Feedback from providers

What might be the impact of our training on your own staff?

  • Click on the provider-drop down list to browse feedback by the providers.
  • Click on ‘Filter by session’ and then select a title from the drop-down list.

Please select a provider:

Please select a session:

Recruitment: increasing the impact

Hull College

  • Inspiring.
  • To imagine the ideal and then work out how it’s do-able.
  • Thought provoking.
  • Aspirational recruitment process.
  • Very good morning of CPD.
  • Light at the end of the tunnel.
  • Aim high, create experiences, be exciting!
  • “Bloody marvellous!”
  • Awakening.

Learning Issues and Solutions Database (The RED LISD)

Bolton College

  • Enlightened.
  • Able, aspirational, motivated, like being a new tutor again with a desire to problem solve.
  • A ray of sunlight peaking out of a cloud on a cold day.
  • Inspirational, thought-provoking.
  • Excited about possibilities, feel so many barriers before we can be outstanding though.
  • It was a river of knowledge, allowing my brain to flow with new ideas.
  • I was treated as a grown up, collaborative discussions, voice listened to.
  • Gyre-widening (see W. B. Yeats: The Second Coming).
  • It is fit for purpose, simple and efficient.
  • I love it. I would love to see it as an approach for OTLAs.
  • Easy to read, useful and will try in lessons.
    I like how it is structured and gives the teacher a step-by-step support.
  • Set-up really well. Easily accessible and easy to navigate.
  • It is quite clear and easy to follow. It supports you and takes you on a journey through the thinking and development process. The case studies were useful and the more the resource is populated with other cases the more useful it will become. Sharing is so important and especially between departments.
  • I like the colour coded headings and the clear structure, easy to follow and definitions helped me to decide what the actual problem/issue was. It helped to reflect on what my contribution to the issue might be but in a no blame way. Therefore easier to admit and discuss.
  • Clear, demanding a next step/decision/narrowing/focussing.
  • I think that the format of each section is clear and follows a process that allows you to think through the issue you have selected, and what could be the cause of the issue before exploring the strategies.
  • It encourages sharing of best practice within the organisation and both offers support to those with issues as well as offering praise and reward for those who are best serving their learners.
  • Great, lets us problem solve without being told one method and gives us the confidence to say that it can be solved.
  • Wonderful, collaborative and informed by practice.
  • To have the lessons seen and heard without prejudice is really refreshing. I have already included many ideas, from Tony feedback and his blogs and lesson.
  • It is good to look at learning issues in this way, methodically…seeing the problem and the reasons behind it helps to find a solution.
  • I like it and would use it. I like the links that take you through to further information.
  • Felt a little upset by the barriers that I found myself coming up against that I can usually mentally overcome in the moment/when filling out a form because of the demand of professionalism it suggested.
  • I like that the approach is a collaborative one, using real examples from across the college. I hope that it will inspire the college to further embrace cross departmental working to share ideas and strategies for learning. This will motivate staff to try new ideas, and be more comfortable with colleagues in their classroom without the fear of failure. I also like that it will be a working document for staff to add to so it can evolve.
  • My learning outcomes will never look the same again. I’ll be tapping into those attitudinal changes.
  • I think it has been extremely useful and has made a big difference to people’s attitudes. I have noticed that when Tony said he could solve how to make learners never be late again in submitting work to a deadline, many staff had a negative attitude and were quite defensive. This makes me see how the tutors need to be open minded as I know that’s how they want the learners to be. “Crossing the carpet”. Thank you for your lovely compliments of my session.
  • I love this approach. It’s teacher supportive and friendly.
  • Thank you very much for the session 🙂
  • Some really useful ideas. This got me thinking that there might be solutions. The college needs to be supportive in their implementation. At the moment it feels like we are being swamped with admin tasks and teaching and learning is taking second place.

Behaviour Management

Hull College

  • Highly educative
  • It will help me in my classroom management especially the attention war, over-contributor.
  • Dealing with over-contributors – set them a challenge, allow them to answer a more difficult question.
  • It was very interactive with lots of team/group discussion and popcorning of ideas.
  • Inspirational. Restores belief in outstanding teaching.
  • You’ve been fab, would love to learn more from you.
  • Forming, storming, norming, performing. Ideas from today can be implemented in class.
  • I will change my approach to sessions – for example: 1. Deal with over-contributors 2.
  • Transactional management.
  • I have learned simple techniques to understand and improve learner behaviour and productivity.
  • The interactive tools like Jamboard and handouts were amazing.
  • Transactional Analysis, Transitional Change, Active Listening – all fantastic!
  • Brilliant (Always!)
  • Looking at curriculum plan for adding excitement for challenging times. Continue to reflect on own practice.

Kendal College

  • The curtain was pushed back further to see possibilities for development.
  • Insightful, useful.
  • I am already using intuitive strategies and there are more I can learn.
  • Strategies to enable high-performing groups.
  • Thank you so much, I really enjoyed the training. You were clear, retained my attention and I would have happily stayed on the class for longer.
  • Thank you Tony, Today has provided me with a chance to reflect on my practice in depth and consider new strategies moving forward to benefit both myself and my learners.

