Case study


School, said: “Her friendly approachable manner at a Diploma training session made me explain to her what I was feeling and realise I was not alone. “I have visited her at her school and grown


in my work because of it. She is always on the other end of a phone or email for me, answering my queries or calming me down because I am panicking about something or other. She is an inspiration and I aspire, if I am lucky, to be just like her one day.” Supporting colleagues is a vital attribute of


the exams officer, and staff often rely on that person to come up with answers to what can still be a complex qualification to administer. At Huntingdonshire Regional College,


Mike Swann, one of three runners-up in the Delivering Diplomas Awards, has shown exceptional dedication to the qualification in all lines of learning, offering support to consortia colleague and ensuring best practice. Mr Swann, whose role carries the


title of examinations manager at the Huntingdonshire Regional Education Partnership, was the first exams officer in the consortium to acquire any experience of the new qualification and has since proved to be an invaluable course of advance and information to colleagues. One said in support of his nomination:


“Mike gave so much help and support to the Creative and Media department last year. Without his intervention and knowledge we may have not have had the results we did. “Tis support continues this year also, and


he is always ahead of the game in anticipating issues that may or may not happen. I look upon him as a vital part of the management team for the Diplomas and other courses.” Kim Cooke, the Diploma Consortium


co-ordinator, said: “Mike has not only supported the college extremely well with Diplomas but also the Huntingdonshire Secondary Education Partnership Exams Officers’ network. He is a key player and has supported, collaborated and guided all the Exams Officers within HSEP through a new and sometimes arduous journey.” At Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne,


meanwhile, Fi Taylor was appointed with the specific task of ensuring that the institution and its associated partnerships were “Diploma-ready” for the introduction of the qualifications in September 2008. Colleagues attribute the “seamless nature of


the growing Diploma offer at the college” to the work being done by Ms Taylor – another runner-up at the Awards. Since her appointment in the summer of 2008, she has led Running Diplomas


Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 2010


Prize winner: Fi Taylor (left) receives her runner-up certificate from Barbara-Anne Dunn, board member of the Examination Officers’ Association


Effectively workshops, and presented at the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency-organised Diploma events. She makes herself readily available to colleagues who have Diploma-related queries and runs awareness raising presentations to curriculum and senior managers. Ms Taylor works closely with curriculum


colleagues giving on-going direction to ensure that learners are on track to achieve all components of the Diploma. She is also collaborating with colleagues to develop a consortium exams policy for Eastbourne and Hailsham federation. Eve Johnson, head of business information


services at Sussex Downs College, said: “Fi Taylor has shown exceptional dedication to Diploma exams management and administration.” As the Diploma has become more


embedded in schools and colleges, so the role of the examination officer has grown in importance. Te best officers lead from the front – particularly in the most trying of circumstances. Ceinwen Evans, the examinations and data


officer at Te Marches School and Technology College, in Oswestry, maintained a sense of calm and tenacity when a fire at her school and closures due to the snow in winter meant students were short on their allowed hours for project work. Ms Evans, the final runner-up, contacted


the examination board and negotiated an extension on the marking deadline, so that students could be grated on their full-time allocation.


She has also used her vast experience, and


her initiative, when she saw the need for better co-ordination and communication between officers in the North West Shropshire Forum, and took it upon herself to take on this vital element of the work. Fellow exam officer, Ceridwen Williams,


from Lakelands School said: “Cei is fantastic; she has led our group from the front and kept us all in contact. She is always at the end of the phone and always arranges our meetings. “If she didn’t do it, it just wouldn’t happen.


She is always up to date, letting us know when things need doing. She had given us all extensive support.” Ms Evans monitors dates and contacts other


examination officers within the consortium to ensure they are taking the necessary steps on time. Often this support stretches above and beyond what expected in a lead role. She has developed excellent relationships with them all and tends to pre-empt issues and coordinates her colleagues in good time. She has the students’ interests at the centre


of her actions and her door is always open to them. She is very creative in her approaches to problems students face in exams sessions and supports anxious students compassionately. Paula Fairbank, who coordinates the


Forum’s Diploma offer, said: “Ms Evans is immersed in all the detail of Diplomas, disseminates all the necessary information to all the partners. She is a constant means of support to other examination officers, leading decision-making and ensuring policy and practice match and is a point of reference for the Local Authority officers.”


DD 29


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