University of Derby

Initial Teacher Education inspection report

Provider address Kedleston Road Derby DE22 1GB

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Initial Teacher Education inspection report

Unique reference number Inspection number Inspection dates Lead inspector 06 – 10 February 2012 Richard Beynon 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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Initial Teacher Education inspection report

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 one of 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 Derby works in partnership with two colleges: Stephenson College, which joined the partnership in 2004, and Vision West Notts, which joined in 2008. Partner colleges deliver only part-time, in-service programmes at their own sites. The University provides directly delivered full-time pre-service and part-time in-service routes at its Kedleston Road campus.

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The provider

4. Courses lead to the university’s Professional Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) and Professional Graduate Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (GDTLLS). Courses contain an integrated Certificate to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (CTLLS) qualification. These qualifications meet the statutory requirements and are endorsed by Standards Verification UK. 5. Currently, 174 trainees follow these courses, of whom 47 are pre-service, 127 are in-service delivered through partner colleges and 41 are in-service trainees on courses delivered directly by the university at the main campus in Derby. Approximately 7% of trainees are from minority ethnic backgrounds and 59% are female.

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Key strengths

6. The key strengths are: the very rapid development of professional attributes amongst trainees the outstanding training and assessment which results in trainees being highly reflective of their practice and possessing a good understanding of their own professional development needs the trainees’ very good understanding of, and preparation for, working in the wider lifelong learning sector as a result of well-informed and wide-ranging initiatives to broaden the reach of provision into the lifelong learning sector the trainees’ skills in planning lessons that focus clearly on students’ learning, progress and individual needs the high quality feedback and commentary on written assignments and in response to lesson observations which has had a positive impact on accelerating trainees’ progress the strength of partnership working which allows trainees to benefit from consistent and rigorously applied quality standards across provision.

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Recommendations

7. In order to improve trainees’ progress and attainment, the provider/partnership should: improve trainees’ use of, and confidence in, the virtual learning environment by developing its capacity as an interactive learning tool increase mentors’ awareness of the progress made by full-time pre-service trainees by involving them fully in the trainees’ first milestone review point discussions enhance pre- and in-service university trainees’ understanding of the training programme by creating opportunities for both groups to meet and share experiences at an early stage of their training review the usefulness of the personal development plan and personal development journal so that trainees do not have to duplicate their recording of targets and their reflections on progress and professional development.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

8. The overall effectiveness of the partnership in securing high quality outcomes for trainees is good. 9. Trainees’ attainment is good. Trainers at the University and in partner colleges assess trainees’ achievement accurately. Since the previous inspection, the partnership has reviewed and improved the method of assessing attainment, which has led to much more reliable and consistent judgements across partners. Success rates for trainees have been high across the partnership for the past two years. A good proportion of pre-service trainees’ progress into teaching or further study. Across the partnership, progression into higher levels of study is very good, with many trainees now moving through CTLLS, DTLLS and on to BA Education or Masters degrees at the university.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

10. Progress for most trainees is good, and for some, very rapid. Very quickly, trainees become reflective, professionally aware practitioners who have a very good understanding of their own progress and development needs. They develop a good understanding of the links between theories learnt and their own classroom practice. Trainees use their journals well to record and reflect upon the comments of trainers and mentors. In their lesson planning, trainees show a good concern for, and understanding of, their individual student’s needs. Trainees also develop good skills in classroom management, and have a good understanding of ways to best support students with specific educational or other support needs.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

11. Arrangements for recruitment and selection are good. Trainees felt well treated and fully informed during interview and enrolment. Careful checking of trainees’ prior vocational qualifications and skills at the application stage ensures that all have a realistic chance to benefit from training and achieve professional status. Application materials include a very clear and helpful guide that enables trainees to understand the difference between associate and full teacher roles. Employers of in-service trainees are involved at any early stage, to ensure that all trainees meet the minimum teaching experience requirements. Initial assessment of literacy and numeracy skills is thorough across the partnership, and any identified needs are quickly met during training. There is no discernible difference in rates of progress or success between identifiable groups. Retention rates on all programmes across the partnership are high.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