Ofsted Ready

Click here for an overview of the training.
Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Bath College

  • A refreshing afternoon.
  • Confidence is being authentic in an approach to quality. Not obsessing on unstable factors.
  • Fantastic opportunity to sit down, discuss and think deeply. Thank you.

Bristol City Council Community Learning

  • A sat nav. for self reflection on our strengths and weakness as a centre! “Turning a weakness into a strength.”
  • Bringing transformation to the attention of an Ofsted inspector.
    Thinking ‘wildly’ outside the box for inspiration.
  • “Tackle” Ofsted in a positive way – not wait for things to happen, but have things in place – e.g. reflections on how to improve things (not at the end of a course or unit but at the time when issues materialise).
  • Food for thought. The use of wiki was really good and it was great to see what others had written.
  • Taking the horse by its reins. That we can take control of the OFSTED process by actively working together to improve our service.

East Kent College

  • Such a rewarding session, not what I expected at all but have some key takeaways to really reflect on and action.
  • Think more creatively, invest in the students’ experience, create an Ofsted position statement for maths and English.
  • I thought the breakout room size was going to be limiting but it was actually great, loads of dialogue and ideas – I couldn’t fault the session.

JTL Training

  • It has caused me to change my whole approach to an OFSTED inspection, thank you Tony
  • Hope is on the horizon.
  • Like opening a book.
  • Very interesting and informative.
    It has given me ideas to use within my own teaching practice.
  • Again Tony delivers a content heavy course with great skill and ease, ensuring all delegates are involved and creating great discussion topics to challenge myself and colleagues.
  • Like a fog clearing.
  • Peeling an onion, lots of layers in learning.
  • A dry subject whetting my appetite.
  • The session has caused me to reflect on, and change the way I would view an inspection.
  • Good to look at it feeling a little more empowered
  • I think that it’s focused me on how to improve class engagement, make it more enjoyable for the learners and for me in my task to improve learners being able to retain information long term which I am looking forward to accomplishing.

Morley College

  • Really interesting and motivational!
  • Using the research activity with my colleagues and looking at the emotional learning journey as part of the SoW review and implementation.
  • I also get a bit obsessed by Ofsted’s requirements and need to try and relax a bit on that!

North West Training Council

  • Challenging thought provoking.
  • Red Bull (energising).

Purple Beard

  • Clearly lit up a gloomy rainy day!
  • The mechanism of actually going about it was brilliant.
  • Creative and thoughtful about the approach to improving our provision.
  • Project based makes it more achievable to make improvements.
  • Thank you so much for enabling a collective approach to improving a provision.

Preston College

  • There are so many research projects we could implement!
  • To complete my own judgement statements on my curriculum impact/intent paper to support my meeting with inspectors.
  • Small changes needed to enable my team to be even better.
  • Informative. Taking away EIF – issues to explore and research.
  • Eye opening – thought provoking.
  • How to justify and show evidence in a way that puts across clearly what needs to be celebrated.

Quest Training

  • Want to go away do the wiki with staff and look at implementing action research projects in my setting.
  • Great session as always, my to do list has grown even more.

Serco

  • Really useful session, thank you. Gave me inspiration as to how better to engage the wider team in understanding and managing the self assessment process in preparation for OFSTED.

TPM

  • Brilliant. Feel more enthusiastic, will be looking at ways I can better support the learners.
  • Inspirational. Enjoyed interactive activities – will use these going forward.
  • Enjoyed evaluating provision and how to set up the working groups.
  • Thought provoking. The use of aspirational language. How to make the learning environment memorable. Gamification into teaching.
  • Committing to research themes and researching these areas so we can come together as a team and make a difference.

TTE Training

  • Consider the word ‘experience’, make it memorable.
  • To steal others’ good ideas
  • Nuggets of wisdom
  • Make the learning experience a pleasure (as was today’s session)
  • Realisation of what we do, how we do it and how to achieve the best in every aspect.
  • Enabling tool to evaluate and develop to meet change.
  • To look at research projects and encourage team to develop themes they have selected then share the practice.

Tools for Online Engagement & Blended Learning

Click here for an overview of the training.
Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Access Creative College

  • Absorbing, Factual and Useful…not always the case with CPD.
  • An insightful session with some great ideas.
  • I found a lot of tools mentioned in this session will be useful in my own practice.
  • Eye-opening.

Bolton College

  • I really enjoyed learning about some new resources, but the main thing for me was relating it to the pedagogy. It will make me think more about WHY I am using a resource and what I want my learners to get out of it, rather than simply a ‘have they remembered what they have learned?’ scenario.
  • We have been provided with a wealth of resources and ‘how-to’ sheets which means I have all the support I need to be able to experiment with what I have learned.
  • I aspire to be as fab a teacher as Tony – it’s not all about coming on to learn new things…it’s about watching a fab teacher in action and picking up on the way he does it in order to improve my own delivery.

