • Commodore Andrew Martin Cree, Deputy Director Future Training, Royal Navy
  • Edward James Corbett, Project Engineer, representing Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
  • Elizabeth O’Connor, Human Resources and Legal Director, MJM Marine Ltd
  • Hannah Prowse, CEO, Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust
  • Keith Longman, Yard Manager, Berthon Boat Company Ltd.
  • Kerrie Forster, CEO, Workboat Association
  • Mark Whitehead, Snr Client and Commercial Manager, Bibby Marine
  • Matt Bolton, Executive Officer, UKNEST
  • Matthew Guy, Human Resources Director, Thales UK
  • Nick Mansell, Chief Executive Officer, Intermarine UK
  • Patrick Carnie, Strategy Director, Marine and Engineering Systems, Babcock International Group
  • Paul Feely, Academy and Engineering Director, BAE Systems Naval
  • Paul Turner, HR Director, Princess Yachts Ltd
  • Rachel Kitley, Principal, Cowes Enterprise College, Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT)
  • Richard Westgarth, Industry Engagement, BMT MarRI-UK, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Southampton Marine    and Maritime Institute.
  • Sarah Dhanda, Head of Policy and Partnerships, Enginuity
  • Tahsin Tezdogan, University Reader in Naval Architecture, University of Strathclyde

DfE reveals plan for three-way merger to secure survival of cash-strapped Southampton college

Another three-way merger is on the cards in an effort to secure the long-term future of a Southampton college surviving on government bailouts.

The Department for Education has revealed plans that would see City College Southampton, Eastleigh College and Fareham College in Hampshire create a “single group structure”.

The proposal forms the outcome of the DfE’s long-awaited City-wide Solution (CWS) project Southampton, which got underway in late 2020.

All three colleges said they would now consider the proposal. The DfE has refused to release the project’s report or share details about when the merger could go ahead if agreed by all parties.

Multiple previous merger attempts involving City College Southampton – one of which included Eastleigh College – have been rejected.

This is the second three-way merger proposal on the table for City College Southampton – the previous plan was to join with both Itchen Sixth Form College and Richard Taunton Sixth Form but this was abandoned in 2020.

The FE Commissioner’s team visited Southampton in December 2021 and reported that City College is surviving on emergency money, which has reached £8 million, from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The funding is due to run out by February 2023.

It is hoped that a three-way merger between City College, Eastleigh College and Fareham College will create a financially strong network of college campuses, which will “improve the quality and breadth of the offer to learners and enable FE to respond better to local and national priorities”, according to a government spokesperson.

All three colleges are relatively small with total annual income ranging from around £15 million to £20 million. City College Southampton recorded a deficit in 2021 of £1.4 million, while Eastleigh had a deficit of £1.8 million last year. Fareham College is yet to file accounts for 2021 but its financial statements for 2020 show a deficit of £500,000.

The DfE said it has worked closely with the FE institutions and key partners in the city and the surrounding area, consulting with the Chamber of Commerce, other local education organisations, both of the city’s universities and the city and county councils.

“The colleges in Southampton have a rich history of educating and supporting local people and these proposals are the next step in ensuring they are able to continue to do so, while responding to local needs and remaining financially sustainable,” a DfE spokesperson said.

“We want to thank the partner colleges for their tireless work on this issue so far, and look forward to working with them to deliver the best deal possible for students, colleges and the people of Southampton.”

City College Southampton will be led by deputy FE Commissioner Martin Sim from July, who will replace outgoing principal Sarah Stannard.

In a statement about the latest merger proposal, a City College spokesperson said: “We have been and continue to be committed to working collaboratively with the DfE, stakeholders and partners to achieve an organisation which will deliver high quality, sustainable further education in Southampton and surrounding areas for decades to come.”

Fareham College said the college will discuss the DfE proposals because it is “important to explore all options for strengthening the provision that is currently available and we look forward to working beside the DfE to determine the best way of achieving the desired outcomes for learners in Southampton and beyond”.

And Eastleigh College said: “We recognise the efforts of the past year by the Department for Education, Education and Skills Funding Agency, the FE Commissioner and others in their work to seek to resolve the challenges at City College.

“As we have demonstrated since 2018 we will continue to consider how we can support improvement and deliver an improved position for learners, employers, stakeholders and the city of Southampton. The board will consider the initial ‘City Wide Solution’ proposal in June and will feedback to relevant agencies at that time.”

