Liverpool Hope University Partnership

November 2012 This inspection was carried out by six of Her Majesty’s Inspectors, one seconded inspector and four additional inspectors in accordance with the Handbook for inspecting initial teacher education from September 2012 .

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The inspection draws upon evidence from each phase within the ITE partnership to make judgements against all parts of the evaluation schedule. Inspectors focused on the overall effectiveness of the ITE partnership in securing high-quality outcomes for trainees.

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Inspection judgements

Key to judgements: Grade 1 is outstanding; grade 2 is good; grade 3 is requires improvement; grade 4 is inadequate

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Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness How well does the partnership secure consistently high quality outcomes for trainees? 3 2

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Inspection judgements

The outcomes for trainees 3 2 The quality of training across the partnership 3 2 The quality of leadership and management across the partnership 3 2 Liverpool Hope University Partnership

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Inspection judgements

Initial Teacher Education inspection report Inspection Dates 19–22 November 2012 November 2012 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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Inspection judgements

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 November 2012

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Key findings

 The partnership produces high-quality secondary school teachers, particularly in English and modern foreign languages. The majority of primary trainees become good or better teachers but the teaching skills of a minority require improvement.  Many Hope trainees go on to teach in partnership schools. Several headteachers commented positively about the ‘Hope Teacher’ who takes a full part in professional school life and teaches with ‘moral purpose, the whole child’.  Trainees and former trainees develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.  Most trainees and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) establish and maintain good behaviour in the classes they teach. Most primary trainees do not have enough understanding of how to tackle different types of bullying.  Training in how to teach disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is of high quality. This ensures trainees, NQTs and

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Key findings

former trainees have high expectations for these groups of pupils and teach them well.  In the last two years, there has been significant improvement in how well primary trainees and NQTs teach phonics (the sounds letters make) and early reading skills. Primary trainees’ teaching of mathematics is less effective than their teaching of English. Secondary trainees teach literacy well through their subjects.

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To improve, the ITE partnership should:

 Make sure all placements in schools are always of high quality and so are effective in supporting the development of good and outstanding teachers.  Ensure that all data on trainees’ outcomes are rigorously collected and incisively used to inform high-quality improvement planning.

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Information about this ITE partnership

1. Liverpool Hope University works in partnership with more than 215 schools in Liverpool and in the surrounding local authorities. As an ecumenical provider, the university works with both faith and non-faith schools.

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Information about this ITE partnership

2. Training is provided for those wishing to teach in primary or secondary schools, through a range of routes, including some flexible part-time provision. It covers all age ranges from Early Years Foundation Stage to November 2012 the end of Key Stage 5. Courses include a secondary postgraduate route, a primary undergraduate course and primary postgraduate courses, both full time and part time, all of which lead to qualified teacher status (QTS). November 2012

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Information about the primary partnership

3. The partnership provides training towards qualified teacher status (QTS) through either the four-year primary Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree or through the postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). There are two options to gain a PGCE. The first is through a one-year full-time course. The second is through a two-year part-time course, but this route is being phased out this year. Trainees are able to specialise in teaching pupils in either the 3–7 age range or in the 5–11 age range.

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Information about the primary partnership

4. There is an option for PGCE trainees to specialise in modern foreign languages. As a part of this route, trainees have a placement teaching in France or Spain. BA trainees specialise in a subject or an aspect of primary teaching such as teaching disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. There are also opportunities for trainees to gain a certificate in Catholic or Anglican education.

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Information about the primary partnership

5. In September 2012, there were approximately 352 PGCE trainees and 728 BA trainees.

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Information about the primary partnership

6. At the time of the inspection, there were 165 primary schools within the partnership, predominantly across the North West region. There are also partnership schools in Northern Ireland. There has been a significant reduction in the number of schools within the partnership since the last inspection. There are relatively new systems in place to cluster schools together in a region, with a Hope University tutor attached to each cluster.

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

7. Four of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and two additional inspectors carried out the inspection of the primary courses. They observed trainees and NQTs teaching in 13 schools and visited one primary school to observe trainees learning how to teach phonics and early reading. They observed 12 lessons taught by NQTs and 16 taught by PGCE trainees. The BA trainees were not in school so were not seen teaching. Inspectors spoke to headteachers, teachers who oversee and organise the school-based training, and class teachers who work with trainees on a daily basis (class mentors).

