In a pretty depressing week, it was a considerable relief to watch the Great British Bake Off on Wednesday evening. The combination of the experts, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, the punning comperes, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, and the ordinary people doing extraordinary things under enormous pressure is the perfect escapism.

And we certainly need to escape from the news at the moment. Brexit appears to have unleashed an increase in racial and ethnic intolerance and brought out the worst in some people, such as the taxi driver who told the singer Lily Allen to “find an immigrant to drive you, you stupid tart”, apparently because she had spoken up for the unaccompanied young refugees in Calais.

It is as if the country’s decision to leave the EU has created the climate in which it is seen by some people as more acceptable to express such views. Likewise in the US, Donald Trump - win or lose - has poisoned the terms of political debate and will make it acceptable, in the eyes of some Americans, to give voice their prejudices about Muslims, Mexicans and other foreigners.

Prejudice and ignorance can be used by irresponsible politicians to breed fear and hatred. The enemy of prejudice is education and schools have a massive responsibility to provide the antidote to the poison currently circulating in the national bloodstream on both sides of the Atlantic.

So it was great to be able to forget about this for an hour a week and enjoy the exploits of the 12 amateur bakers, four of whom work in schools. The winner, Candice Brown, must now be the most famous PE teacher in the country. And rightly so.  

Candice, in tears and lost for words, said it was an incredible opportunity. “I did it. I’m good. I’m good enough,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t know what to say. Oh my god, what an opportunity. Amazing, I don’t know what else to say.” Later she said, “I have low self-belief, even though my friends and family constantly build up my confidence,” she said. “So it was a big moment in my life, probably the biggest so far.”

Before the final, Candice said that her boyfriend and family encouraged her to apply: “When I felt unsure, they give me a good nudge!”

Last year’s winner Nadiya Hussain, whose family was from Bangladeshi, has become a role model for young British Muslims. Her parents were migrants who came to England to seek a better life. She grew up in poor circumstances in Luton without an oven in her home, but at Challney High School her love of baking was fostered by her cookery teacher, Mrs Marshall.

Here Nadiya learned about traditional British baking for the first time: “I had to make puff pastry in my first class. I remember my Mrs Marshall saying I was really good. I got so into it that when Mrs Marshall used to prepare for her next class at lunchtime I would sneak in and watch her. She never minded. Eventually she said I could give her a hand. Over four years I got quite good,” she said.

In my work as national pupil premium champion, I often discussed with teachers how disadvantaged children have fewer opportunities outside school than their peers. For less fortunate children, the school is their doorway to the world. Nadiya Hussain had that opportunity because Mrs Marshall opened the door for her.

More often than their peers, disadvantaged children have low self-esteem and lack self-confidence. For Candice, that has carried through to adult life, so that her first reaction to her win was to say, ‘I did it. I’m good.’ As teachers, it is so important to build these and other attributes in our pupils, so that they do not later under-estimate their potential.

As a headteacher, my motto was ‘Creating opportunities for success’ and the school tried to give both the pupils and the staff the maximum range of opportunities to find what they were good at and develop their talents to the full. For Nadiya, the opportunity to develop her baking skills started with a teacher who believed in her and helped her. For Candice, it has been a longer journey to find the kind of success that boosts self-confidence.

Just as in counteracting the ignorance and prejudice of politicians like Trump, teachers have such an important role in developing the people and the society that tolerant people would like to see. The Nadiyas and the Candices of the future are in our classrooms now.

John Dunford is chair of Whole Education, a former secondary head, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders and national pupil premium champion. He tweets as @johndunford