The DfE said it will announce further developments in “due course”.

Sharron Robbie, managing director, Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network

Sharron Robbie, managing director of the Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network, has her feet firmly in both the colleges and ITP camps. Can she get her unique cross-sector voice heard at a national level?

Training provider networks are perhaps the unsung heroes of FE. Ministers new to the sector quickly learn there are independent training providers, passionately represented by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, and colleges, again well-represented by the Association of Colleges, plus a multitude of other stakeholders. So far, so (fairly) clear.

But then there are training provider networks – not-for-profit organisations run off membership fees and other income streams – who arguably do the most important job of all.

They bring together independent training providers, colleges and other FE stakeholders all under the same roof, are locally focused, and advise providers, employers and government on their interests and needs.

According to Sharron Robbie, managing director at the Devon & Cornwall Training Provider Network, there are about 20 TPNs across the country, varying wildly in size, finances and governance set-ups. Hers was founded in 2005, while others are much younger. They seem to be organic organisations, driven along by people passionate about skills provision.

Sharron Robbie is the sort of energetic, go-getting person you’d want in charge of yours. Her members are six colleges, 30 independent training providers, three universities, three employer providers, two awarding bodies, two chambers of commerce, three local authorities and (pause for breath) two careers groups. It’s an FE stakeholder melting pot.

With her Old English Sheepdog, Dave

There’s an £850 flat annual fee to be a member, and although Robbie has taken membership from 32 to more than 50 providers in the six years since she became managing director, that still only brings in about £46,000 a year.

But since she’s been in post, she says, she’s boosted income streams and last year, her network pulled in just shy of £200,000, through a combination of winning project money from local authorities and other stakeholders, and through acting as an “apprenticeship expert” delivering training and advice. It’s a significant increase.

“We are one of the most expensive,” admits Robbie, regarding the annual fee – but she explains that it’s worth it. Members get access to four Teams calls, four face-to-face conferences, daily updates from Robbie if needed, board expertise and free workshops and events each year.

These workshops might be universally relevant (a recent one was “How to make the best use of LinkedIn”), or reactive to local context.

After the terrible shooting and killing of five people in Plymouth last summer, Robbie’s network delivered training on “incels” (an internet term for young men with strongly misogynistic views). The “Plymouth shooter”, as he became known, was an apprentice with Babcock International, making it all the more important to support providers.

Aside from this sort of grim but much-needed training, Robbie’s next project is more positive and global in outlook.

“We’re going to Morocco to meet partners on a blue and green skills project,” she says excitedly.

Next, we’re going to Morocco for a blue and green skills project

“Morocco is key, they’ve got a lot of wind and sun and they will be supplying the UK with electricity soon.”

Her team won the grant from the British Council, and will be sharing expertise from ITPs and colleges such as Exeter College and Truro College with partners in the north African country.

“The British Council were really pleased, because it’s usually colleges that apply, and this was the first time a training provider network has bid,” she grins.

Robbie perhaps has a naturally internationalist outlook, having grown up in Malaysia and later in Hong Kong. Her father was in supply and logistics for the Royal Navy and her mother was a nurse – and a big influence on her.

“I remember her going to work in her beautifully starched clothes and big nurse’s hat in the 1960s, and a chap walking with her with a bamboo pole carrying a bag of instruments,” Robbie smiles. Local Chinese and Malay families become close friends, but Robbie also had to learn to entertain herself.

“As a services child, you’re left to your own devices quite a lot, so you become quite resilient and quite confident. I saw my mother as a role model ̶ she was quietly strong but with a core of empathy and a caring nature.”

Receiving her MBE at Windsor Castle

But the young Robbie also took after her father, who was a good “wheeler and dealer”. Her next story (she is a born storyteller) has to be one of my favourites ever. “I was given a budgerigar for my birthday, and a few months later, my sister got a budgie too.

“So my sister goes crying to my parents, because apparently seven-year-old Sharron had said: ‘If your budgie is in my cage, you’ll have to pay rent.’” Robbie cackles with delight. “I was very entrepreneurial!”

The return to the UK was a shock, and opportunities felt limited in the 1970s and 1980s. “I’d come from living in this quite cosmopolitan country, and it was really strange coming back. There were miners’ strikes and shortages. You know, prawn cocktail and black forest gateau were like, ‘wow’.”

