Hello hello, how are you alright? How are you? Yeah I'm good. Thank you. I'm good it's good to be back together on the on the podcast.
Sammy
I'm also the limbo. We haven't actually spoken for ages. We've been off doing our own thing, but we're we've got loads done so well with us.
Hollie
Yeah, it's been great really as it is, it's it's what we're all about is.
Hollie
Making inclusive and also.
Hollie
Reaching out to teachers in classrooms, not just you. Know those on Twitter, but bringing more people in an expanding their English and maths community.
Sammy
Yeah, completely, I think that's one of the nicest things to me is as welcome to your college. You're speaking to my colleagues an it it. It's that tales from the classroom that will really wanted to amplify and capture.
Hollie
Definitely some something you said.
Speaker 3
Hollie
Is is really got me thinking actually Sammy? Which is about you said English and math was getting lumped together? Yeah and it's got me thinking you know.
Hollie
Why we look together and you know it's obviously because we we come as a Department in a college it's it's best fit sport English or maths together.
Hollie
The core skills, the receipts together, but essentially you know, I'm not sure how many people are aware that they are very, very different in how we run things and had exams work and you know that the learners are different in English as to what they are in math.
Sammy
I was very worried that when you said something you said that we thinking it was like oh. I hope you're not gonna spill, some beans about private composition from here.
Sammy
Wait wait essentially we are 2 completely separate entities often in my opinion, Lumped together in college is my only knowledge of why this would be is because of the funding streams because that's essentially how colleges get hundreds of students to be English and math it.
Hollie
At.
Sammy
It makes sense that you say the car skills. They put together but but you say that very, very different and I've just literally just started looking at the tag?
Sammy
Anne.
Sammy
Not night light milk problems.
Sammy
I'm not quite cover card yet so to bring tagging it's like it's more, the nightmare, but, yeah, and was very, very different.
Hollie
Sammy
Even the mock exams that happening as we are trying to get more evidence in this completely different approaches. So maths have gone down. The rule of and creating a custom paper across all 3 of our papers cause we've got 3 papers? Yeah.
Sammy
And then try to make it out of 80 marks which is what one purpose out of and trying to make a mix of Calculator and non Calculator cause. They're different skills and English had chopped 2 papers in half and put them together that is completely different.
Hollie
Yeah, it's Sam.
Hollie
It's hot, it worries me actually it would need to begin with the card tag approach an and how would you know?
Hollie
As a as a country how we're going to go down it because you want the best for your learners in the in the classroom during the and the other learners within the college and your best for all learners.
Speaker 3
Then.
Hollie
But you immediately start to think of individuals and you meet. It's hard to think of certain groups and how they've been taught and what they've done.
Hollie
And and it's really it's it's really difficult process isn't it. It's no one size is going to fit all on what works again in.
Hollie
Certain you know where were bunched into vacation area, So what works for maybe or might not work for media won't work for construction won't work for you know hair and beauty because they've all been taught in a different way or have all been up skilled in a different way.
Hollie
And that's part of what we do isn't you know, we, we have a scheme of work. But we can divert to meet the needs of learners.
Sammy
And that stupid teacher discretion that talk about overtime is that the student sat in front of you as a student you are teaching if you're teaching the specification, then you're in the wrong job.
Hollie
Yeah, yeah.
Sammy
I I as harsh in his crude as that sounds if you are going to deliver lessons and I know our friendly. Micro talks about delivery is there, you like a post person, but I think there's some sense in that only.
Sammy
I still use deliveries a word, but I am conscious of it, but if I'm delivering the specification to my class.
Sammy
I'm not really teaching then an just a mouthpiece father material that I found or created if I am teaching the students in my class and creating experiences for them to develop their understanding and I think there's 2 differences for me, there, yeah, and as well. You know, we were.
Hollie
Something else that just kind of looks into this is something that I'm really keen to find out and had a couple of conversations already posted on Twitter.
Hollie
I'm interested to see what the support is from those learners who know they're not going to get the Magic for those learners who are not already pre empted for that.
Speaker 3
Do.
Hollie
And then they come to college. And what is the journey of support that we're offering? And what is your expectation?
Hollie
The time I get to college and I'm not sure what taster days where we throw them in and so you know if you don't get that for this is what's going to happen talking about what we what we're saying in this class is one of those conversations like how we building them up to be almost resilient to that grade.
