University of Hull

Initial Teacher Education inspection report

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Provider address Faculty of Education Wilberforce Building University of Hull HU6 7RX

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Unique reference number Inspection number Inspection dates Lead inspector 23–27 May 2011 Angela Milner HMI achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. www.ofsted.gov.uk Reference no. 080190

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Introduction

1. This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors supported by a team of specialist inspectors in accordance with the Framework for the Inspection of Initial Teacher Education (2008-11).

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Introduction

2. The inspection draws upon evidence from all aspects of the provision to make judgements against all parts of the inspection evaluation schedule in the framework. Inspectors focused on the overall effectiveness of the training in supporting high quality outcomes for trainees and the capacity of the partnership to bring about further improvements. A summary of the grades awarded is included at the end of this report.

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Key to inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Explanation of terms used in this report

Attainment is defined as the standard reached by a trainee at the end of their training. Progress is judged in terms of how well a trainee has developed professionally from their starting point to the standard reached at the time of the inspection or at a suitable review point. Achievement is judged in terms of the progress made and the standard reached by a trainee at the time of the inspection or at a recent assessment review point.

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The provider

3. The University of Hull, through its Faculty of Education, is a well-established provider of initial teacher education (ITE). It works in partnership with a wide range of settings, schools and colleges from a number of neighbouring local authorities. The university provides training leading to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS) in the primary and secondary age phases. Further education teacher training is provided through its partnership with Bishop Burton College, Beverley and the University Centre, Doncaster. Further details on the provision in each phase are given in the relevant sections of this report.

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The provider

4. The university provides programmes for the continuing professional development of the workforce in settings, schools and colleges, as well as in ITE. As a result the partnership understands local and regional workforce needs well. The university is involved in active research on a number of current national and international educational issues.

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A commentary on the provision

5. The following are particular features of the provider and its ITE programmes:

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A commentary on the provision

 trainees’ professional attributes and personal qualities, including their commitment and self-motivation in relation to their own professional development

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A commentary on the provision

 the consistently high quality of personal support for trainees on all programmes to ensure their well-being

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A commentary on the provision

 the partnership’s clear commitment to local and regional workforce development

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A commentary on the provision

 the inclusion of trainees’ and partners’ views within the university’s comprehensive evaluation procedures.

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A commentary on the provision

6. There are particularly strong features in some programmes that could be applied to other programmes. The following actions should be applied to other programmes or aspects of the provision:

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A commentary on the provision

 utilise the expertise that exists in the university to share best practice across age-phases and campuses

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A commentary on the provision

 make extensive changes to the way further education colleges work in partnership with the university.

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A commentary on the provision

7. The following actions should be considered to improve the quality of the outcomes for trainees:

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A commentary on the provision

 ensure that, across the partnership, trainees are consistently set high- quality developmental targets to ensure they reach their potential

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A commentary on the provision

 ensure trainees’ placement experiences are more rigorously monitored as part of the university’s quality assurance procedures

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A commentary on the provision

 make more effective use of available data to improve the accuracy of self-evaluation procedures

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A commentary on the provision

 ensure that improvement planning focuses more clearly on impact and measurable trainee outcomes.

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Context

8. Primary ITE is provided on two campuses: the Centre for Educational Studies at the University of Hull and at the Scarborough School of Education. At the time of the inspection, there were 84 trainees studying on a one-year full-time postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) training programme and 20 trainees studying on a five-term undergraduate part-time route at the university. Both of these programmes prepare trainees to teach pupils in the 5 to 11 age range. At Scarborough, there were 60 trainees studying on a one-year full-time PGCE training programme which prepares them to teach pupils aged 3 to 7 and 98 trainees on a three-year full-time undergraduate route which prepares them to teach pupils in the 5 to 11 age range. The partnership stretches from North Lincolnshire in the south to Cleveland in the north and from the east coast to Doncaster in the west. It draws upon schools in a diverse range of settings and

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Context

schools in rural and urban locations, including those in areas of high social deprivation.

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Key strengths

the very good level of pastoral support which trainees value hugely the dynamic and cooperative nature of the partnership which results in trainees feeling well supported throughout their training quality of provision and outcomes on the part-time undergraduate training programme where trainees consistently make good or better progress throughout their training the trainees’ confidence and competence in using a wide range of digital and technological resources to support teaching and learning, which have been boosted by the considerable investment in resources and the high-quality training that they receive the improvements in retention on all courses, but particularly on the full- time undergraduate training programme where an improvement in selection procedures has been a contributory factor the recruitment of trainees from widening participation postcode areas, which has enabled those trainees to have access to life-changing training

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Required actions

10. In order to improve the quality of provision, the partnership must: ensure that all trainees, especially the weaker trainees, are set sufficiently challenging developmental targets to enable them to make rapid progress from the outset of the training.

