Following on from being nominated for four TES awards, we are delighted to announce that Exeter College music teacher, James Tarling was highly commended in the category of Teacher of the Year.

Only a very small number of highly commended awards were given out at the national awards in London. The most outstanding colleges, training providers and individuals in the Further Education sector were recognised at the recent TES FE Awards. Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfron joined more than 700 guests for the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane.

Speaking about receiving the accolade, James reflected that he thought it was an acknowledgement of the college’s focus on student and staff wellbeing.

James said: “It felt great to be nominated and to be highly commended. For me, it is a real acknowledgment of the work we have been doing over the last three or four years on student and staff wellbeing. We’ve been focusing on mindfulness and student mental health across the college. This is becoming increasingly important to learning and learners in the 21st century.

“I have been a learning leader for the past few years and I’m really proud of my course, which is Music Technology. It is a course people are really keen to do. We have great resources, absolutely fantastic outcomes and in a sense, the award was an acknowledgment of all those things.

“At Exeter College there is a positive culture that people want to do well, and want to be great teachers.”