South West ATPs come together for first regional away day.
Exeter College welcomes Advanced Teaching Practitioners from across the South West.
Exeter College recently welcomed 12 newly appointed Advanced Teaching Practitioners (ATPs) from colleges across the South West for the first CTEC ATP Away Day, creating an opportunity for professional development and the sharing of best practice.
What is an Advanced Teaching Practitioner?
Advanced Teaching Practitioners (ATPs) play a key role in supporting teaching quality within further education. Working alongside colleagues, they use coaching, developmental observations, mentoring and the sharing of effective practice to help drive continuous improvement in teaching and learning.
Through the CTEC ATP programme, participants develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to support construction teaching staff development and enhance learner outcomes.
Bringing developmental practice to life.
Led by Exeter and North Devon College Group (ENDC)'s David O'Connor (Executive Head of Construction), Sam Harrod (Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning) and Marc Sevette (Construction ATP and Programme Leader), the away day brought together ATPs from across the south west. They explored key themes from the ATP development programme, including coaching, developmental observations, effective feedback and the role of the ATP in supporting teaching excellence.
A particular highlight of the day was the opportunity for delegates to observe Marc Sevette leading a live developmental observation and feedback conversation with a real member of staff currently undergoing professional development coaching. Using earpieces connected to Marc’s microphone, participants were able to listen to the coaching dialogue in real time, reflect on the questions being asked and consider how they might approach similar conversations within their own organisations.
Delegates then observed a second teaching session, working collaboratively to identify strengths, explore areas for development and engage in professional discussion around effective feedback practices.
The sessions provided a valuable opportunity to see developmental practice in action, bringing to life many of the concepts explored throughout the ATP programme and encouraging discussion around different coaching and observation approaches.
Building a regional network.
Alongside the practical activities, the event marked the beginning of a growing regional network of Advanced Teaching Practitioners.
Throughout the day, delegates shared experiences, exchanged ideas and built new professional connections with colleagues from colleges across the South West. The opportunity to learn from one another and discuss common challenges generated valuable conversations and highlighted the collective commitment to improving teaching, learning and assessment across the region.
Positive feedback from delegates.
Early feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive:
“Just a very brief message to thank you, your staff and students for hosting a fabulous day. The day was enjoyable and informative, gave me lots to think about and I look forward to meeting up again in December.”
“It was a very informative day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Looking ahead...
With engaging discussions, practical learning opportunities and a shared commitment to professional development, the first South West ATP Away Day proved to be a highly successful event.
As the ATP network continues to expand, events such as this will play an important role in strengthening collaboration, sharing expertise and supporting teaching excellence across the South West. Delegates will reconvene in December to continue the conversation and build on the relationships established during this inaugural event.