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Recommendations

11. In order to improve trainees’ progress and attainment, the partnership should: introduce more rigorous quality-assurance procedures to eradicate inconsistencies in the quality of training across programmes review the pattern of placements to ensure that all trainees are as well prepared as possible to enter the profession in their chosen age range share good practice between training programmes and campuses consider how best to use the very good data available to make links between the evaluation of the quality of training, provision across the partnership, the deployment of resources and the impact on trainees’ outcomes ensure that improvement planning is sufficiently sharp in identifying challenging quantitative targets for improvement which are focused on expected outcomes for trainees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

12. The provider’s own self-evaluation grades its overall effectiveness as outstanding but inspectors judged this, and all related aspects, including the quality of the provision, to be good. Most trainees meet the QTS Standards at a good or better level by the end of their training. The proportion of trainees assessed as outstanding has increased considerably in the last three years. The biggest leap in attainment has been on the two PGCE programmes where the proportion of outstanding trainees has risen from around 34% in 2007/08 to over 50% in 2009/10. The attainment of full-time undergraduate trainees has been subject to the greatest fluctuations but is securely good. The attainment of trainees on the part-time undergraduate programme is consistently outstanding.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

13. Trainees are highly committed to their training. They establish good relationships with pupils and staff. The best trainees have high expectations of their performance, are very well motivated to take ownership of their personal and professional development and are highly reflective of their practice. Trainees are very confident in using a wide range of digital and technological resources to support teaching and learning. This is because the information and communication technology (ICT) training is highly effective in supporting their skills development.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

14. Most trainees possess a sound theoretical knowledge of phonics because it is well covered in taught sessions in the university. Some trainees say that they are not fully confident in teaching early reading, using a systematic synthetic phonics approach. This is because they have not had sufficient opportunities to teach phonics on school placements. There is scope for monitoring more closely the trainees’ opportunities to teach phonics.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

15. Most trainees have a good knowledge and understanding of a range of strategies to promote good behaviour through their teaching and to manage challenging behaviour. They are confident discussing how to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This aspect is well covered in central training sessions which are delivered by university staff and staff from partnership schools. The university is very effective at identifying expertise within partnership schools to support the central training programme. Trainees benefit from the up-to-date knowledge of classroom practice that current practitioners provide.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

16. University staff work hard to achieve consistency in the quality of training between the different programmes. While they have been largely successful in meeting their aims, there are still a few inconsistencies. For example, the systematic auditing and monitoring of subject knowledge for teaching is variable across programmes. It is strong on the PGCE (5 to 11) and part-time undergraduate programmes where trainees are set challenging, developmental targets, which are reviewed and refined in the light of their developing experience. On other training programmes, the setting of well-focused subject- specific targets, especially for weaker trainees, is required in order to accelerate their progress.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

17. The strengths above indicate that the partnership selects trainees with the potential to become good teachers. It is successful at recruiting trainees from the local community and from a wide range of backgrounds. Consequently, it meets the employment needs of the region very well, with many trainees gaining teaching posts in partnership schools. The recruitment of trainees with a declared disability and the recruitment of males have been above the sector averages for the last three years. The recruitment of trainees from widening participation postcodes formed a quarter of the intake on the full-time undergraduate route in 2009/10.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

18. Retention rates have traditionally been higher on the PGCE and part-time undergraduate programmes than on the full-time undergraduate programme. There have been marked improvements in completion rates on the full-time undergraduate programme in the last two years. For example, the completion rate for males in 2009/10 exceeded that for females.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

19. Applicants’ mathematical and literacy skills are screened at interview. However, opportunities are sometimes lost to set and to mark tasks which provide tutors with robust information on a candidate’s strengths and areas for development and which can be used to inform individual training plans from the outset. Subsequent initial subject auditing is much better. The mathematics initial audit is particularly comprehensive and well conceived to help trainees to draw up an action plan to address gaps in their knowledge and understanding. The online science and English audits are also fit for purpose. However, the quality of trainees’ action plans following these audits is variable with some lacking precision. Assignments and school-based tasks play a key role in developing trainees’ subject knowledge and pedagogy.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

20. PGCE trainees on the 3 to 7 programme are well grounded in the Early Years Foundation Stage and gain good practical experience in relevant settings. As a result they are confident in planning and teaching lessons to meet the needs of young children.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

21. Leaders and managers collate and analyse data on trainees’ progress. There is scope for streamlining the information so that it can become a more useful tool to inform the tailoring of training to meet trainees’ individual needs. Trainees record their progress effectively in their teaching and professional development profiles. They are rigorous in maintaining their records of evidence against the QTS Standards. Assessment is accurate and confirmed by inspectors and external examiners.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

22. Placements are generally used effectively to provide trainees with progressive experiences, starting with well-designed paired placements to build trainees’ confidence at the beginning of their training. The staging of placements is currently under review. This is a good initiative. The current scheduling of the final school placement in the autumn term on the full-time undergraduate course means that there is a long gap between trainees’ final school placement and their appointment to their first teaching post. Some trainees have been proactive in seeking opportunities to spend more time in their final placement school in the spring and summer terms. This demonstrates their capacity to take ownership for their continuing professional development.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