B-Skill Limited

  • It was fantastic to see them being used throughout the session as well as having the opportunity to have a go. Throughout the session I have taken ideas and jotted these down about how these could be implemented within the sessions. I really liked the fact that tools were listed in order of difficultly from easiest to most complex. Some staff have a reluctance to changes towards technology based teaching and I am going to introduce these tools from easiest to hardest to make their experience more positive and help them develop confidence that they can incorporate technology into their sessions.
  • Fantastic engaging session and this has enabled me to reflect on my own service and how this can be developed, thank you.

Cogent Skills

  • I am a technological space tourist. I have travelled through numerous technologies that were unknown to me at the start of session. Very worthwhile.
  • It is not just the technology that will be different, it will reasoning behind them that will be more prominent. Pre-learning for instance, will play a bigger role and with that the technology that you have taught.

D H Associates

  • I can get distracted when listening, but I felt today’s session kept me engaged at all times.
  • It’s a meal worth waiting for.
  • The Lightbulb Moment, was able to see how these tools can be used for 1:1 learning.
  • Will help with pre learning, interactive learning within the session and post learning to ensure continual progression and readiness for EPA.
  • I have used whiteboards when completing teaching before but I have never used it in the ways shown today.
  • Yes, for sure! I will definitely try and use some of the new platforms to help increase engagement and interaction.
  • I will definitely be downloading the how to guides to remind me how to complete certain tasks.
  • I like to make my sessions as interactive as I can and these tools will definitely help me to do this. Thank you!

Halton Borough Council

  • ‘Learning is like a search for hidden treasure!’ This session for me gave a whole plethora of treasures for engagement and bringing learning and pedagogy to life through digital means both for in class and learning remotely.
  • Being guided to the valuable objects in a cluttered and overflowing storage room.
  • It Cut the Mustard.
  • Yes! It is having the guides and practical chance to play with the difference tools and options.
  • Gosh yes totally. Some superb resources that I can see being used regularly. It takes time to find all these resources so I am very appreciative of the work that has been put in for us.
  • Tony is very personable, supportive and has such strong knowledge that explanations are clear. His passion shines through which helps to engage and motivate delegates, even in scorching heat!!!
  • The session was very good and from a delivery point of view outstanding. The experience could have been better if the handouts had been downloaded in advance (I would make this even more clear next time around!) and there were some issues with confidence/equipment that were handled with patience and grace!

Hereford College of Arts

  • This was such a great session. Really refreshing to have such high level training that was generous, practical and learner focused.
  • A smorgasbord of healthy teaching and learning resources.
  • A very positive and energising training session that gave me the drive to apply my learning and make one change at a time. Delivered with intelligence, empathy and inclusiveness.

Innovative Alliance

  • Chomping at the bit now to put new learning into practice. Very inspirational session!
  • Like a swan above the water and a motorboat underneath…
  • It has given me a pleather of ideas to take away and improve our online offer in our organisation.
  • I feel you have given me a wealth of knowledge and resources now to go away and engage with and train my team to improve the learner experience.

Lincoln College International

  • Lots of food for thought as usual!!
  • Every week I’m planning to test 2 tools from the session to not overwhelm students.
  • The session supports my thoughts around the importance of ‘social presence’ (and backs up the research out there) and ‘investment and payoff’. There are so many tools to use but they should only be used if they enhance the learning (pedagogy pedigree – fabulous term and now in my repertoire!!) not technology for technology sake.
  • I enjoyed it thoroughly, as I am always looking at ways to upskill myself. In today’s session, I was shown so many options I can use in my lessons and I’m excited to try them all.

Liverpool Adult Learning Service

  • Both sessions really inspiring.
  • Provided me with an opportunity to recap on technologies and previous CPD I have already engaged in and used and evaluate how to use them more effectively. Gave me the motivational push I needed to re-invigorate teaching, assessment learning and inspire educators to do the same. As a service we are using Teams/Office 365 so I am interested in how we can use the tools already available in Teams to develop highly effective online learning.

NPTC Consortium of Work-based Providers

  • Tony has such a gift in making you feel inspired and motivated to try out his suggestions. Can’t think of a metaphor today but in the words of Winnie the Pooh “But what if I fall?” “Yes but what if you fly?”
  • I loved how its given me a new view on teaching the same sorts of subjects but now it can be done in different ways making it feel less repetitive.
  • Great pace, direction and content. I have attended many sessions over my training career of 22 years and have found these to be the most engaging and interesting since my original training to become an assessor/Trainer in late 2000. Thank you!
    Inspiring – has given me the confidence to explore different techniques.
  • Absolutely outstanding, really challenged preconceived ideas on learning and evidence gathering
    very informative, easy tool to use, feeling more confident to explore tool for blended learning.
    Good session sharing tools for online learning.
  • Great to see new technologies and stimulated by the ideas.
  • Thinking of how the learner feels, how to improve learning for all learners. I have already booked a day in with my colleagues to look at Blendspace and wiki and make use of it.