Aged 14, Robbie was placed in a secondary modern in Plymouth, where, extraordinarily, students were limited to taking certificates of secondary education (CSEs) as opposed to O-levels and were capped at achieving a grade 1, which was equivalent to only a C grade at O-level.

After that she went to Plymouth College of Further Education, now City College Plymouth, and later to Bristol to work as a dental nurse in hospital, earning £6.50 a week and gaining two vocational nursing qualifications, of which she was “very proud”.

Next, she followed in her father’s footsteps as well as her mother’s, becoming a Royal Naval dental nurse and “removing impacted wisdom teeth and taking out glass”. It doesn’t sound like it was for the faint-hearted.

As a first year dental nurse in 1980

On getting married and then pregnant, she was forced to leave the Navy (how times have thankfully changed) but, undeterred, came up with an ingenious recruitment agency model to make money and fill a local skills gap. She built up a roster of women, including mothers who were dental nurses, and was rung by dentists with a vacancy that day. She would then charge the mothers to babysit their child, and charge the dentist for filling the vacancy.

If anyone is a walking-talking example of lifelong learning, Robbie is. Aged 39, she decided she wanted a university degree in business – but was refused, because of the ridiculous education policy during her childhood that meant she didn’t have maths O-level.

“So I sold my house (my husband was very supportive) and did a college foundation course in marketing,” she announces. City College Plymouth had “fantastic” lecturers, and Robbie got her foundation degree between 2002 and 2004. She was surrounded by teenagers on the course but, as she puts it, she “didn’t give a damn”. Quite right too.

Her first job was as director of marketing for an IT company, which didn’t suit her. But then in 2007 she landed a marketing officer job at her alma mater, City College Plymouth. She would stay for almost nine years, working her way up to director of marketing, corporate relations and enterprise.

“I left the college because I wanted to do the next thing, and become assistant or vice principal, but the structure didn’t allow that, which is fine,” she continues. Instead she became commercial director for Trinity Mirror news group, a high-level, “tough gig” selling ad space.

Then one day in 2016 Craig Marshall, the former managing director at the Devon & Cornwall TPN rang Robbie, and told her she should take his job. “We did a road trip across Devon and Cornwall and over six months he introduced me to all the training providers. It was a fantastic introduction. I loved seeing what went on.”

The TPN team today are a microcosm of the FE sector: there’s chair Mike Blakeley, a senior leader at Exeter College, as well as staff from South Devon College, City College Plymouth and Petroc College, and others from the ITP, charity and awarding body sector. Robbie herself is also chair of AELP’s regional network south.

On a walk in Dartmoor

This puts her in a unique position to navigate what she acknowledges is a “highly competitive space… What we offer is that critical friend. We’re able to broker those partnerships,” she says. “My impartiality – I’m not trying to grab learners – means I’m a safe pair of hands, I’m a safe harbour for collaboration.”

It seems a no-brainer to have such cross-sector organisations, I comment. Why isn’t there a national organisation to represent them all and amplify their voice?

Robbie almost leaps out of her chair in agreement. “What we have been looking at is bringing together a national group of training provider networks,” she explains. “That’s one of our strategies. When you look at how many training providers there are, how many learners, it’s massive. But actually it’s all in disparate groups.”

She’s already built strong connections with other TPNs across the south west, meeting regularly with the Dorset & Somerset, west of England, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire TPNs.

Should TPNs also get some government funding? I continue.

“We should have government funding,” she nods. “We do a huge amount of work, including a huge amount of unpaid work. We attend skills advisory panels, we provide updates, we provide huge amounts of information.

“I think our colleagues in ESFA and the Department for Education do recognise the worth of these local networks and if they could, they would. They call and text and email me all hours of the day and night!” she hoots.

“We just need to keep reminding government of the great work training provider networks do, in supporting training providers in FE.”

It’s food for thought. If anyone’s able to make the business case for training provider networks, it’s Robbie.

Colleges call for emergency government funding to boost staff pay

Ministers are being urged to stump up emergency funding for colleges so that staff pay can be increased in the face of a cost-of-living and recruitment crisis.