23. A high level of commitment within the partnership is aided by good communication between all partners involved in the training process. Most school-based mentors offer good support to their trainees. Mentors, university tutors and associate tutors attend training sessions regularly. These are well planned to equip them with the necessary skills to provide trainees with well- focused feedback on their performance in the classroom. In practice, there is some inconsistency in the quality of feedback that trainees receive. This particularly affects the rates of progress made by weaker trainees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

24. Trainees feel appropriately prepared to teach in a diverse society as a result of the well-structured course and visits to schools with leading practice, for example, in teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language. No trainees report any sense of discrimination. The support for mature students on the part-time undergraduate training programme is outstanding. These trainees particularly value the opportunity to pursue a flexible training programme which is tailored to meet their personal circumstances so effectively. Some inequalities, however, persist in relation to the number and range of lessons observed on school placements on other programmes. For example, some trainees are observed teaching more than others. More rigorous quality-assurance procedures are required to eradicate inconsistencies in the quality of training across programmes.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

25. Resources are deployed effectively to promote trainees’ progress. The trainees speak highly of the support they receive, particularly from tutors in the university who are very well qualified and are experts within their chosen fields. There has been considerable investment in ICT, which is having a positive impact on trainees’ outcomes. Finding sufficient school placements in Key Stage 1 is a challenge. Some trainees, particularly those on the full-time undergraduate route, feel that this restricts their opportunities to gain substantial school experience in Key Stage 1.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

26. The university’s own exit survey shows that the majority of trainees rate the training as good or better. This is reinforced by the responses of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and by the evidence gathered by inspectors.

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Grade: 2

27. The partnership’s capacity to improve and sustain high-quality outcomes is good. There is extensive evaluation of provision and firm evidence of evaluation informing programme development and improvements. Modifications to the PGCE (3 to 7) training programme have resulted in improvements to trainees’ achievement. For example, two visits to early years’ settings during their induction period, followed by an Early Years Foundation Stage placement, have increased trainees’ awareness of the demands of the 3 to 5 age range early in the training programme. Similarly, a rigorous analysis of retention data has resulted in improvements to the selection procedures which have had a positive impact on retention rates, particularly on the full-time undergraduate training programme.

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Grade: 2

28. Self-evaluation involves all partners. The partnership demonstrates an open and reflective culture. The partnership has undertaken a sequence of impact studies as part of its investigation of issues. These vary in the extent to which they are consistently sharp, focused and evaluative but they do focus on trainees’ outcomes and the initiative is a good one.

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Grade: 2

29. The self-evaluation document is lengthy and over-descriptive in parts. It provides a useful appraisal of provision but is over-generous in its evaluation of provision. The annex to the self-evaluation document includes a wide range of data on, for example, trainees’ attainment on different programmes, retention and employment rates. These data are analysed well in the attainment, recruitment, and equality and diversity sections. Opportunities are missed to interrogate the data further to inform the evaluation of training, partnership working and deployment of resources within individual training programmes.

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Grade: 2

30. The partnership has introduced systems and procedures in a number of areas in order to drive improvement. However, the partnership has not always been sufficiently rigorous in checking that they have been fully implemented on each training programme. There is scope to strengthen quality-assurance procedures.

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Grade: 2

31. The dynamics of the partnership work well. Management at all levels is involved in decision making and is proactive in anticipating and responding to change. University tutors and partnership schools are well informed of legislative changes and local needs. They respond well to curriculum developments and changes in national policy. Training programmes are adapted accordingly. Consequently, trainees are well informed of the national priorities for teaching early reading using a systematic synthetic phonics approach, of providing high-quality teaching and learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and of strategies to manage pupils’ behaviour. Most trainees make good progress in these areas.

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Grade: 2

32. There are clear links between improvement planning and self-evaluation. Appropriate priorities and objectives have been identified, including improving the consistency in training across all programmes and between the two campuses. Action planning is focused upon improvement and the rationale for intended actions is clearly communicated across the partnership. However, success criteria are often not specific enough to identify the expected impact of actions on trainees’ outcomes. In addition, there is a lack of quantitative target-setting for measuring impact.

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Grade: 2

33. The partnership has a clear view of where it wants to go next. In particular, there are well conceived plans for establishing a ‘cluster of schools’ model to support school-based training and provide trainees with more opportunities to teach pupils of differing abilities in schools in a range of contexts.

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Grade: 2

34. The partnership has a good track record of improvement, particularly in terms of retention and completion rates, which provides a firm basis for future development.

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Context

35. The University of Hull works in partnership with 80 schools and colleges to provide secondary ITE programmes leading to the award of QTS at PGCE level. The provider offers training in the 11 to 18 age range in geography, history, religious education, English, modern foreign languages (French, German and Spanish) and science (physics, chemistry and biology) and in the 11 to 16 and 11 to 18 age ranges in mathematics. The university also provides a sixteen-week French extension course and a six-month and a ten-month subject knowledge enhancement course in mathematics. At the time of the inspection there were 119 trainees on the seven different subject courses.