NPTC Group of Colleges

  • A melting pot of useful tools.
  • My brain is a bed of blossoming seeds.
  • ‘The past doesn’t equal the future’
  • Discovering new technology is like getting a parcel that you can’t remember ordering.
  • I think it has given me so many new ways to prep and engage with my learners. I think Blendspace will create a great pre learning for my learners.

Quest Training

  • Fantastic session, lots to take away and have a try at making resources and sessions with. I just need extra days in my week to try them all.

Retrofit Academy

  • We can do a lot more to make our presentations and courses engaging for the learners, catering for different abilities and learning styles.
  • Useful tools. Great that they are all free.

Sefton Community Learning Service

  • It’s like someone has opened the curtains in a dark room and I can see the light.
  • Feel 100% more confident in using technology that is new to me.
  • Tony you’re inspiring – this session has impacted on me greatly and I can’t wait to start implementing what I have learnt today when I cascade this to tutors (after further practise). Well and truly taken out of my comfort zone – thank you.

Southport College

  • This was an excellent session – very interactive and has given me lots of good ideas for things I can implement in my own teaching as well as cascade to the rest of the group.

St Helens Chamber

  • Learning is the spark that starts the flame.
  • I will be using Blendspace (QR Codes) and inputting pre-learning sessions. I will also be using breakout rooms during my online sessions.
  • Tony provides resources and how-to guides which are the most likely areas of support I would need which is great.
  • Excellent session, allowed me to interact and gain inspiration from other providers. Thank you very much, will definitely be recommending.

Sysco

  • Very engaging session with lots of resources/information and valuable IAG provided by Tony regarding tools for online engagement. Definitely will make me reflect and review this going forward.
  • Fountain of knowledge and new information. Looking forward to trying Prezi video on zoom.

WEA

  • I was originally daunted by the thought of a 3.5 hour session but the time passed more enjoyably and easily than other much shorter training sessions that I have attended, as the sessions were interesting and engaging. They were well put together, skilfully delivered and very useful. Thank you.
  • It opened my mind to the options available and just how much more creative online learning can be. I feel as I have been provided with some tools to venture out and explore further. I also need to look at my current practice as a curriculum manager and determine what steps I need to take to start incorporating some of these new ideas and promoting them with staff.
  • I need to build on the knowledge I have gained in this session by spending time with the different technology options we covered. In particular Prezi and wikis are completely new for me and I would love to be proficient with these.

Wirral Metropolitan College

  • Eye Opening, what a fantastic session.
  • I will try to embed pre-learning and also involve follow up after training sessions a lot more.

Workforce Training Services

  • Teaching is gardening.
  • In my new role I will be able to use the tools I gained in the session to disseminate to other staff with the hope of improving teaching and learning across the organisation.

Learning Theorists and the Emotional Learning Journey

Click here for an overview of the training.
Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Coleg Cambria

  • It has been interesting and insightful, looking at lesson planning from a different perspective.
  • To consider the emotional response (outcomes) I want from learners, rather than simply focusing on the topic learning outcomes.
  • Timings were effective to allow discussion. Great circulation around the breakout groups to ensure we were on track and completing tasks correctly. I am frustrated that I have not attended the previous two sessions, so will have to look out for these next time around.
  • Excellent delivery. It would be useful to have a session delivered by Tony on remote learning and the use of technology.

Derby Adult Learning

  • Enriching.
  • Greater knowledge of key learning theories and examples of teaching and learning strategies that are relevant to them.
  • Thank you for a very useful and informative session. Access to your website with additional resources is very useful.

Grimsby Institute

  • This should be a national programme.
  • Lots of simple strategies which are easy to implement – excellent.
  • It was really refreshing that a topic such as learning theorists was delivered in such a way as to make it practicable. It should be a ‘dry’ session – it wasn’t! Really enjoyed it.
  • Opening the toolbox of my mind.
  • Team meetings will be reinvented.
  • Deeper exploration of how to design learning experiences.

Hopwood Hall College

  • I am fizzing with theoretical ideas after this session! Educational theory does not have to be heavy and laborious! We can develop our understanding in more engaging ways.
  • Today I am meeting with the Head of Quality and the Assistant Principal to start a quality standard for induction.
  • Whilst it would be great to do this face to face the online session was very interactive and enjoyable.

Hull College

  • Lightening in a bottle.
  • (Saying) ‘Less experienced’ rather than ‘less able’ will focus on preparedness to reduce fear and anxiety.
  • Sunshine. Differentiating approach not expectations – reinforcing this to staff.
  • Focus on emotional state of learning – addressing that before the lesson.
  • That the learning journey is the most important. If they are happy, they will achieve.
  • I liked the idea of Blendspace, scaffolding – differentiation and taxonomy teams.
  • Switching on a light!
  • To implement theories in own practice – explore ‘fifty shades of teaching’ in more detail focusing on the less-experienced learner.
  • Caterpillar to butterfly.
  • (Produce) ‘Learning experiences’ not ‘lesson plans’. Blendspace.
  • Great to see Tony again. Very knowledgeable – look forward to the next time.