The Department for Education is also being asked to review policies to reduce financial risks – including by being lenient when it comes to funding clawbacks, offering an income “guarantee”, and increasing funding rates for adult education courses.

Association of Colleges boss David Hughes laid out the demands in a letter to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi today.

It comes ahead of the association’s annual negotiations on staff pay with education unions later this week. The AoC has repeatedly recommended a 1 per cent pay increase for staff over the past five years much to the protest of unions which have in turn launched numerous strikes.

In an update to members on Friday, Hughes revealed that the unions’ claim this is for a 10 per cent rise this year, with a minimum of £2,000.

He said that given inflation is running at 9 per cent, and the longstanding pay gaps with schoolteachers of £9,000 and with wider industry, that does “not look completely unreasonable”.

But he pointed out after a decade of underfunding, there is not a single college which is able to meet that claim, nor even get very close.

In turning to the government for extra funding, Hughes highlighted there is a risk to the rollout of T Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications, as well as ambitions to boost apprenticeships, because colleges are “struggling to retain and attract top talent to teach the skills needed to fill gaps in shortage sectors across the economy”.

Previous AoC research claimed that colleges are suffering their worst staffing crisis in two decades.

Hughes said: “The government’s skills revolution is in danger of stalling because, ironically, colleges cannot compete in the tightest labour market on record. At the very time colleges need to be training more people for the increasing number of skilled vacancies, they find themselves unable to pay enough to attract and retain talented, experienced and skilled people themselves. 

“Colleges want to deliver but are not being given the funding they need to do it. The gap between what these teachers could earn in industry, or even in schools, compared to working in a college is now at crisis point, limiting capacity just when colleges need to grow numbers.”

He called on Zahawi to make representations to the Treasury for emergency funding. But he stopped short of saying how much is needed specifically.

Last year’s spending review announced that the DfE will be investing an extra £1.6 billion in 16-to-19 education and training by 2024/25, compared with the 2021/22 financial year. This includes an up-front cash boost which will see the rate of funding per student boosted by over 8 per cent in 2022/23.

Hughes said these funding decisions for 2022/23 assume 2 per cent inflation for 16-18 courses and 0 per cent for everything else (adult education, apprenticeships and higher education) which is some way off the current 9 per cent inflation.

Alongside pay pressures, colleges have to deal with increases in national insurance contributions, the national minimum wage, pension contributions, utility bills and other costs, Hughes said.

The AoC also wants DfE to review other policies which could be adjusted to reduce the financial risks for colleges which, in turn, could help them make a better pay settlement.

These include:

– how the business case processes can be designed to allow more leeway for 2021-22 and 2022-23 AEB and 2022-3 T level shortfalls because colleges risk clawback on both;

– more flexibility on the extra 40 funded hours in 2022-23 which are eating into the funding available, and which are also more challenging to deliver given the widespread difficulties in recruiting and retaining teaching staff;

– suspending intervention action on ESFA financial health assessments and the FE commissioner 65 per cent staff cost benchmark because those measures will severely constrain colleges from making better pay offers to staff;

– a cost increase sharing mechanism for approved DfE capital projects (currently 100 per cent of extra costs fall to the college) because of the large inflationary increases in construction materials and labour costs;

– offering an income guarantee for colleges where the grade inflation in last summer’s exams led to more young people staying in school sixth forms. This impacts through the lagged system on income from the autumn, just when we expect those student numbers to bounce back. The lagged system was not designed for such unique circumstances and needs to be amended for next academic year;

– considering a rate increase on AEB, learning from the approach taken in London by the GLA with it’s devolved powers. The AEB funding rates have not increased for over a decade;

– considering a rate premium on priority courses and qualifications, including in skills shortage areas such as construction, engineering, digital and health where colleges have the most difficulties in recruiting skilled staff and for T Levels, HTQs and other courses which the Government wishes to see grow.

The DfE was approached for comment.

Week of strikes at London college begin over ‘fire and rehire’ threat

Staff at Richmond upon Thames College are striking every day this week in response to the college threatening the use of “fire and rehire” tactics to drive down staff holiday allowances. 

The University and College Union said that the college issued notices to “sack every teacher at the college” as part of a plan to force them to reapply for their jobs on “worse terms and conditions” that would see a reduction in their annual leave. 

However, the college has hit back, saying they are “hugely disappointed” to see strike action go ahead given that students have already experienced a large amount of disruption due to the pandemic – and have argued “fire and rehire” would only be used as a last resort.