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

8. Inspectors met seven groups of trainees from a range of year groups and courses. They also met and talked with trainees, NQTs and ex-Hope trainees in schools, and at the university in lectures and workshops. November 2012 9. Inspectors observed 11 university-based training sessions (workshops in science, mathematics and English, and lectures in English, information and communication technology (ICT), mathematics, and philosophy of education). Inspectors held discussions with university staff about leadership and management, recruitment and selection, and about the partnership. An inspector observed interviews for candidates who had applied to be trainees next year.

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

10. Inspectors scrutinised trainees and NQTs’ files and looked at a wide range of documentation, including improvement plans, subject leaders’ files, evaluations completed by trainees during and after the course, surveys completed by NQTs and data produced by the university.

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Inspection team

Allan Torr HMI: Primary phase lead inspector Graham Sherfield HMI: Assistant primary phase lead inspector Jane Jones HMI: subject inspector – thematic programme: mathematics Joanne Olsson HMI: Team inspector Juliet Ward: Team inspector Terry Holland: Team inspector

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The key strengths of the primary partnership are:

 The leadership of the English department, which has led to significant improvement in the way trainees are trained to teach phonics and early reading skills. As a result, most trainees now teach these aspects well.  The training in how to teach disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. This has enabled trainees and NQTs to have high expectations for these groups of pupils and to teach them well.  Trainees’ fulfilment of what it means to be a Hope teacher and their ability to establish and maintain good behaviour in their classes through positive relationships with the pupils they teach.  The responsive and effective action taken by leaders to make improvements to the courses and to trainees’ preparation to teach. November 2012

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The partnership should:

 Improve trainees’ ability to teach mathematics by modifying the training programme so that: - trainees understand better how to teach the concepts within different strands of mathematics across the full primary age range - trainees are more able to teach pupils how to use and apply mathematics well - school-based mentors have a better understanding of how to give subject-specific feedback and to help trainees in teaching pupils how to use and apply mathematics.

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The partnership should:

 Strengthen the quality assurance of school-based training to improve trainees’ employability by: - improving communication about school placements between the university, trainees and their schools - ensuring all schools new to the partnership have the information and training they need to deliver high-quality placements for trainees. - providing trainees with the experience of teaching a wider range of primary subjects and year groups - building on the cluster arrangements in the partnership to moderate mentors’ assessments of trainees and the quality of school-based training - making sure trainees know how to tackle different types of bullying, particularly homophobia and racist behaviour.

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The partnership should:

 Improve systems to quality assure university-based training and trainees’ teaching by: - collecting accurate data on trainee outcomes and using these strategically to inform course improvement plans, monitor the plans and evaluate the success of actions taken on outcomes for trainees. November 2012

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

11. Many trainees attain well by the end of the course and this picture is increasingly positive. However, outcomes require improvement in order to be good because recent improvements have not yet been consistently secured, particularly in relation to retention and employment rates. There are some differences between the attainment of groups of trainees. Male trainees attain less well than females and PGCE trainees attain less well than BA trainees.

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

12. Trainees and NQTs establish good relationships with pupils. They are good role models and fit within the partnership’s vision of a Hope teacher developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. They have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and their learning. As a result, they establish good behaviour in their classes. Trainees and NQTs use school rules, rewards and sanctions well to support them in maintaining good behaviour. They know how to use their voices, position and posture in the classroom to minimise any potential disruption to lessons.

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

13. Trainees and NQTs teach well-structured lessons but their teaching of English is stronger than mathematics. For example, some trainees have a limited knowledge of how to teach pupils to use and apply mathematics ; their lessons over focus on pupils solving word problems . Trainees take responsibility for auditing and enhancing their mathematical subject knowledge, but this does not strengthen their expertise in developing pupils’ conceptual understanding in mathematical strands from Nursery to Year 6 and beyond.

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

14. Trainees are now very well prepared to teach phonics and early reading. This has not always been the case. Too many teachers who have graduated from Hope in the last few years judge their preparation to teach these important aspects of English as inadequate. More recently, there has been a transformation. PGCE and BA trainees who have not yet finished the course spoke extremely positively about the training and how well they are prepared to teach early reading. Every trainee now has the opportunity to teach phonics and receive feedback on the quality of their teaching, and is given clear subject-specific action points. In lessons, trainees and NQTs model phonics well and teach pupils to read progressively more difficult words and books. There is scope for further improvement in making sure the teaching of phonics links reading better to writing and helps trainees to teach guided reading well, and to extend

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

pupils’ writing skills more effectively. In a few cases, the quality of NQTs’ teaching is impaired by their own weaknesses in speaking Standard English. November 2012 15. Trainees assess pupils’ understanding and their ability to learn by asking questions to gauge their understanding, by checking work throughout the lesson and by giving feedback through marking. Trainees have a less-secure understanding of how to use curriculum assessment systems that teachers use as an integral part of their work.