Hollie
And.
Hollie
It got it gets me thinking about you know what you were just saying there bout when when they arrived, and were planning. You know, we plan with the big picture of mine don't wait and.
Hollie
We we were looking at the start of this year at the the schemes of work that came with them.
Hollie
The exam board and is essentially just half the year was dedicated to paper one and half years dedicated to paper 2 and it really, really aggravated me because you know this isn't what they call a recent year and it's not about returning out the skills.
Sammy
Yeah.
Hollie
It's not about just throwing every single skill at them and doing it for a bit longer. It's about you know, having to find out.
Hollie
Where can we?
Hollie
You know upskill certain skills you know if they're really competent writers.
Sammy
Boo.
Hollie
If anything, we can do to to upskill that writing to make sure that when they go in. We know that their reading ability or their reading comprehension structuring questions might not be 100%. We work on that, but we we playing to their strengths of you are really great writer. Let's use this as a is a positive and move forward with it and that's where you know the meeting needs the learners go, but also like you, saying, You know it's we can't just throw out the same content.
Hollie
We can't do what we doing it at schools and also.
Speaker 4
Low.
Speaker 3
Speaker 3
Speaker 3
Hollie
This.
Hollie
It's the same thing. It comes back to isn't it where we, we can't keep the same scheme of work every year, you know.
Hollie
And I don't have not taught in secondary schools where I can't speak from that perspective. But whether or not. They do that. But we we cannot keep the same scheme of work because we have learned that potentially been here for 4 years.
Hollie
You know they might have gone from level or level. One vocational to a Level 3 year 2 vocational. That's 4 years in college with full effort teachers again. If we repeated the same text the same structure.
Hollie
The same thing you know that's not useful it didn't work first year so it has to change.
Sammy
There's so much in what you just said that an so Julia Smith, who we've had on here and she always says Anne. It has to look and feel different to get a different result.
Sammy
Yeah, if it looks and feels like school, they're not going to get the 4 absolutely because they had umpteen hours with car subjects versus the minimal hours that they get with those in college and it didn't work.
Sammy
There has to be something that changes so I like your approach it like working on the strength and another guest. We had on an was Jones from Matt Kitchin and he said he worked for you, you play to your strengths and work on weaknesses.
Sammy
And I think that's a nice that's a nice mantra, and I've sort of helped in my heart since he said it from the school's pov an I have worked in schools and I have taught the kids that were not going to get that far.
Sammy
I mean, my my man my remit when I worked in schools was 100% password and that was 100% of students had to achieve a grade G?
Sammy
And that obviously in the 80 days and that included me rounding up students from the local community. Centre, who will be an educated off site that included in the working in the alternative provision that included me visiting home school students that that was my remix and you know, I was successful 100% of students achieved a grade G but did I prepare them for what was coming next in college.
Sammy
Probably not whether regulated they sit GCSE not.
Sammy
Absolutely not should.
Sammy
Have said something different 100% yes.
Hollie
Yeah.
Sammy
But you know you work with what?
Sammy
You've got to work with him.
Hollie
Absolutely.
Sammy
Interested in a one of us students from that time in schools actually appeared at College. I was working in some years later, but she reappeared in a foundation studies programme.
Speaker 3
Full.
Sammy
I'm not just spoke volumes to me, yet, but this this student was now in her 20s.
Hollie
Yeah.
Sammy
Um this still at college there had gone past the 4 years that you were talking about 10s of unit coloured but was still in a foundation study programme because they had assessed and believed she was at that level an actually.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Sammy
On reflection I probably knew that in my heart. When I worked in school in a tauter, but I had nothing.
Sammy
I have no legal to give her another schools are different now and there's many more wonderful things happen in there, but
Speaker 3
Yes.
Sammy
You know very often, we, we identify different paths that are not traditionally available in the school system in Fe and that's the beauty of FA so that you can carve a different path and for students.
Speaker 3
Luke.
Sammy
But something you, saying there about the transition team in the colleges. I've worked in transition teams from schools, colleges have gone through many guises.
Sammy
They've gone from being extreme marketing machines, where they would go and drug students in from sorting that come to our college. It's amazing, we've got ******** you.
