EXETER College stalwart Phil Hobbs, the man who helped hundreds of students fulfil their potential, has decided to call it a day.
Mr Hobbs, a former head of faculty formally retired a few years ago - but such were his skills and experience that he was persuaded to return on a part time basis.
But Friday July 4 will be his real independence day with colleagues and students preparing a suitable send-off.
It was in1987 that Mr Hobbs and his late colleague, Elaine Dibbo wrote an academic programme for adults who wanted to go to university but did not have the skills or qualifications to get there.
The course was called Access to Higher Education. At the time there were a few further education colleges developing such courses due to the need and the available funding to support adults in education.
The college have run the Access to HE Diploma since 1987 and it is now a nationally run course recognised by the universities and well respected.
College colleague Jo Birnie, said: "Phil has been responsible for facilitating hundreds of adults in the Exeter area in fulfilling their potential in education and beyond.
"He has continued to teach and tutor on the course and is a real champion of adult education.
"His students and work colleagues value his work immensely. He will be seriously missed!"
Friday sees the annual end of year celebrations for the 150 Access to HE students that have completed the course this year, with a fun awards ceremony for staff and students.Staff and students have been quick to thank Phil – Read just a few of their comments below:
As a colleague Phil is always positive and supportive. He is totally dedicated to the Access course and to ensuring that students achieve their full potential. He knows that the demands placed on students at university are intense and that their year on the Access course is the time for them to develop the academic standards that they will require and that students need to approach their studies with the necessary level of commitment and the correct attitude.
Coupled with this serious attitude towards students' academic progress is the fact that Phil is hugely supportive towards students and encouraging to all those he teaches and tutors.
Whenever I meet former Access students who are now at university they all say how they would never have got to where they are now without the support and encouragement that Phil offered them.
Mark Rawlins
Ever present; ever reliable; always passionate about his subject; always calm; always even and good humoured; clearly dedicated to student success and, in particular, to switching students on to all things historical – getting a bit historical himself now! A fantastic colleague.
Maggie Matthews
Phil has been a brilliant and inspiring teacher. He is always enthusiastic and engaging, there is always so much information it goes so fast I can't commit it all to my notes! His history lesson often go off on seemingly unnecessary tangents but I think that is part of the charm and helps solidify everyone's understanding and views. Phil has been a supportive tutor always there for a quick chat about anything not just college issues. Phil was the tutor who interviewed me and put me in his tutor group and ever since then he has been great.
Phoebe Beardshall
I was taught History by Phil Hobbs on Access to HE 2010/11 and he really was key to my ultimate success. Having been out of education for many years I had great difficulty producing properly analytical work at first and Phil, with great patience helped me through those early problems to the point where I achieved the very good marks which were essential to my gaining a place at Exeter. Phil was also great fun to learn with and from, our mutual experience of the Cold War years quite often took over seminars and was thoroughly enjoyed by the other students.
Phil's dedication to and enthusiasm for life-long learning is quite extraordinary and whatever award you're nominating him for I'm absolutely certain that he thoroughly deserves it.
Malcolm
Phil Hobbs has made me feel young again by reminding me why I dropped out of school forty years ago. His high expectations beckoned out the sullen teenager in this respectable middle aged Budleigh Saltertonian and if we didn't all have full stomachs – speaking personally – he might have seen a bit more agitation on a Friday morning. But Phil's methods have worked. Firm but fair, Phil applies the Tom Test to every essay he reads, from the first to the last and through his insistence on rigour and precision in historical analysis he has prepared us for university work in the years to come. He has taught me a whole lot of stuff I never wanted to know, but now realise is not only fascinating but necessary. If I am ever called upon to weigh the political, economic and social factors at work in a historical period, I will be ten times better at it now than would have been the case a year ago and enjoy it too. Thanks Phil. It was a Struggle but it was to be done.
Janet Oke
As a mature student, Phil's knowledge, enthusiasm and teachings skills have and are invaluable. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject, enjoys debate and also knows how to discipline mature students!!!!
I have really valued Phil's input and teaching, old school with style, he cares deeply about the course and that communicates clearly through his interaction and dedication to the course. Gets my BIG vote every day.
Amanda Lee
Phil has been my tutor and history teacher this year. I have found him to be very helpful and forgiving at times. He has helped me get back into education and pushed me to keep going when I felt like giving up. He is a brilliant tutor but some of the best times to have with Phil is over a coffee on break. He tells us about his house in France and how he has filled up on wine at the weekend. This may not seem a good thing coming from a tutor but its nice to hear he is human as well as a walking history book. If it wasn't for Phil I would have given up on this course a while back. I have really struggled this year and he has helped me and guided me. I want to thank him for the effort he has put in with me and I will always be grateful to him for that.
Heather Cram
Phil has been a brilliant class and subject tutor to me this year. He has helped me grow and develop my skills and has been invaluable to me as a tutor. In history he works hard to ensure that I both know what is needed to pass the course but on a deeper level that I understanding what it all means and the implications of each decision an individual can make. Phil's dedication to history and teaching goes beyond duty and always does his best to help us learn and grow as students. Coffee breaks with Phil are the highlight of my Friday afternoons and I enjoy listening to him talk animatedly about his days as a school boy and his holidays in Brittany. He always has something of interest to say and I never bore of his conversation. I could not be gladder that Phil has been involved in the Access course this year and am extremely thankful that I've had the privilege of being part of his class. His humour and passion makes him stand out from any other teacher I've had. He really is one of the best.
Rachel Cram
It could be an easy thing to forget the privilege that we have been offered in this gift of education here at Exeter College, in the weekly scramble of travel and attending classes, reading and homework and in the ensuing sense of madness of attempting to reach numerous deadlines. But with the promise of a history class with Phil Hobbs - it is in fact impossible. To command respect and authority and yet still magnetise students to attend class purely because each lesson is an unmissable illumination of worlds broadening before us, is more than a skill, it is a talent - and surely the ultimate gift from any teacher to a student and to the principle of education. It is a talent that lights each of us with curiosity and enthusiasm - and with this light - our vision into this vast wealth of knowledge is accompanied by the invaluable........insight. Not just of the History that is our heritage and of which we have become a part but also in the exploration of ourselves. Phil manages somehow, to encourage each of us, in spite of all the complexities of our subject , with a warmth and generosity that is always imbued with uncompromising integrity. And it is all the more substantial in the worth of our attainment, for that. If I could hope to have such teacher as Phil at University, then I would have much to look forward to. However I know it isn't something I can hope for - because there is only one Phil Hobbs, and it is a privilege in the knowing of him , that I will never forget.
Katina Laoutaris
He is patient and approachable. In my personal experience, he always had time to listen to me and explain things to me that I wasn't clear about. What makes him a great teacher is that if I didn't understand a concept, he would find a different way to approach it to help me, until I fully understood. He manages to make the most boring subjects interesting with his funny anecdotes and the little stories he always tells. Another reason why he is an excellent teacher is because he really cares about giving us Access students an opportunity to totally change our lives and also instilled in me, anyway, the self-confidence to continue to university with the belief that I can achieve anything I want to. He taught me and many others the secret to essay writing which has stood us in good stead while studying for our degrees. The fact that he is still enthusiastic after teaching for all these years proves that he is an amazing person and if not for all these attributes I think he should win an award for longevity!
Jane Wood
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