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Key strengths

an exemplary commitment across the partnership to producing high- quality teachers to meet a pressing local need in secondary schools the trainees’ commitment to teaching, including their well-developed professional attributes in raising pupils’ achievement and meeting the needs of a range of different learners the very good recruitment and selection procedures that result in trainees being recruited with the potential to make good and outstanding teachers high-quality, individualised support for trainees so that most make good or better progress to achieve QTS very coherent programmes of generic and subject-specific university and school-based training that effectively support trainees’ development and the achievement of good or better levels of attainment effective communication and trusting relationships between the university and partner schools and colleges, resulting in a very stable and coherent

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Key strengths

partnership with high levels of commitment and a shared vision for continuous improvement the very effective and efficient use of resources to achieve improving outcomes for trainees dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working university staff who work collaboratively to improve continually the quality of provision and outcomes for trainees.

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Recommendations

37. In order to maximise trainees’ progress and attainment, the provider should: improve the consistency of trainees’ developmental targets to ensure that all trainees are appropriately challenged. In order to improve the way it plans and takes action for improvement, the provider should: sharpen the use of clear and measurable targets in improvement planning and ensure these link more explicitly to outcomes for trainees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

38. The overall effectiveness of the partnership in securing high-quality outcomes for trainees is outstanding. This confirms the accuracy of the provider’s own self- evaluation.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

39. The overall attainment of trainees is good. A clear trend of improving outcomes is evident. In each of the last three years, over 90% of trainees attained the QTS Standards at a good or outstanding level. Trainees achieve such good levels of attainment because of their self-motivation and commitment to teaching and the exemplary commitment across the partnership to producing high-quality teachers to meet a pressing need in local secondary schools.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

40. Inspection evidence confirms the accuracy of the partnership’s assessment procedures and that most trainees make good or better progress from their starting points. Effective procedures ensure that the assessment of trainees’ achievement of the QTS Standards is accurate and decisions about the pass/fail boundary are secure.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

41. Completion rates vary a little from year-to-year but are either in line with or above sector norms. Any non-completion usually occurs as a result of extreme personal difficulty. Significant attention is paid to meeting the personal, professional and academic needs of trainees through the use of timely interventions and the appropriate allocation of available resources.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

42. The most notable professional attributes demonstrated by trainees at the time of the inspection were their confidence, enthusiasm and commitment to the teaching profession. All trainees seen were highly self-motivated and well- organised. The trainees demonstrated particular strengths in the excellent quality of their relationships with learners, their thoughtful and perceptive evaluations, and their positive response to the feedback they receive from mentors and tutors. They confidently use their well-developed subject knowledge for teaching and a range of ICT techniques in their lessons to support learners’ understanding and enjoyment.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

43. Trainees are well prepared in relation to the Training and Development Agency’s (TDA) national priorities. They have a very clear understanding of the importance of effective teaching to minimise potential behaviour issues. Trainees are able to plan lessons carefully so that they cater for the differing ability needs of learners and support the learning of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities very effectively. This is because the high-quality training programme focuses on the role trainees and teachers play in raising achievement. This includes removing barriers to learning such as the lack of basic skills, inclusion strategies and making effective use of data. As a result, trainees are able to plan skilfully for progression across a sequence of lessons because of their detailed knowledge of learners’ needs.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

44. These professional attributes are highly prized by partnership schools located in a geographical area where it is difficult to recruit to vacant secondary posts. Employment rates are higher than national norms. The provider enjoys an excellent reputation locally. School leaders, interviewed as part of the inspection, stated that trainees are very well-prepared for their induction year. They indicated that retention rates in the first few years of teaching are high and trainees often gain rapid career progression in local schools.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

45. Recruitment and selection arrangements are very good, meet all statutory requirements and promote equality and diversity well. The provider recruits good-quality trainees and has met TDA allocations including those in the priority subjects. Over two-thirds of trainees are from the local area. The proportions of male trainees and those with a declared disability are above the national average. The proportion of minority ethnic trainees has increased to be in line with that of the local population. Greater use of subject mentors in interviewing and the continuous review of recruitment and selection processes have led to improvements in the quality of trainees recruited. This can be seen in the improving level of academic achievements on entry, the significant number of trainees completing the French-extension and mathematics subject-knowledge enhancement courses before beginning the programme, higher completion rates

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

46. There is a very strong link between recruitment and selection and training, assessment and progress. Strengths and areas for development are identified at interview and personal action plans are provided for subject-specific development. Very good use is made of recruitment and selection information to guide applicants on their development needs before the start of the programme. This information is also used successfully to place trainees in appropriate school placements and in mixed subject groups for professional studies at the start of the programme. Trainees’ progress is rigorously tracked and monitored through designated review points. For example, the initial progress review, which takes place two weeks into the first placement, is used to identify weaker trainees in need of early support. Similarly, a formal review point between the two teaching placements, when trainees begin to take on increased responsibility for reflection