Lakes College

  • My brain feels fizzy with ideas! A great way to start a year!
  • Can’t wait to model some of this with trainee teachers. Super.
  • I love that loads of the theories can be applied easily. I am going to try to use a different card every week.
  • The pre-learning technique, perfect lesson notes, barrier removal strategies.
  • More strings to my bow
  • A working machine.
  • Thanks – brilliant, useful session.

Macclesfield College

  • Connectivism to tutorial is illuminating like the full moon on a clear night.
  • I will be using different research strategies as part of Tutorial to invigorate and engage through gamification rather than test.
  • Would love to look at some examples of gamification in these areas to produce for core subjects.
  • Thank you for your time – incredibly inspiring!

MK College

  • A eureka moment.
  • If I am honest, I have always had a downer on Behaviourism, but today I have noticed that it has many benefits and all theories have a place. It is the thing we hope to change, the level of learners and what they need to learn that can influence our choice and we shouldn’t just stick with one theory. Having knowledge of the underpinning theory alongside the emotional learning states can help us to select the best approach. Locating the position our learners are at and where they need to be is a great tool and provides an excellent starting point to develop effective teaching and learning.
  • Having the material beforehand was really useful because we could do some pre-learning / reading. Clear instructions were given for the game.
  • I think the supporting material is fabulous and effectively supports the delivery. And fantastic takeaway ideas.
  • I think it is great and your technology is amazing!

Quest Training

  • Fab session again – really enjoyed this.

Shipley College

  • Social constructivism is the key to unlocking learning.
  • Pandora’s box. Lifting the lid on learning theories.
  • Loved how the different tools are numbered and put under the different theories.
  • I really appreciated learning about the emotional learning states and how teaching and learning strategies can be used to produce the positive or overcome challenges.
  • A game-base approach to learning about learning theory.
  • Really enjoyed it and will definitely use the tool with the 2nd year PGCE students.

Southport College

  • A new idea is the spark that lights an eternal flame.
  • Very interesting and productive session that enabled me to understand the way different teaching strategies were linked to theorist. I think this would be a great resource for teacher training courses to lighten up a very heavy module about theorists as you are able to look at it all in a practical way.
  • Provided a deeper understanding of the learner journey which was differentiated. Good range of strategies were looked into which linked to theorists’ ideas of learning and explored that range of emotions from a learner’s point of view rather than the teacher’s. Helped look at ideas in a different way and provoked different thoughts on how strategies could work from a number of different view points.

Sysco

  • Rewarding.
  • Brilliant insight into a variety of learning theories and the emotional learning journey. Always incredibly informative.
  • I felt the session helped me to link learning theories to outcomes for learners with the categories used.
  • Yes absolutely! I will now put more emphasis on the learners emotional states when lesson planning.
  • Today’s session was like going on an expedition, there are lots of things to do but I feel like today’s session will help us as a team to take the bull by the horns and revamp our delivery styles.
  • My boat is well and truly rocked.
  • Thanks again Tony, you really are inspirational.
  • I was already very familiar with learning theories but I think today’s session helped me look at our curriculum models with a fresh pair of eyes and consider how we can make these connection with these with our learners.
  • The exercises in the breakouts were really helpful to understand different learning theories and how they could be applied in practice. I am planning to use learning strategies 25, 27 and 34 in my future design and delivery.
  • I found all information beneficial with me being new to teaching.
  • As I am new to teaching I found something I can build on to be the best I can be ?
  • Today’s session has helped me to embed emotional learning into my planning and delivery.
  • I am going to make more use of connectivism methods to see if it helps me to save time.
  • Thankyou Tony for giving me this experience.

The Oxford Partnership (Saudi Arabia)

  • Excellent.
  • It’s not about planning lessons, but it is about planning experiences.
  • That workshop was a game-changer for me.
  • Learning is like building a house – all parts are integrated with each other.
  • I learnt that Connectivism seems to integrate advances in neuroscience and learning. It takes into account the behaviours of learners in the “digital age” in an explicit way that is absent in other theories.
  • I was glad that at the end of the workshop I was able to figure out the suitable strategy for one of the addressed challenges. I was impressed my self 😀
  • I’ll return to the materials as a great source. It provides me with a new vision of how to choose the best strategies.