Speaker 3
He said.
Sammy
Darling I've even seen achievements in bribery if I come to our college and your data device and come to our college will pay your bus fare and allsorts of things that happened and I get where they have to happen.
Speaker 3
Yeah.
Hollie
Yeah.
Sammy
But I've seen a real shift in the car that needs to come with it now, so there's this hybrid model, in one of the colleges. I've been working in there.
Sammy
We got the transition team of their marketing and going out and getting the students in and then you have the almost like a pastoral team welcoming them in and going right.
Sammy
He come into college and we're going to need to look at this, this and this, but I started this so much more that can be done on that.
Sammy
For college is so much more at ease about the messages. If you're not going to get you for so how are you going to mentally prepare for Easter in math and English again?
Hollie
Yeah, I mean, they were all.
Hollie
Let's not be naive, there are always surprises right you know lacking any in any case, I'm not just.
Hollie
******* students from a lower level work from students from a higher working level who are maybe aim to get a phone. They come out with a 5 or a 6. You know, we've seen that ourselves from when learners reset but I think that.
Hollie
You know, I I don't know enough about the process myself to throw out decisions and make you know judgement or whatever, but for me. It's about finding out how we can support them as soon as they get through the door at level. One brand new from from school in order to have that.
Hollie
That honest conversation as I speak about his conversations a lot because I don't feel like having enough of them or open conversations may be where we're saying, You know it's kind of been the doors kinda short for that hasn't it?
Speaker 3
Boom.
Hollie
With the CAG situation we're not in a position to to talk about those kind of things at the minute grades so that's you know.
Hollie
Completely shutdown, but you know when they start we do. The initial assessment. We look at their previous grade and we have that kind of baseline judgement that we have, but actually.
Hollie
And you know, we do get to know them through building relationships, but but when they come to us. I think we, we need to do a bit more like you're saying. Maybe it's a past or thing in mentally preparing them for getting to us.
Hollie
It is because when they were at school. The class sizes bigger as well aren't you know, we can't forget that class sizes are bigger. They come from different settings were putting learners into English, mass groups small from alternative provisions some of them.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Hollie
Come from maybe a 6th form as well. That maybe not worked out and this doesn't exit yet.
Sammy
So my friend homeschooled and ********** in the classroom.
Hollie
That's that's been really common for me the last year. I've had quite a few students who missed out because of the cats because they didn't have enough evidence where and that's that's really sad.
Speaker 4
Anne.
Hollie
You know really great students, but you know they they could achieve and but yeah, that there's something about the process that I think we have to prepare students for which starts with that mindset shift doesn't, it as that as well. You've not failed.
Hollie
Wat failed, It just hasn't worked but you were going to help you and we're going to learn how you going to learn about you and how you learn and how you absorb information an you know what you're interested in. It's it's a very different experience from school.
Hollie
And much more mature.
Sammy
Swab.
Sammy
I think a lot of Watmough said. When I spoke to Mars on the podcast that comes into this as well.
Sammy
You know, she devotes a serious amount of time to this when she welcomes student thing or something, as simple.
Sammy
And I'm not saying simple as in it's a simple thing and saying simples in for a teacher to put into practise was her letter.
Sammy
Ah well its students write their letter to Matt Yeah, and I think I wish I wish I'd done that.
Hollie
Yeah.
Sammy
I wish it was my idea but it sounds so simple to put into my lessons that come September. I think.
Sammy
I think I'm gonna do that. I'll tell you a brief Storey about an attack last year and like you, saying about personal and you think of individual students, I had a student last year, he was working on the frontline.
Sammy
Throughout the whole curve pandemic, an actually stopped attending lessons a couple of weeks before lockdown because was needed at work with an adult learner?
Sammy
Was resetting Max think it was for the 4th time it might be the 5th time. But it certainly has been a long time coming and they needed this map to make progression in their career.
Sammy
They couldn't become an accredited person unless they have this map even though they had all this experience with their Canonical online and I came to do the CAG and I sat down and my heart just like when they have to pass.
Sammy
Because you know this is the situation. They have to pass an added it was really eating me because I checked the evidence and the evidence, said that they should pass too.
Sammy
And then I start to doubt myself and I thought, well hang on a minute. There followed it 4 times.