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

and setting their own developmental targets, effectively accelerates progress during the second placement and is reflected in a higher proportion of trainees achieving outstanding levels of attainment at the end of the programme.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

47. Trainees and NQTs express high levels of satisfaction with their training experience, which inspectors judged to be outstanding. They commented that tutors are always available and quick to respond to queries. They feel well supported by mentors and ITE coordinators in schools. The programme is very well planned and structured so that school placements build effectively on the trainees’ knowledge and understanding, developed as part of the university- based generic and subject training. This is achieved through the use of weekly themes and specific school-based tasks. Training provides a breadth of experiences across the 11 to 18 age-phase based around three cohesive strands: the principles and contexts of teaching and learning; subject-method work; and practical classroom experience. Dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working university staff work collaboratively to improve continually the quality of

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

provision. Tutors are very well qualified and have appropriate professional expertise. They make extensive use of partnership and other external expertise to deliver the programme and ensure it remains relevant and up-to-date.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

48. The very effective and efficient use of resources makes a significant contribution to the good or better outcomes for trainees. Resource allocations are linked to current priorities for improvement and are responsive to trainees’ individual needs. Trainees confirm that they have very good access to the human and physical resources they need at the university and in schools. Resource allocations are transparent and well understood by partners. Human resources are used extremely effectively to support trainees’ development, to provide in- school mentor training for those unable to attend planned events and to facilitate joint observations and moderation events with tutors.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

49. The quality of provision across the partnership is outstanding. Effective communication and trusting relationships between the university and partner schools and colleges result in a very stable and coherent partnership. Partners demonstrate high levels of commitment and a shared vision for continuous improvement. Professional development opportunities for mentors and professional tutors are well-regarded by schools. ITE coordinators, mentors and host teachers understand the high expectations required. As a result the quality of training is remarkably consistent across the partnership. The quality of tutor feedback and target-setting is excellent and effectively models best practice for mentors. However, a very small minority of mentors make insufficient use of precise developmental targets to provide the exact level of challenge required to maximise all trainees’ progress and attainment.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

50. The partnership values and respects diversity and shows an outstanding commitment to promoting equal opportunities and ensuring equality of access to high-quality training for all trainees. This ethos underpins the provider’s trainee- centred approach, provision, documentation and practice. Trainees feel able to raise any concerns in the secure knowledge they will be efficiently and professionally dealt with by tutors and the programme director. Trainees are well prepared to teach pupils from a range of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and differentiate their planning extremely well to cater for the needs of learners of differing abilities. Trainees are very aware of the importance of promoting equality of opportunity and valuing diversity. For example, in one outstanding history lesson on the Nazi treatment of Jews, a trainee challenged learners’ stereotypical attitudes very effectively, making history meaningful and

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Grade: 2

51. The partnership demonstrates good capacity to sustain high-quality outcomes where they already exist and to take the actions required to secure further improvements where necessary. The provider’s own self-evaluation grades its capacity to improve as outstanding but inspectors judged this to be good. Key strengths identified at the last inspection have been sustained and enhanced and a number of improvements have been made, particularly to the generic professional studies provision and a number of aspects of school-based training. However, the quality of improvement planning remains insufficiently focused on sharp, measurable outcomes for trainees.

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Grade: 2

52. The partnership is committed to building on existing strengths. Accurate and extensive self-evaluation processes are used effectively to identify areas for development. External examiners’ reports support the results of self-evaluation. Trainees have good opportunities to voice any concerns informally to staff as well as through the formal staff-student committee. Valuable bi-annual university evaluations are completed by all trainees. The annual partnership satisfaction survey is used well to seek the views of the partnership and to evaluate the impact of new developments. Good systems are in place to quality assure trainees’ experiences and to ensure their training entitlement. Internal and external moderation procedures have proved effective in promoting greater consistency and securing improving outcomes for trainees. The partnership ensures it appropriately benchmarks provision against comparator and sector

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Grade: 2

53. Self-evaluation and improvement planning take place at programme and subject level. There is some variation in the quality of subject action planning. This is because some subject leaders make more effective use than others of available data and evaluative impact statements in their self-evaluations and action plans. In some cases success criteria are insufficiently linked to outcomes for trainees and lack the precision required to measure the impact of actions taken. Improvement plans do not always indicate how and when actions taken will be monitored by managers. However, a culture of teamwork exists along with increasingly effective monitoring of the quality of provision. This is leading to a greater consistency of approach and ensuring that trends of improvement can be evidenced. For example, during 2010/11 fewer science trainees are achieving only satisfactory levels of attainment and a greater proportion of mathematics

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Grade: 2

trainees are successfully completing their training.

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Grade: 2

54. Leadership at all levels anticipates change and prepares for and responds to national, regional and local initiatives well. The partnership aims to produce critically engaged professionals aware of local, regional and national agendas. As a result the training programme remains responsive to trainee and partnership feedback and a range of current priorities. These include its good focus on raising achievement to match the needs of a number of local schools and its regional links with other providers to improve the proportion of trainees from minority ethnic backgrounds. There is a good focus on current national priorities in relation to behaviour management, meeting the needs of a range of different learners and recognising and overcoming barriers to learning, including the importance of basic skills in subject teaching.