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The outcomes for trainees require improvement

16. The proportion of trainees who complete the course successfully has improved. In 2009, 85% of primary trainees finished the different courses, and the proportion rose in 2012 to 92%. The completion rate is high on the BA course and is now around average for the PGCE course. The partnership has insufficient information overall about the destination and employment of too many trainees from the recent past. The proportion of trainees who completed the course and gained employment as teachers is below average. Only two thirds of PGCE trainees in 2010 were known to be in employment and this proportion reduced further in 2011. Less than half of BA trainees completing the course in 2010 were known to be in employment. The proportion of BA trainees employed in schools increased strongly in 2011 to be around the national average.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

17. The quality of training is too variable. In some subjects, such as English, there is strong coherence between university- and school-based training. The majority of school placements provide good opportunities for trainees to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. In some cases, administrative problems have resulted in trainees’ placements providing a relatively narrow experience of the different age ranges. For example, too many trainees specialising in the 3–7 age range have had no placement in a Nursery, and too many specialising in the 5–11 age range have had no experience of teaching Key Stage 1 pupils. There has been lax quality assurance of school placements which has meant some trainees have had no opportunity to teach across National Curriculum subjects. This narrow knowledge of subjects and of year groups hinders trainees’ employability. Some trainees and NQTs told inspectors of weak

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

organisation of placements due to lack of communication to schools and trainees. On occasion, schools have been unaware of placements until trainees’ arrive. As a result, they have lacked the guidance documents from the university that set out roles and responsibilities.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

18. Class mentors assess trainees’ lesson observations weekly and their judgements are broadly accurate. Mentors’ written and oral feedback is linked well to the Teachers’ Standards, although mentors give only limited attention to the impact of the trainees’ teaching on pupils’ learning. Mentors focus too heavily on general classroom strategies, for example managing behaviour and resources, and do not provide enough November 2012 subject-specific feedback to help trainees improve their teaching of particular subjects, such as mathematics.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

19. Tutors from the university visit trainees to check their progress. They do this through joint observations of trainees’ teaching alongside the class mentor. Trainees value this additional perspective on their progress, which also fulfils a useful quality assurance role and provides tutors with opportunities to model feedback. However, some trainees report that joint observations have not taken place and feel that they have missed out on the advantages these offer and the opportunity other trainees have received for high-quality feedback.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

20. Training sessions for mentors include an appropriate focus on how to observe trainees teaching phonics. There is training for teachers new to mentoring, as well as for those with greater experience. This is supported by a ‘buddying’ system currently being introduced and focused on the sharing and development of trainers’ expertise. Some trainees said they had to show schools and mentors what to do, how to complete paperwork and how they should be supported on placement. This is because of communication difficulties with the university, late placements and new schools not being inducted properly into the partnership. To resolve this, mentors have been allocated to clusters of schools. Early indications are that this is supporting some promising collaborative developments, benefiting trainees and helping mentors to improve.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

21. There has been great success recently in improving the training in teaching phonics and reading. Trainees plan and teach phonics sessions for their peers and benefit from the opportunities to observe each other being taught. In some high-quality training sessions, groups of pupils have been brought to the university and taught by their teacher for trainees to observe and subsequently to plan their own teaching. In an outstanding training session, groups of trainees went to visit a school which provided high-quality demonstrations of how to teach phonics effectively.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

22. The content of university-based mathematics training has improved and the time assigned to mathematics has increased, following a sharp reduction last year. Sessions are appropriately informed by current developments in mathematics education and include aspects such as progression in calculation, misconceptions, and using and applying mathematics. Similarly, sessions are underpinned well by tutors using recent and relevant research, including Ofsted surveys. Mathematics lectures cover a lot of material, but with limited illustrative detail and examples. Tutors model generic teaching skills such as questioning to check and probe thinking well. Links with subject-specific practice are not made explicitly to enable trainees to connect their mathematical learning with their practice as teachers of mathematics. In particular, November 2012 trainees do not have a clear understanding of progression in problem

