Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr J Prest Principal Barton Peveril College Chestnut Avenue Eastleigh SO50 5ZA

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progress and achieve

Thank you for your warm welcome and cooperation, and that of your staff and students, during my visit on 22 and 23 February 2012 to look at your work in supporting students to progress and achieve.

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progress and achieve

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our publication about best practice in supporting college students. The publication will include case studies about individual providers. If your college is included as a case study, you will have an opportunity to comment prior to publication. Individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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progress and achieve

The evidence used to inform the judgements included scrutiny of documentation and meetings with senior managers, teachers, personal tutors, support staff and students.

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Features of good practice observed

 Governors and senior managers have a strong commitment to ensuring students at the college receive a rounded education that takes into account their academic and personal development needs.  Thoughtful forward planning of how teaching and pastoral resources are used has allowed the college to continue to provide pastoral and tutorial support for students despite the recent changes to entitlement funding.  Very good support and guidance are provided for students from well- qualified staff who provide good value for money. This includes easy access to advice, guidance and counselling for students and a well- thought-through tutorial programme, blending group and individual activities that focus directly on the needs of the students.  The easy-to-use electronic system for recording teachers’ comments on students’ progress is linked to outcomes from students’ review meetings.  The well-planned curriculum enables students who are busy on their main

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Features of good practice observed

programmes of study to also participate in extension activities, such as the ‘Extended Project’, that challenge them, develop autonomy and have currency as qualifications in their own right.  The very well-organised and interesting enrichment activities focus on the curriculum, but also encourage students to collaborate with each other, have fun and face challenges. Furthermore, this helps them to prepare for further study and employment.  The well-developed support for gifted and talented students, such as those intent on pursuing careers at Oxbridge. In addition, very good support for students volunteering in the local community.  The college’s virtual learning environment has high-quality learning materials for students, not only in curriculum areas but also covering careers, study skills, access to counselling, UCAS advice and information on clubs and recreational activities.  The good cross-college programmes and collaboration with external

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Features of good practice observed

agencies provide activities focusing on healthy lifestyles, wellbeing and citizenship.  The high participation rate of students in the extensive sporting programme allows them to take part, and succeed in, local, regional and national competitions. In addition, non-competitive sporting and recreational activities are provided.  The high-quality facilities and learning environments are appreciated by the students together with less-formal curriculum study areas where students can study in a more relaxed environment.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 backing up the students’ electronic reviews, which contain a rich body of evidence about their progress, attendance and attitudes, with consistent, measurable targets that are negotiated and agreed by students and their tutors  ensuring that information and data from student surveys on the quality of reviews, parents’ email queries and referrals for subject support from tutorial reviews are recorded and quantified so that their impact on students’ achievements and success rates can be measured.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop your approaches to providing support for your students. As explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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