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Grade: 2

55. The partnership continuously strives to improve the quality of its provision by ensuring it provides very good quality training for all trainees and helps to meet the workforce needs of local secondary schools. Effective leadership from committed ITE coordinators in schools and members of the partnership executive group provides challenge and support as well as a useful forum for constructive discussion and self-criticism at operational and strategic levels. All partners are involved in and informed about the key priorities for improvement and their role in securing them.

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Context

56. The University of Hull works in partnership with two further education colleges to provide full-time one-year pre-service and part-time two-year in-service training for teachers and trainers across the further education sector. Courses lead to the diploma in teaching in the lifelong learning sector. The courses meet the statutory requirements and are endorsed by Standards Verification UK. At the time of the inspection, 155 trainees were following these courses, of whom 4% were from minority ethnic backgrounds and 57% were female.

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Key strengths

good personal and pastoral support for trainees which helps those at risk of leaving the course to remain, to progress and to achieve trainees’ extensive and up-to-date specialist knowledge which enables them to inform their learners of current professional, industrial and commercial practice good development of trainees’ self-reflection skills which helps them to realise their areas for development and to take appropriate action to improve their skills.

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Required actions

58. In order to increase its capacity to improve the partnership must: enhance the rigour of the self-evaluation process so that it reflects the most important issues impacting on trainees’ progress and attainment ensure a full response to the national priorities in ITE in the lifelong learning sector so that trainees are well equipped to embed best practice in their teaching sharpen improvement planning to address the key factors required to enhance the quality of trainees’ experiences ensure that managers implement improvement planning actions promptly and consistently across the partnership to improve outcomes for trainees, particularly trainees’ success rates.

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Recommendations

59. In order to improve training and assessment, the partnership should: improve the quality and consistency of feedback, the use of individual learning plans, target-setting and the tracking of trainees’ progress so that all are aware of trainees’ achievements and how they can make good progress.

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Recommendations

In order to improve the quality of provision, the partnership should:  increase the quality and consistency of the monitoring of mentoring so that all trainees benefit from the good practice which exists for some  enhance the precision and effectiveness of quality assurance systems so that the areas for improvement regarding trainees’ learning experiences are understood and addressed across the partnership.

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Recommendations

In order to enhance its capacity to improve, the partnership should:  improve the collection, analysis and use of recruitment, success, progression and attainment data for different groups of trainees to inform self-evaluation better and improve the timeliness of interventions.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

60. The provider’s own self-evaluation grades its overall effectiveness of the partnership in securing high-quality outcomes for trainees as good but inspectors judged this to be satisfactory. Trainees’ attainment is also satisfactory. Most trainees are enthusiastic and keen to learn, and they make at least satisfactory progress from their starting points. Most trainees teach on a wide range of courses and levels and with learners of varying abilities. Their experience of different providers, however, is narrow. Trainees progress well as reflective practitioners. This helps them to know what skills they need to develop and aids their progress. They have comprehensive and current specialist subject knowledge. Trainees often use this very effectively to enliven their lessons and to make learning relevant to their learners. They are well aware of such matters as equality and diversity, educational and social inclusion, and the Every Child

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

Matters themes. However, trainees’ understanding of quality assurance processes and national initiatives, such as literacy, numeracy and behaviour management, is underdeveloped. Many trainees are unsure of how best to support learners who speak English as an additional language or those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

61. Trainees teach at least satisfactory lessons and some teach very good lessons. In the best examples, trainees question their learners effectively and have a good rapport with them. They make good links to previous learning, consolidate knowledge and link aspects of the lesson to future learning. Lessons are engaging and allow learners to work collaboratively. Trainees challenge their learners appropriately through well-planned activities. In the less effective lessons, trainees do not vary learning activities sufficiently to meet their learners’ diverse needs. Their teaching is too didactic and their checking of learning is insufficient. Trainees’ lesson plans do not consider health and safety, do not embed functional skills nor include strategies for assessing learning.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

62. The partnership has made progress to put in place a consistent system to determine trainees’ attainment grades, but this is not fully understood by all partners. Although the university judged the attainment of its own trainees in 2010, the attainment data for the partnership were not determined until recently. More recent and more accurate data indicate that partnership success rates have declined over the last three years. Nearly one-quarter of trainees due to complete their qualifications in 2010 did not do so. Success rates vary significantly between partners.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

63. Recruitment and selection arrangements are satisfactory. Trainees’ feedback on their interview experience informs improvements. Partners have taken appropriate actions to appoint dedicated officers to provide support for applicants declaring a disability so that support may be personalised and provided promptly. The partnership colleges hold formal interviews and carry out initial screening and diagnostic assessments of applicants. The university usually holds informal telephone conversations with applicants but does not check systematically for trainees’ additional learning needs. Tutors and trainees do not always use the outcomes of initial screening and diagnostic assessment to inform their individual learning plans and to agree initial targets. Partners check that trainees meet the minimum entry requirements with respect to safeguarding, minimum core, subject specialism and a suitable range and quantity of teaching practice. The