12. Training and assessment are outstanding across the partnership. Trainers routinely model best practice in their teaching and are adept at drawing trainees’ attention to techniques and methods successfully employed during sessions. Trainers use a wide range of successful strategies to bring together theory and practice, and trainees have plentiful opportunities to experiment and develop confidence in exploring what they have learned. During classroom activities and in assignments, trainers make excellent use of trainees’ wide range of employment backgrounds and vocational experiences. Trainees respond extremely well to the quality of training and make rapid progress from a wide variety of starting points, on in- and pre-service programmes. Programme design is good, and excellent systems are in place to review the success of each module. A particularly successful and productive feature of the provision is the

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

alternative placement during which trainees visit and observe in an unfamiliar setting. The placement outcomes are skilfully used by trainers to broaden understanding of the wider lifelong learning sector, and to provide trainees with a range of skills that may be employed with a variety of learners. Trainees also reflect positively on their experiences and many successfully adapt elements from observed lessons for use in their own teaching.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

13. Mentors provide very good support for trainees in all settings, and their feedback following observations is sometimes exceptional in its subject specific focus. Mentors and tutors know the trainees very well, have a clear understanding of their strengths and development needs, and are equally clear about the ways they should work best to ensure trainees succeed. Currently, however, full-time pre-service mentors are not included in progress discussions at their trainees’ first milestone review; many feel that such involvement would be useful and would further enhance their understanding of progress made by mentees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

14. Trainees receive high levels of support in preparation for assignments. Feedback on written work is very clear, detailed and constructive. Trainees value the depth and helpfulness of feedback, and the range of developmental comment from trainers. Trainees use their personal development journals well to reflect and record progress and learning following assignments and observations. Trainers set clear and effective targets for trainees, and these are generally well recorded in personal development plans. However, the duplication and overlap of function between personal development journals and personal development plans leads to some duplication and unnecessary recording of reflective comments and targets for trainees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

15. Resources to support training at the university campus are currently good. During the coming year programme delivery will move to a new suite of purpose built rooms, which will provide outstanding accommodation and resources. The university ‘Learning Space’ provides trainees and staff with good access to the latest electronic learning and communications resources, with very good support in place from the LEI staff. At partner colleges, accommodation and teaching and learning resources are excellent. However, the partnership virtual learning environment (VLE) lacks interactivity, and is currently used by most staff and trainees as a repository for course materials. Trainees at partner colleges make good use of college VLEs.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

16. Measures to promote and monitor equality of opportunity are good. The course is promoted widely in the lifelong learning sector, and marketing materials present positive images of those under-represented in initial teacher education. Currently, minority ethnic participation in the programme is around 7%, which represents a decrease of 2 percentage points since the previous inspection. However, participation rates for identifiable minority groups remain above the proportion of such groups within the regional population. Trainees have a good understanding of recent equalities legislation and how it impacts on their setting. They are also confident in approaching equalities matters in their own teaching.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

17. Partnership working is good with some outstanding features. Staff across the partnership value the inclusive nature of frequent debates about structures and programme direction, and these have been well focussed on improving trainees’ outcomes. Staff at colleges have a good understanding of the way that close partnership working benefits trainees, and have a very clear understanding of programme rationale and developments. Training and moderation events have been well received by staff and very productive in improving the quality of assessment and other aspects of provision. Annual review activities are constructive and forward-looking, and college and university staff value and benefit from the positive and developmental focus of partnership meetings. At the time of inspection, however, the VLE was under-utilised as a partnership- wide platform for debate and good practice sharing amongst trainers and

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

trainees. Very good use is made of the positive and detailed external examiners’ reports to further improve trainees’ outcomes.

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Grade: 2

18. The partnership has good capacity to sustain high quality outcomes.

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Grade: 2

19. Managers have taken a series of clear and effective actions to address the actions and recommendations from the previous inspection. In all aspects for improvement, the partnership has either entirely implemented improvements, or these are well underway. These have had a beneficial impact on trainees’ experiences during their training and on trainees’ outcomes. Since 2010, the placement of all strands of initial teacher education in the same university school of study and department has brought a range of benefits. In particular, there has been good transfer of best practice from the outstanding primary phase of teacher education lifelong learning. For example, the university placement unit now administers the teaching placements for pre-service trainees, which has made the process more efficient and enabled better monitoring by staff. The cross-phase moderations and the observation visits made by staff across teacher

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Grade: 2

education settings have also led to improvements in the consistency of grading of all aspects of trainees’ progress.