And an MP has waded into the debate- calling for RuTC withdraw the section 188 notice (a notice an employer intends to make a number of employees redundant), to help an “amicable settlement to be reached”.

“The management team at Richmond upon Thames are effectively putting a gun to the head of its own staff. It is deplorable behaviour, and it will be met with the full force of our union,” said UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

Adam Lincoln, UCU’s regional official, said that this week’s strike shows staff will not allow management to “fire them and rehire them on worse terms”.

“Fire and rehire is a sickening tactic used by some of the UK’s worst employers and Richmond upon Thames College’s management needs to treat staff with the dignity they deserve.”

Lincoln said that the 127 teachers who now face “a battle to save their jobs” have dedicated themselves to supporting their students, not least during the pandemic. 

“The fact that management are trying to slash 10 days from their holiday entitlement is a mark of shame for the entire college, and one which will prompt fury amongst students and the local community,” Lincoln added. 

The dispute has arisen over the college’s proposal to reduce the current 64 days per year of annual leave (including Bank holidays and efficiency days) to what the college calls “a level in line with other FE colleges”. 

UCU has claimed staff would lose 10 days of holiday – but the college has said they are proposing a “net loss” of 8 days of annual leave with full financial compensation.

RuTC in turn claimed the move will bring annual leave to a level in line with other FE colleges.

It said the final option to “dismiss and re-engage” would only be used in the “worst case scenario”. 

Strike action all week

Staff will be picketing the college from 7am to 11am everyday of strike action.

UCU told FE Week that they expect over 100 members of staff to take part in the strike over the course of the week. 

The college has said that UCU represents fewer than 50 per cent of the college’s teaching staff. 

They added that the ballot was not unanimously in favour of strike action and the college have been made aware that many of its teachers are “equally disappointed in the union’s decision to strike”. 

“Richmond upon Thames College are hugely disappointed to see strike action go ahead at this time, when students across the country have already experienced a large amount of disruption due to the pandemic,” a statement on the college’s website said. 

“The college has demonstrated a consistent and genuine desire to negotiate on the overall package of benefits including pay and levels of annual leave and has confirmed the offer of 100 per cent financial compensation (consolidated) for the net reduction in annual leave.”

The statement added that this offer financially compensates and recognises the work that teaching staff regularly carry out during holiday times. 

Failed negotiations

UCU and RuTC have met for negotiations – but so far, no solution to the dispute has been found. 

“After a meeting with UCU on Tuesday 10 May, the employer confirmed that it would not enter further negotiations and would begin conducting 1-2-1 meetings with staff ahead of delivering dismissal notices,” UCU said in a statement. 

“The employer continues to refuse to recommence negotiations to resolve the dispute.”

However, the college said it informed UCU on February 22, this year that there would be proposals to change the terms and conditions of the teaching staff contract to see if agreement could be reached and individuals could voluntarily move to the revised contract. 

RuTC said it was agreed that they would move to formal consultation on March 8. 

The 45-day formal consultation period was due to end on April 22, and the College extended the timeline by a further 18 days until May 10. 

“Consultation came to an end on that day when the UCU response made it clear that negotiations could go no further,” the college said. 

Munira Wilson, MP for Twickenham, said that she had spoken with representatives from both Richmond upon Thames College and the University and College Union to listen to their respective views on the dispute.

“Whilst I believe it is not unreasonable for RuTC to seek to renegotiate staff contracts, the fact that the college has issued a section 188 notice (which begins the consultation process to fire staff), whilst still in the process of negotiating with those affected, undermines their ability to negotiate in good faith,” she said.

“I have urged the college to withdraw the section 188 notice, as I believe this could help bring the strike to an early end and allow for an amicable settlement to be reached.”

Disruption

The strikes come at a time when many students are sitting exams. 

RuTC said they will be doing everything they can to minimise disruption to their students’ ongoing teaching, learning and assessment and that the impact of strike action is likely to vary for different students, depending on the union membership within different programmes. 

“Some students may notice little disruption, others may experience more,” the college said. 

“We are investigating a range of options to enable any lost learning to be recovered, wherever possible. The strike action will not impact on the operation of formal exams that will be taking place at RuTC during the week of the strike,” it added.