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

partnership’s proactive promotion of the provision to under-represented groups is underdeveloped, apart from its close working with voluntary and community groups.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

64. Training and assessment are satisfactory. The course allows trainees to improve their teaching skills and gain in confidence. Most training sessions model good practice, relate theory to practice effectively, proceed at a good pace and are well-structured. Trainers make good use of scenarios and role play to simulate teaching and learning in different settings in the lifelong-learning sector. The partnership is aware of the need to increase its emphasis on the use of modern learning technologies by trainees in their lessons. Tutors provide good support to trainees, including those at risk of leaving, to enable them to progress and achieve. Trainers embed inclusion and equality of opportunity effectively throughout the course. The programme contains an appropriate balance of theory and practice but developments in active learning approaches are insufficiently embedded.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

65. In the best examples, trainees benefit from constructive formative and summative feedback on assignments. For other trainees, feedback from lesson observations and from assignments is too general. Occasionally, feedback is delayed so that trainees have little time to address areas for development before their next observation or assignment. Feedback on lesson observations is often supportive but specific developmental feedback to challenge trainees to develop their professional practice is limited. The use of individual learning plans between partners, and even within each partner, is extremely variable. In the best examples, the plans act as a key means by which trainees know how to improve their assignments and teaching practice. In the less effective cases, their use is very limited and lacks impact. Targets agreed with many trainees are appropriate and specific to the individual; others are very vague and relate

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

66. The quality of mentoring is very variable across the partnership. In the best examples, mentors meet trainees frequently and provide very good advice, guidance and support. In the less effective relationships, mentors meet their trainees infrequently and rarely meet trainees and tutors together to agree joint areas for development. Mentors are often unaware of their trainees’ individual learning plans or targets.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

67. The effective and efficient use of resources is satisfactory. The quality of resources across the partnership is high. Each partner has very good resources available but trainers and trainees do not always make the best use of them to enhance their trainees’ and learners’ understanding and progress. The three partners have different virtual learning environments but the majority of trainees use them effectively to access course and training documents, to use discussion forums and to obtain links to other relevant sites. Libraries at each partner have adequate resources to meet the trainees’ needs. Trainees at all partners have access to study advice services to support their needs, such as academic writing skills. Staff have good experience in the education sector and most have higher degrees. A few staff are researching educational topics but many lack significant and recent experience within the learning and skills sector.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

68. The quality of provision across the partnership is satisfactory. In the best examples, lesson observation findings are valid and grades are accurate but in other cases grades are optimistic and targets lack challenge. Observers do not always discuss the extent of learning and understanding with the trainees’ learners. Trainees’ views are requested and acted on effectively. However, the sharing of specialist knowledge is insufficient to ensure all staff are up-to-date with current national developments in teaching and learning, such as literacy, numeracy and English as an additional language.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

69. Mentor training is very inconsistent. Some mentors have received very effective staff development and provide significant subject-specialist support for their trainees. One trainee, for example, is very well supported by her mentor who provides extra training on differentiation and working with learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Few mentors have had staff development on how to observe trainees’ lessons. Mentors have not had the opportunity to undertake joint lesson observations to moderate their findings and inform best practice. Most mentors are unaware of how the partnership assures the quality of their mentoring. The monitoring of the effectiveness of mentoring lacks rigour.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

70. The promotion of equality of opportunity is satisfactory. Personal and pastoral support for trainees is good. Specialist services support trainees with dyslexia, hearing impairments and visual disabilities. One trainee with an identified need received good and extensive support to enable him to remain on the course. Another trainee with dyslexia confirmed that support is really helpful. Equality and diversity issues are well-represented in the modules and assignment work during the course. Many trainees, however, do not feel confident in promoting these issues in their own teaching. Some trainees know how to address the needs of learners from different cultural backgrounds and how they would challenge inappropriate comments or behaviour from other learners. Other trainees have an awareness of equality and diversity but have limited understanding of how to promote diversity in their lessons. For example, trainees

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 3

had difficulty suggesting strategies to tackle stereotypical language.

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Grade: 4

71. The partnership’s capacity to secure improvements is inadequate. The evaluation of performance in order to improve the quality of provision by managers at all levels is also inadequate. Annual monitoring reviews identify areas for development which inform the self-evaluation process. Managers include trainees’ feedback from surveys and from focus groups in their self-evaluation. They also use partners’ views and issues raised by the external examiner’s reports. The partnership accepts that self- evaluation should be informed by more reliable and accurate analysis of data but, as yet, this is not central to the process. For example, managers do not analyse recruitment, selection and progression data systematically in relation to different identifiable groups. Data management, including data collection, analysis and actions to drive improvement, is underdeveloped. Partners use different management

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Grade: 4

information systems and experience difficulties in determining valid data for the overall partnership.