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

solving, communicating and reasoning. This impedes their ability to plan for, develop, and assess pupils’ skills in using and applying mathematics. Although tutors have circulated criteria to guide mentors’ observations of mathematics, the criteria do not have enough focus on evaluating pupils’ learning. Therefore, mentors’ feedback rarely includes discussion of how trainees can promote better learning in mathematics. The mathematics team is keen to reintroduce a programme of professional development to ensure tutors and mentors have the mathematical expertise to enable trainees to make good strides in learning to teach mathematics well.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

23. The quality of university-based training is variable. It is most successful when there is a high degree of interaction between lecturer and trainees, and frequent opportunities for trainees to think through teaching-related issues with a partner. Training is less successful when lecturers talk for too long, because trainees lose concentration. Workshops provide good opportunities for trainees in small groups to develop knowledge and understanding, and to consider their classroom practice with others.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

24. There has been a significant improvement in the quality of training for teaching disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Post-graduate trainees have benefited from a short placement in a special school, followed up with exploring approaches to special needs in a mainstream school. Some undergraduates have gained considerably from specialising in their third year in disabilities and special educational needs. Such provision has supported trainees in some profound rethinking of their approaches to teaching and learning generally. For example, trainees said that considering the viewpoint from parents and carers of disabled pupils had a significant impact on their practice.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

25. Trainees are positive about sessions on behaviour management, often involving outside expertise. They value the way in which approaches to behaviour management are embedded in lectures and workshops. Trainees’ understanding of how to tackle different types of bullying, for example those based on homophobia or racist behaviour, is weak. This is because there has not been enough training on how to tackle it.

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The quality of training across the partnership requires improvement

26. Many students have had the opportunity to work with pupils for whom English is an additional language on school placements, or to explore resources and approaches used in schools. Informal discussions between trainees about approaches they have used are particularly beneficial to those trainees with fewer opportunities to teach pupils for whom English is an additional language. November 2012

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requires improvement

27. There have been significant changes to leadership in the last year. There are, for example, new leaders of mathematics, the partnership and of initial teacher education. Despite these changes, the partnership has ensured all statutory regulations and requirements are met and has responded well to external scrutiny and advice, for example from external examiners and from the Department for Education.

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requires improvement

28. The new leadership has a clear vision for excellence and a determination, coupled with the capacity to improve. The leader of the English department has made significant improvements to the training in how to teach English, and consequently trainees feel more prepared and have improved their teaching. The new leader of the partnership has an accurate understanding of the improvements that need to be made. Strong and effective action has been taken to improve communication with schools. Work has begun to quality assure school placements. However, these actions are not fully in place. As a result, reports of poor communication with trainees, past mix-ups and poor administration of placements remain.

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requires improvement

29. Leaders of the BA and PGCE courses have an accurate understanding about the quality of what the partnership does and what it needs to do next. They have strengthened and improved systems to recruit trainees. However, leaders are aware that there is scope to strengthen recruitment procedures further to increase the proportion of good and better teachers by the end of the course. The leader of the PGCE course, for example, has started to introduce a system to give trainees personalised feedback after they have been interviewed. This is so they can start working on aspects they need to improve before they start the course. BA course tutors already provide feedback to trainees and use the results of the interviews to group trainees according to their strengths and their needs.

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requires improvement

30. Some partnership schools are involved in selecting candidates but a few say they had never been asked to take part. Through the partnership committee, schools help to shape the training and have a voice in feeding back strengths and aspects that need to be improved. There is a need to strengthen the role that schools play in improvement planning. This is also the case with the self-evaluation of how well partnership training is leading to high-quality outcomes for trainees.

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requires improvement

31. One of the main reasons why leadership requires improvement is because quality assurance is not yet good enough. The partnership does not check effectively that trainees’ experience on placements gives them the knowledge and experience to teach across the whole age range that November 2012 they are training to teach. Not enough checking takes place to ensure that all trainees have received their entitlement and have been trained in, and taught, every National Curriculum subject. For example, inspectors spoke to trainees who had not been observed by university tutors for some time for two years and to a few NQTs who had not taught some subjects, including design and technology, art and design, history and music.

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requires improvement

32. A new system is now in place to quality assure university-based training through peer observation and review. These surveys are too university- focused and do not gather the data the partnership needs to improve trainees’ attainment, employability and their retention on the course.