The Learning Foundry

  • As deep as the ocean. I can see so much to look into and learn over time.
  • Learning theories are a melting pot.
  • Exciting.
  • Insightful
  • I learnt a lot from the session today, I found it very interesting and I understood it as I could link to my learners and real life experiences.
  • The breakdown of learning theories was very useful giving a detailed overview of each and providing strategies and identifying the emotional learning elements.
  • It has opened my eyes to the amount of different theories there are to look into and explore in more detail which I am excited about. From the session today, I have written down around 12 [teaching strategies to explore] and I am prepared to look at each one and see how these can be adapted for each individual learner.
  • Enjoyed the focus of how emotions impact on learning and planning to provide differentiated learning experiences, as opposed to a step-by-step / one size fits all process.
  • I will change my approach when planning a lesson to see what emotional response I might get from the learner prior to delivering. Depending on whether it is positive or negative would say whether I want to build on the emotion or reduce it to improve the learners’ understanding.
  • It helped me revisit what I had learned many years ago. It also opened my eyes on how I could apply them in my delivery so the learners take ownership rather than relying on me to direct them.
  • I will think more about the emotional elements of my learners prior to our sessions so I can ensure I am finding ways to keep them engaged.
  • I would like to thank you for your time and the quality of the resources used and the amount of knowledge gained from today.
  • I found the interactive graphics on screen and being able to see you as well a very good teaching aid. I will be looking in to how I can use this in the future with my own delivery. A course on how to use this technology would be great!
  • Tony is an excellent teacher, I find him very engaging and motivating.

Varndean College

  • Lots of bright little ideas like a sparkler.

Weston College

  • Reflective, like the sun on a puddle.
  • I am going to work with staff to think more about their intent of their session focusing on the emotional states that they want to illicit with the group.
  • I would like the resources – great session.
  • 1 hour isn’t enough – would like longer please.

Lesson Plan Review

Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Blackpool Adult Learning Service

  • I found it interesting that if you change your outcomes how this necessitates a change in my planning, and how different the lesson content would be.
  • Relating this session to the CIF and the recent inspection report has hit the right level of realisation with tutors.
  • I will use the review strategy to search for flat areas of sessions and create a range of activities to use or have available to reduce possible reductions in learner engagement.
  • I will review my lesson plans, reflecting on the highs and lows of my sessions.
  • [I need to] Think about Mind and Body outcomes and how to incorporate expert learning traits.
  • I feel a little like British Rail… I am getting there J
  • I will keep practising and trying to improve the way I view the ‘end prize’.
  • I will put into practice the colour strategy for learning outcomes and put more thought into what makes green and orange.
  • A very helpful and refreshing session.

Clarifying Governance

Wirral Council Lifelong Learning Service

  • Today was like an epiphany.
  • Very thought provoking. Excellent – insightful.
  • I have a greater understanding of the impact of my role as a governor and the influence on the culture of WLL.
  • I need to see the bigger picture.
  • Really interesting to see the origins of the approach the Council Life Long Learning Service has taken this year.
  • Good balance of practical activity and discussion. Very interested in concept and approach to changing culture.
  • Brilliant. Made a big difference and about raising my own view on Governance.

Perfecting Development Plan Writing

Click here for an overview of the training.
Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Boston College

  • I found the whole day quite liberating! This was a challenging day, that enabled me to reflect on my own practice and my organisations approach to self assessment and continuous quality improvement.
  • I found the issue and symptom activity particularly useful in helping to drill down to the real problem. I also liked the ‘what does outstanding look like for our college’ discussion, especially for English and math and induction.
  • The practical resources were fantastic and certainly something we will be using further. The whole day was practical, well paced and productive. I came away feeling exhausted, but informed and motivated to apply and build on what I had learnt. Thank you!
  • I would value support from a more strategic perspective on reviewing our college SAR/QIP process. I am keen to attend the online session in October to learn more!

Bury College

  • It’s show time! We are ready to step up to the plate.
  • I really like the concept of saying to an inspector that I would like to show you the issue I had, what I did about it and the impact it has had on my learners.
  • This approach provides a framework for affective critical thinking – need to make this happen.

Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College

  • Marching through the pearly gates of development plan writing heaven.
  • My eyeballs have been spruced up a bit (window-cleaned).
  • The emotional aspect is so important to me. It impacts our students considerably & staff and I feel this was clearly acknowledged in your session.

Buxton & Leek College

  • Changed the way that I think!
  • You get that penny drop moment when you think of how effective SAR writing can have a positive impact on the quality and improvement of delivery.
  • I wish I’d have known this sooner.
  • Really informative session, the session leaves you with a lot to think about which requires time to digest.
  • It will make me stop more and consider the symptom/issue situation.
  • I will introduce more time for professional discussion and focus the team’s efforts on root cause analysis. Make sure the development plan is a priority. More focus on the digital impact of the last 18 months and IAG and induction.

City College Norwich

  • Panning for gold in SARs/QIPs.
  • Really good session and I’m reminded of the start when you said about being excited about self-assessment, I can see why! This is a great way of writing SARs and QIPs which will help develop affective targets.
  • Has made QIPs fun and useable.
  • Like finding a boring brown box but finding a wonderful surprise inside.
  • Instead of discussing the data, I will now be more enquiring and ask questions to get to the bottom of issues and devise/create logical and realistic steps to improve.

