Linkage College

Published date March 2012 Inspection Number 385357 Unique reference number: 131913

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Name of lead inspector: Deborah Vaughan-Jenkins HMI

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Type of provider: Independent specialist college

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Address:

Toynton Campus Toynton All Saints Spilsby Lincolnshire PE23 5AE

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Address:

Telephone number: 01790 752499 Linkage College

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Focused monitoring visit report

Focused monitoring visit: Linkage College, 7 February 2012 2 of 5

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Context and focus of visit

Linkage College is part of Linkage Community Trust, a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. The college operates from two main sites at Weelsby and Toynton, and also from the Louth Centre located midway between the two. The college provides further education on a residential and day basis for learners with a wide range of learning difficulties and/or disabilities. At the time of the monitoring visit there were 158 learners, 134 of whom were residential. The college’s overall effectiveness was judged to be outstanding at the last full inspection in December 2007. Monitoring visits took place in June 2008, June 2009 and February 2010 and on all occasions the college was judged to have made either reasonable or significant progress in the aspects of the provision that were inspected. Since the last monitoring visit, the college has appointed a new Principal, undertaken a full staff re- structure and extended the range of learners that it is able to provide for, including

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Context and focus of visit

specific provision for a small cohort of learners who have more challenging autistic conditions. This report focuses on the themes explored during the monitoring visit.

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Progress

The college’s self-assessment process remains well established and the use of data within the self-assessment report has strengthened. In many cases, comparisons are made to improvements in the previous year, to indicate progress although references to three-year trends to demonstrate longer-term impact are rarely used. Some judgements made about aspects of provision are not fully substantiated. For example, teaching and learning are judged outstanding but the college’s profile for the proportion of good or better lessons in 2010/11, at 66%, and its emerging profile for the current year, do not support this. Learners’ views are incorporated in particular sections of the self-assessment report but the views of other stakeholders, such as those of parents, are less documented.

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Progress

The quality improvement plan outlines clear actions, timescales and measures. Progress is monitored and reported on frequently by the quality improvement team. Managers have revised the format of the quality improvement plan to focus more effectively on the impact of actions taken. The recording of impact, however, is often anecdotal and so, it is still difficult to see clearly the full impact of actions to improve learners’ experiences and outcomes. Focused monitoring visit: Linkage College, 7 February 2012 3 of 5

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Progress

The college is successfully developing learners’ literacy and numeracy skills. All learners now take a qualification in information and communication technology, mathematics and English. Success rates in functional skills have improved markedly over the last three years from 49% to 94%.

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Progress

Since the last monitoring visit, the college has revised its mission statement to emphasise further the development of learners’ independence and employability. The Linkage Community Trust has introduced an employment services department to support the college in pursuing opportunities for positive student destinations into supported or part-time employment on leaving the college. Work placements are carefully planned and follow a phased approach to help build learners’ confidence. Over three years, the number of internal work placements available to learners has increased from five to 28 and external work-placement opportunities have increased from 39 to 105. As a result, the college is better meeting learners’ needs, with the vast majority of work placements closely aligned to learners’ chosen vocational pathways, even where these are unusual. For example, a student who was particularly interested in pursuing body art was found work experience in a tattoo

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Progress

studio. On average, 70% of learners take part in work-experience activities each year.

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Progress

In 2010/11, 34% of learners progressed into part-time or supported employment and 29% progressed into part-time education or a combined programme of education and supported employment. The college records and monitors destinations routinely but recognises that much more is required to track the destinations of learners over time to ensure their progression is sustainable.

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Progress

The college has very recently appointed a manager to oversee teaching and learning and to give even greater impetus to this area of work. A clear schedule of observations is planned through the year and all staff are observed at least once. A higher proportion of joint lesson observations is now undertaken to aid moderation between observers. Written observation records are sampled routinely as part of the college’s quality assurance processes. Inspectors, however, found too much variation in how observations are recorded. In a few cases, observation records do not Focused monitoring visit: Linkage College, 7 February 2012 4 of 5

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Progress

convincingly support the lesson grade awarded. In addition, actions derived from observations to help teachers improve are not always pertinent to the issues raised, lack clear timescales for improvement or are presented in a way that does not clearly prioritise and summarise the actions required.

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Progress

Teaching staff have received recent training on how to incorporate more naturally occurring equality themes within lessons and to integrate literacy and numeracy opportunities more successfully. Evidence from the college’s own observations this academic year show that while this is proving effective within some lessons, it is not yet widespread. The presence of speech and language therapists working directly with learners in lessons to support communication skills has risen substantially over the last 10 months. As a result, learners are able to participate more fully in learning and to practise their communication skills in different settings. Focused monitoring visit: Linkage College, 7 February 2012 5 of 5

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Progress

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Progress

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Progress

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