Sammy
They must be rubbish in exams, perhaps I should mark them down because if they're actually sitting exam. Perhaps had come out with the worst exam result and so I had to take it to the head of the Department and sit with them and say that this is the evidence. I've got what would you catch?
Sammy
This student and they came out and said it would be a fight.
Sammy
Give an idea with a cautious with the fall and we actually went on UMS card in the end, so was able to vary slightly.
Sammy
And ultimately this, this year passed with a 5 when it had came out in the end and even when the results came out. My heart was still going wow. That's amazing, but my head was still going but you know in an exam they go to pieces.
Sammy
Because that's why they've done it 4 times, but I had no evidence of that because in the mock exams in the classroom had been fine and it was such it.
Sammy
I mean, I don't know how long it's going to ever what we're here right now and I can still vividly remember it but it that isn't it?
Sammy
Yeah.
Sammy
Sammy
You start to think of the individual students, and you have to go on the evidence.
Sammy
But then there's that.
Hollie
Yeah.
Sammy
Little voice in the back of mangling you cannot control in the setting that example.
Hollie
Yes.
Sammy
Anything could happen. You could be predicting him to get to and they could have got.
Sammy
Paul, you absolutely no idea this, is it?
Speaker 3
Yeah, this.
Hollie
It isn't in it, and this is about the we have these conversations actually don't we on when students arrive. These are the conversations. We have because you know they're coming in this AR was you know 2 marks off before or whatever. Ann.
So.
Hollie
And then when you find out some some learners it was all day specific the bus was late. I couldn't get in on time? I overslept I wasn't well had to care for my mum.
Hollie
As emergency happened you know, these are real life situations that are happening in our learners lives and that has to be taken into consideration as well.
Hollie
You know when they start and how we can move on from that because that that has a massive weight doesn't it?
Hollie
You know they think that because they've attended that emergency situation or whatever happened to that day. They carried out with them for the next. However, many years is like a holding point and they you know well, 2 years ago this happened.
Sammy
Yes.
Hollie
When the and as well, just think about tax an I cried on results day last year as that why at the result and I was. I was overwhelmed for some learners because their grades. It had gone up from for maybe what we're anticipating we allot.
Hollie
Yeah, something price.
Hollie
Sammy
Allot of that happened and a lot of.
Sammy
I mean, I had found their sisters not in my class, but my centre where I was teaching an who came out. So the foundations the high simplified they came out seven.
Hollie
Wow and this is this is important to note for this year with teachers isn't it that we, we have students in with prior grades that were asked to use but it maybe hasn't reflected this year accurately.
Hollie
There there working ability, so Mayweather that's higher or lower because we you know they were learners. That maybe you put down because you know genuinely that there could be a won the grade was inflated to it, too.
Hollie
So the English teacher, then doesn't have that capability. Maybe in some cultures say actually that could be a functional skills. Learner ripened on how you work with functional skills.
Hollie
And that's a shame, because then that's taken away from from that learner. That ability to achieve in a different qualification as a stepping stone.
Sammy
Throughout life.
Sammy
Yet like the example I did, yeah, that's different path. The EFI gives. Students will, yeah, essentially were narrowing. The options are becoming available because of this tag system.
Hollie
Is it raining yet?
Hollie
Yes.
Sammy
And this tag system, however, that still ends up and you know when we're recording this ahead of time, but we are still really close.
Sammy
To where I would feel comfortable knowing that little bit more about Axel.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Speaker 4
Little bit miles away.
Sammy
But I think that then the beauty buffets everyone is welcome and we just have to hope and trust and just give a big props out to all the teachers listening that you've given a great job and just get to know your learners and the learner that sat in front of you is the learner that's there for you to teach and show them however you want to share them.
Speaker 3
What?
Hollie
Yeah.
Hollie
Oops.
Hollie
Hollie
Oh, absolutely, I think that's a lovely point. End on Sunday.
Speaker 3
Oh.
Sammy
It was accidental, but there we go.
Hollie
That's definitely a quote somewhere.
Hollie
Well, we we don't know where we're going to end up in the next few weeks, but hopefully, you know, after all, this process is over, we will have a podcast to reflect on the journey.
Sammy
Yeah, we might be slightly hungover though by then. But yeah. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 4
Catch up with you soon Sammy.
Speaker 3