College of West Anglia

  • Inspired.
  • Allocating champions, rather than making someone responsible has the power to change the game in terms of ownership and staff buy in.
  • The group work was really useful as well as the one to one support you offered.

Grimsby Institute

  • Chomping at the bit to discuss changes.
  • How a QIP doc can be used more effectively without unnecessary additional work #keepitsimple. I really liked the concept of a celebration box and will be championing this asap. It was the usual interesting and engaging session I have come to expect from Tony.

Homefield College

  • Hit the nail on the head.
  • Format of development plan to enable improved information – less restrictive and reward of completion so document doesn’t get larger. Ensuring that you are getting to the root cause rather than just trying to deal with the symptom.
  • The training was delivered with clear enthusiasm, which further improved the learning experience. Good combination of input, practice and reflection.

Hull College

  • Like arriving at the top of a mountain to finally get the most fantastic view – a clear view, no background noise.
  • Looking for clarity to identify the root cause rather than focussing on symptoms.
  • The skilled use of zoom as a presentation tool with Prezi overlay, shortcut buttons, using wikis etc is a whole training course in itself. Fantastic delivery.
  • Today was a reflective experience.

Kingston Maurward College

  • Sharpening the saw!
  • Really useful to reflect on the current plan and how to avoid common issues that don’t facilitate rapid improvement e.g. symptoms not issues, end point data etc.
  • Our new QIP process will use similar format to one shared with each ‘issue’ becoming a project for a project manager (champion) to take on … before putting it in a celebration (impact) file.
  • Loved to see some of the advanced Zoom techniques being used. I am googling how to have a transparent presentation next to me on screen! I am keen to work with the team on self-assessment process more and may well engage some or all in future sessions. Thanks Tony.

Learning and Enterprise College Bexley

  • Be more mindful of the masking words and finding the root cause.
  • The blended delivery was working well for me as it was difficult to travel on this occasion. Tony skilfully switched between participants and I felt included.

Nottingham College

  • Like picking at a scab when you are child. Picking and picking until finally it peels off to uncover ….. (a great feel of satisfaction).
  • Adding ‘however’ to strengths – but not including what you need to do to improve.

OxfordSaudia Flight Academy

  • Going from ‘standing’ on my head to standing on my feet.
  • Shift the focus to finding the issues, instead of focusing on the symptoms.
  • I’ll need to go through the process with a colleague to ensure I’m focusing on issues, not symptoms.
  • A great session with great ideas. Thank you Tony. I am new to this position, so it’s all part of the learning process for me. Using an effective development plan will massively improve the assessment of “symptoms” and “issues”, which I will communicate with other departments.

Peterborough College

  • Lots to take on board.
  • Moving text to appendix on SAR. Issues and symptoms. Layout of QIP – well paced with lots of activities. I enjoyed it. Need to apply to this year’s documents. Good working with other colleges.

Skills and Education Group

  • ‘Worth its weight in gold’!
  • Lots to change…. the wording of ‘responsibility’ to ‘champion’; linking symptoms to root-cause issues; putting everyone in the college central, either directly or indirectly, to the learner’s success.
  • Looking at the insight to development plans. This will help us to train staff in the understanding of how best to writer their development plan in the future.

Solihull College

  • I now have a much clearer idea about how to address symptoms when writing QIPs.
  • The day was really well scheduled and managed. I cannot think of any improvements.

The Oxford Partnership (Saudi Arabia)

  • Now I can differentiate between issues and symptoms and suggest solutions accordingly.
  • It help me to understand the wobble moments and how to work on the root causes of the symptoms and work on these indicators to write objectives.
  • It helped me climb another milestone for perfecting development plan writing and also I caught a golden fish by getting my hands on your development plan – its so awesome!
  • A new idea is the spark that lights an eternal flame.
  • The development form shared is very useful and practical organizing the information and targets to meet the objectives.
  • Excellent.
  • I would like to change the perspective of only working on weakness but focus on strengths and become champion.
  • Self dissection.
  • I will be better able to explore and assess my development plans in future. And will be able to resolve symptoms and identify their root cause issue.
  • Differentiate between symptom and issues.
  • Sailing exploring new land.
  • Thank you for the rich session.

WEA

  • It was like walking through a secret garden with so many wonderful ideas and anecdotes through the day. Thank you!
  • I feel that practice will help me reflect on what I have learnt today for this training.
  • The ability to really check how are we improving the learner experience – we normally focus on quick solutions at surface level but the actions needed to deeper understand what is required to drive improvement by focussing on the root cause is fascinating. Too often we review the effect, rather than the cause when suggesting improvements.

Wirral Metropolitan College

  • The QIP slate has been wiped clean.
  • Change QIP to a series of Development Plans.
  • Really enjoyable and completely changed my attitude towards quality improvement planning and processes.