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requires improvement

33. The new head of initial teacher education has made improvements to data collection throughout the year to help the partnership evaluate and monitor how well it is tackling the actions in its improvement plan. There is still some way to go to improve the collection of data and to use it strategically to improve the quality of outcomes for trainees.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

St Bridget's Catholic Primary School Merton Bank Primary School Evelyn Street Community Primary School All Saints Catholic Primary School Heswall Primary School Childwall Church of England Primary School Hunts Cross Primary School Leamington Community Primary School St Cecilia’s Catholic Infant School Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School Malvern Primary School Holy Family Catholic Primary School Arnot St Mary C of E Primary School Hope School November 2012

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Information about the secondary partnership

34. The secondary provision comprises a one-year full-time course leading to the award of the PGCE in 10 subjects. These are English, mathematics, science (physics, chemistry and biology), information and communication technology (ICT), modern foreign languages, history, geography, music, performing arts and religious education. At the time of the inspection, there were 209 secondary trainees.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

35. Inspectors observed, jointly with school-based trainers, six trainees teaching. They also observed 15 newly qualified teachers (NQTs) from Liverpool Hope’s 2011/12 courses teaching.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

36. Inspectors observed central subject training sessions involving science, English, mathematics and geography trainees from the current cohort. Inspectors also held discussions with individual and groups of trainees, NQTs, trainers and senior leaders across the partnership.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

37. Inspectors considered a wide range of documentary evidence, including information related to recruitment and selection, statutory safeguarding and compliance with the initial teacher training criteria, tracking and assessment, trainees’ teaching evidence, analysis of outcomes for trainees and groups of trainees, self-evaluation and improvement plans.

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Inspection Team

Peter Gale HMI: Lead inspector Brian Cartwright HMI: Assistant lead inspector and subject inspector – thematic programme: science James McGrath: Team inspector Faysal Mikdadi: Team inspector Pippa Jenkinson: Team inspector

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 The consistently outstanding outcomes in some of the secondary subjects November 2012  The way the partnership consistently develops ‘Hope Teachers’ who take a full part in professional school life and teach with ‘moral purpose, the whole child’.  The training in how to teach disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs that ensures trainees and NQTs have high expectations for these groups of pupils and teach them well.  The value partnership schools place on Hope trainees and their employability in the local area; many schools have large numbers of former trainees on their staff.  The consistently good and better development of subject knowledge across secondary subjects that prepares trainees well.  The good understanding the trainees develop of the connection between teaching theory and practice through their training; this prepares them well to lead, as NQTs, on professional development of teachers in their

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The partnership should:

 Systematically collect and analyse all data pertinent to trainees’ outcomes and use it make improvement planning more incisive to tackle areas of relative weakness.  Improve outcomes so they are consistently outstanding across all secondary subjects by ensuring: - no trainees complete their training teaching lessons that are less than consistently good - even closer collaboration with partner schools so that placements are of equally high quality and lead to all trainees being highly employable.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

38. Trainees in all subject areas, completing in 2012 and observed as NQTs during this inspection, achieved high levels of completion and subsequent employment. In previous years, completion and employment have been inconsistent across the subjects offered. English and modern foreign languages trainees, for example, have achieved consistently high November 2012 levels of completion and employment over the last three years. This is not the case in ICT, science and history.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

39. Many NQTs go on to teach in partnership schools. These new teachers add significant value to their schools, and to the progress pupils make. This underpins the good reputation the partnership enjoys. Schools say they can ‘Trust Hope’ to deliver new teachers ready to take a full part in professional school life. Comments from schools about trainees’ ‘moral purpose’ and their ability in ‘teaching the whole child’ reflect positively the provider’s rigorous recruitment practices and training on whole- school aspects relating to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

40. Trainees are mostly highly competent and confident teachers by the end of the training. Most trainees’ teaching is consistently good by the end of their courses and attainment has been rising; 80% of NQTs observed by inspectors were regularly delivering good and better teaching and learning. For example, in a Year 7 English lesson on figurative language, outstanding teaching ensured that all pupils were fully engaged throughout the lesson. Pupils were then able to accurately assess their own good and better learning by the end of the lesson. Schools and inspectors were confident that the few NQTs not delivering consistently good teaching at the time of inspection would be doing so by the end of their induction year.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

41. Differences in the performance of different groups of trainees across the partnership are mostly related to subject choice. For example, female trainees, on average, attain at a higher level than their male counterparts. However, this is mainly due to their proportionately greater representation on subject courses with outstanding outcomes. All trainees maintain a very strong focus on how teaching has an impact on learning and the promotion of pupils’ good progress in lessons.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