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Grade: 2

20. Senior level liaison between university and college management is productive and collaborative. Partner colleges have readily adopted many university processes because they understand that their rationale is to bring about benefits for trainees. Across the partnership, training staff are fully included in decision making. Managers now make good use of trainees’ views to improve programmes and enhance outcomes, an aspect of quality assurance that was ineffective at the previous inspection. Feedback from exit interviews and on- course feedback is closely analysed, and actions quickly implemented. For example, the beneficial alternative placement process was established in response to trainees’ requests for increased awareness of other lifelong learning settings and contexts. Also, training teams across the partnership are now reviewing data on gender balance, ethnicity, progress of those with learning

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Grade: 2

difficulties, in systematic fashion. Good tracking of destination and first employment data ensures that trainers understand the trainees’ needs and can adapt the provision to maximise employability and market flexibility.

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Grade: 2

21. The training team and partnership managers have responded well to developments in local and national arenas. Trainers have undertaken very thorough and extensive research to ensure that future programmes will meet a wide range of trainees’ needs and, particularly, enhance trainees’ employability and mobility in the sector. University strategic investment funding has been judiciously utilised to pay for a partnership development manager to establish new links with work-based learning and other providers beyond college settings. An effective vision for future provision involves the re-validation of programmes into two streams, providing clear routes for college-based partnership trainees and for trainees from a range of settings in the wider lifelong learning sector. The partnership carried out a very thorough market intelligence study of strengths, opportunities, threats to future provision prior to embarking on new

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Grade: 2

developments. Good collaborative working with University of Derby Corporate has led to the development of new bespoke provision for a number of major industrial and community-based partners. Such collaboration has brought about a range of developments in provision, which involves more structured delivery around skills development at lower levels, with incremental build towards blended learning approaches and more independent learning methods at higher levels.

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Grade: 2

22. The partnership’s annual development day continues to involve all partners. Its close focus on trainees’ outcomes, curriculum improvement and quality of delivery allows trainers to share experiences and engage in valuable good- practice sharing. A popular yearly partnership conference gives partners an opportunity to engage with current research and development in initial teacher education. Several trainers at partner colleges are undertaking higher degrees at the university, and a number of action research projects have usefully informed aspects of training. University trainers continue to pursue research and external networking, which they use well to inform programme quality, developments and changes. Such research activity also encourages trainees to develop a better understanding of teaching as a research-based profession, and enhances their professional development as reflective self-improving practitioners. The

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Grade: 2

university continues to act as regional centre for the learning and skills research network, which encourages collaborations beyond the partnership and affords useful insights for programme development.

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Grade: 2

23. Course evaluation and self assessment are well established amongst all partners and suitably thorough and self critical. Self evaluation is accurate in its identification of strengths and areas for development of provision, with the exception of training and assessment, where inspectors rated the training as outstanding. External examining and internal moderation and verification processes are well established and effective in maintaining the quality of assessment and delivery. Course teams are very responsive to trainees’ comments and they share a desire to improve outcomes on all programme elements. Discussions at course team meetings and partnership meetings show a clear and productive focus on trainees’ progress and outcomes. Action planning and development planning are clear and well articulated processes, which focus closely on improving trainees’ experiences and outcomes. Close and constructive partnership relations enable improvements to provision to be

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Grade: 2

discussed quickly and widely, with changes made rapidly.

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Annex: Partnership colleges

The partnership includes the following colleges: Stephenson College Vision West Notts

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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? Trainees’ attainment How well do trainees attain?

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Overall effectiveness

Factors contributing to trainees’ attainment To what extent do recruitment / selection arrangements support high quality outcomes? To what extent does the training and assessment ensure that all trainees progress to fulfil their potential given their ability and starting points? To what extent are available resources used effectively and efficiently? The quality of the provision To what extent is the provision across the partnership of consistently high quality? Promoting equalities and diversity To what extent does the provision promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and eliminate harassment and unlawful discrimination?

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

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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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