York College

  • The little boy has his finger in the hole but he needs to rebuild the dyke!
  • It gave me an insight into your ideas about this topic and it will help me in my task of changing the college. As discussed with Tony, I am learning from him and hope to share/collaborate as part of York’s journey to a new way of doing QI.
  • It was brilliant.

Learning Outcomes for Independent Learning

Click here for an overview of the training.
Click each provider’s name to see a detailed list of impact on staff.

Abingdon & Witney College

  • Lifted the fog.
  • I now am able to use learning outcomes (again) to benefit my learner’s learning!
    More importantly it will make a wider difference across our college as we look to improve how we use learning outcomes and plan for them on our ‘slim’ scheme of work.

Barnsley Adult Skills and Community Learning

  • This has supported me to go back to ‘thinking outside of the box’ with my planning and how I am going to support the learners to achieve what I set out for them to achieve.
  • It is like being new to teaching again, I feel more positive and focused on exciting lessons and challenges as I did feel I was in a rut and wanted to challenge this for my learners and my practice.

Bristol City Council Community Learning

  • Hadn’t thought of ‘attitude’ before. Will try to incorporate this and try new teaching techniques (even if they don’t work well at first!)
  • Changing the ‘chug along’ motor for a gleaming sleek Daimler.

Cogent Skills

  • Very informative, enjoyed the session and was engaged throughout.
  • Use of technology, such as the card sort, which can be used as an assessor tool.

Code Institute

  • Retuning a piano.
  • I feel that I have a new perspective on how to approach teaching and writing learning outcomes that better target the desired behavioural changes.

Coleg Cambria

  • When I read the preparation material I thought – oh heck, not another session on learning outcomes, but the session was much more than this.
  • The training has shone a light on the the elements of my practise I need to revisit. A cauldron bubbling with ideas and possibilities.

College of North West London

  • Like restarting to build a house after being inspired.
  • After 20 years of writing LOs this insightful session has really focused my attention on the importance of Brain, Body, Attitude LO writing, which I will share with teacher training students to stretch their thinking and to give them strategies to make a difference.

Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies

  • You know when you know you’re going to a wedding / other gathering where there is going to be a lot of extended family and you just think ‘Christ, this is going to be a painful few hours’ and then you get there and the ones you’re worried about being there aren’t there and you end up having a good time, make some new friends etc. It felt like that.
  • I have a great trepidation at the start of any of these events that it’s going to be buzzword overkill, the shilling of the latest teaching techniques scrawled on a piece of paper as the ‘trainer’ sits on the corner in a dingy bathroom trying to work out how to get out of the mess they’re in and they suddenly design a new lukewarm teaching idea that they can sell. Plus those that attend to show off how smart they are, or how much they hate teaching and want everyone to know about it. This wasn’t that. It was great and I look forward to more.

Crosby Training

  • Being a ‘learner’ and entering into a session which I was quite apprehensive about, this has given me an insight into the values of both ‘engagement’ and ‘open mindedness’ – I like to think that I applied them both…and it paid off!
  • In spite of the initial technology/access issues of a colleague, I think that the tutor coped extremely well with this. I can’t think of any negative terminology that he used – every issue was a ‘challenge’, ‘lesson’, ‘learning curve’ – and I feel that his continued positivity undoubtedly kept me engaged, despite the potential disruption and subsequent negativity that this could easily have caused.

East Coast College

  • I particularly liked the Zoom set up Tony used – especially the whiteboard interaction and break out room facilities which I haven’t used before – I felt like we were in an actual classroom – brilliant!
  • Tony Davis – always gets you thinking and questioning your practice.

JGA Group

  • I am designing a traineeship course, will use the method today to design the learning sequences.
  • Continue with the interactive, it was great to be a part of a collective thinking process, which was visual on the learning outcome builder.

JTL Training

  • In general I find it really difficult to write learning outcomes and today has helped with the colour coding and 3 steps. I also want to add in more ‘body & attitude’ learner outcomes rather than ‘brain’ as teaching English and maths has historically been this – with some ‘body’ thrown in. Using the session today will help me improve learners’ learning skills by improvement of my own outcome writing.
  • Key to unlock potential in learners through creating challenging teaching. On reflection, mine look a bit sterile and generic, being developed from the awarding body’s original statement.

Greenbank College

  • Relate learning outcomes to ‘barriers to learning’. To think of my outcomes re: verb, outcome, label – as a way to be very specific and defined. To be able to not share the outcomes with students at the beginning of the session.
  • I will now write learning outcomes for learners’ expert independent learning skills. I will use words such as ‘confidently’ in front of verbs such as demonstrate to remind myself to think about strategies to ensure they are confident and not nervously doing tasks.

Grimsby Institute

  • I will start with discussion with colleagues around how we encourage the teaching staff to use learning outcomes as a whole session approach and refrain from using lots of unnecessary aims and objectives. There is a place for these but..
  • The journey across the carpet and other metaphors were very helpful and will support the illustration of what I am trying to achieve in coaching others.