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Grade: 4

72. The self-evaluation document is too descriptive and insufficiently evaluative. It lacks consideration of the impact of actions on trainees. The self-evaluation process identifies four main priorities for improvement which link to clear action points. It does not, however, give sufficient notice or weighting to the key areas for improvement identified by inspectors in the last inspection report. For example, reviews and self-evaluation processes have failed to identify the vulnerability of the provision in weaker placements which provide too narrow a range of experience. Similarly self-evaluation has not identified the lack of support for trainees in applying the national priority areas to their own teaching. The judgements made by the partnership in their self-evaluation are over-generous.

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Grade: 4

73. The partnership’s capacity to anticipate change and prepare for, and respond to, national and local initiatives is inadequate. The partnership is well aware of many current and potential changes to the sector and to the partnership, especially regarding possible funding changes and the associated implications. Managers give much consideration to risk assessments and possible courses of action. They use evidence from the external examiner’s reports and trainees’ views. This means they are aware of internal and external drivers for change. The partnership was, however, slow to respond to the national initiative regarding the requirement to assess trainees’ attainment.

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Grade: 4

74. The partnership’s responses to the key strategies for literacy and numeracy, learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, differentiation, and functional skills are not applied fully and consistently. Trainees do receive information relating to these issues and significant parts of the course aim to develop trainees’ understanding of equality and diversity issues. Course input on these matters, however, has focused mainly on theoretical aspects and trainees lack confidence in their ability to apply appropriate techniques in their lessons to support learners. Trainees are insufficiently aware of nationally significant resources to promote good teaching practice, such as subject learning coaches and materials developed by the Standards Unit.

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Grade: 4

75. The effectiveness of the partnership in planning and taking action for improvement is inadequate. Arrangements to identify underperformance and to resolve issues across the partnership are not sufficiently prompt. Much depends on an annual analysis followed by planning for improvement. Actions throughout the year to intervene and address any underperformance lack sufficient impact. The partnership realises that it needs to review progress more frequently and rigorously in relation to targets in the improvement plan. Managers do not always implement the proposed changes suggested in the external examiner’s reports. For example, the recommendations made last year, for tutors and mentors to improve the overall quality of their feedback to trainees on observed lessons and on academic module assignments, still remain areas of concern. Serious concerns also still exist regarding target setting, effective mentoring, trainees’ achievement and the development of a

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Grade: 4

more robust approach to tracking trainees’ progress in practical teaching. The last inspection report identified areas for development, many of which remain unresolved. These include the trainees’ narrow experience of the diverse lifelong learning sector, development of the role of mentors, the more effective incorporation of literacy and numeracy in trainees’ lessons and the analysis of statistics by different groups of trainees.

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Grade: 4

76. Improvement plans contain insufficient emphasis on the sharing of good practice, innovation, and materials to develop teaching and learning. Actions regarding areas for improvement in assessment practice often refer to administrative matters rather than to the lack of quality in constructive feedback and so fail to address the concerns highlighted by the external examiner and by former trainees. Improvement targets are often vague and reviews contain an insufficient analysis of targets achieved and new ones set. The partnership’s self-evaluation makes insufficient reference to improvements in trainees’ attainment and is over-generous.

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Grade: 4

77. Managers do not implement actions consistently to improve provision across the partnership nor do they monitor sufficiently frequently or rigorously the impact of the improvement plan on outcomes for trainees.

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Annex: Partnership colleges

The partnership includes the following colleges: Bishop Burton College, Beverley The University Centre, Doncaster

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Summary of inspection grades 1

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding; grade 2 is good; grade 3 is satisfactory; grade 4 is inadequate.

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Overall effectiveness

How effective is the provision in securing high quality outcomes for trainees? 2 1 3

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Overall effectiveness

Trainees’ attainment How well do trainees attain? 2 2 3 Factors contributing to trainees’ attainment To what extent do recruitment / selection arrangements support high quality outcomes? 2 1 3 To what extent does the training and assessment ensure that all trainees progress to fulfil their potential given their ability and starting points? 2 1 3

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Overall effectiveness

To what extent are available resources used effectively and efficiently? 2 1 3 The quality of the provision To what extent is the provision across the partnership of consistently high quality? 2 1 3

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Overall effectiveness

Promoting equalities and diversity To what extent does the provision promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and eliminate harassment and unlawful discrimination? 2 1 3

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

To what extent do the leadership and management at all levels have the capacity to secure further improvements and/or to sustain high quality outcomes? 2 2 4

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

How effectively does the management at all levels assess performance in order to improve or sustain high quality? 2 2 4 How well does the leadership at all levels anticipate change, and prepare for and respond to national and local initiatives? 2 2 4

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

How effectively does the provider plan and take action for improvement? 2 2 4

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

1 The criteria for making these graded judgements are in the Grade criteria for the inspection of ITE 2008-11; Ofsted November 2009; Reference no: 080128. set out in the guidance ‘Complaints about school inspection’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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