42. Careful planning ensures trainees and NQTs all structure lessons well. Good and better planning also ensures NQTs manage the learning needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs well, effectively directing the work of teaching assistants. Trainees’ and NQTs’ strong subject knowledge usually helps them cater well for the varying ability needs of their classes, including those who are gifted and talented pupils. Inspectors saw many examples of NQTs and trainees dealing very well with behaviour issues. In one or two cases, some improvements are required, linked mainly to taking more note, at an early stage in the lesson, of pupils’ low-level chatter. November 2012

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

43. Trainees have a good understanding of literacy and numeracy as a result of effective university-based training sessions. Consequently, trainees have a well-developed understanding of how literacy and numeracy have an impact on learning in their subject. There are several university-based cross–subject training activities, for example joint training between mathematics and science trainees on numeracy in science.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

44. An increasingly effective strand of training is developing trainees’ skills and strategies for teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language. For example, science and geography students spend a week in Poland, teaching in Polish schools. For trainees in other subjects, placements ensure that they get to work with pupils for whom English is an additional language, even though the proportions of such pupils are low in many of the partnership schools. Training to teach disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is strong.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

45. In most cases, school-based mentoring is good or better, with mentors’ skills in observation and feedback being used very effectively to evaluate trainees’ progress. Feedback on trainees’ strengths and areas for development is thorough. Mentors’ written and oral feedback is linked well to the Teachers’ Standards. The transfer of information from university to placement one, then between placements, is effective and allows uninterrupted progression for most trainees. NQTs consistently report that the partnership works well to ensure that placements are complementary in nature and give them good access to teaching a wide variety of pupils.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

46. Trainee and NQT feedback on the quality of their placements and school-based training is mostly very positive, and improving. There are some exceptions. Quality assurance systems are effective at picking up weaknesses and ensuring that they do not persist year-on-year. However, in a few cases, placements are below the high quality Hope expects of its partnership. The few NQTs who experienced this during their training felt the university responded well and the setback did not have a significant impact on their progress overall. Mentors value their own training by the partnership and schools value the improvements in mentors’ coaching skills. Not all mentors manage to attend training and occasionally weaker placement evaluations, completed by trainees, are linked to a lack of mentor training. The partnership recognises this and carries out extra training in school to compensate.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

47. High-quality professional studies lectures and seminars develop trainees’ understanding about schools and their context very well. These are carefully linked to school placement activity, to make the content as November 2012 relevant as possible. A ‘virtual school’ task helps trainees create the strategic policies for a new school based on one of the many different types of school now operating in the secondary phase. Trainees learn of the deeper theory that underpins assessment, planning, questioning and progression. Additionally, some subject training is based in schools and utilises outstanding practitioners very effectively to put theory in a school context. As a result, schools recognise significant strengths in their NQTs’ knowledge of theory into practice, for example having NQTs lead whole-school professional development sessions on assessment. However, inspectors noted a few NQTs had not routinely established

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

their understanding in their own practice; their marking and written feedback required improvement.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

48. The quality of science training is good across the partnership, including high-quality university-based training. Science trainees attend very effective in-depth subject knowledge enhancement sessions at the university, in order to specialise in one of the three separate sciences to GCE A level. Additional training is tailored to the needs of each trainee to equip them to teach any science to GCSE. Trainees are effectively taught how to use scientific enquiry with pupils, and to place scientific phenomena at the heart of their teaching. Mentors ensure trainees practise experimental procedures before using them in the classroom. Trainers expertly model science teaching techniques, including questioning, and using the science content as the interest and motivation for learning. Most trainees respond well to the pace and good humour evident in very well-resourced practical training sessions. Occasionally, trainees hold a misconception of their own that has not

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

been identified by their subject knowledge self-audit, or by their mentors. Science training is very well linked to the professional studies programme, particularly in assessment.

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good

49. There have been significant changes to leadership in the last two years, usually promotions from within the partnership. There are, for example, new leaders of secondary training, the partnership and of initial teacher education. Good leadership and management over time have resulted in good training and outcomes for trainees. There are improvements in the quality of training since the last inspection and attainment, completion and employment rates are rising. The partnership steering group includes strong school representation and is chaired by a partnership headteacher. The steering group engages positively with the partnership leadership and ensures school perspectives of training are given a strong voice. Schools are not as involved in shaping the strategic leadership of the partnership as they could be. November 2012 50. Rigorous selection procedures, a strength at the time of the last inspection, usually involve school staff and secure the recruitment of

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good

increasingly high calibre trainees. Some subject courses are heavily oversubscribed and this allows the partnership to recruit early and set rigorous personalised pre-course tasks to drive trainees’ progress from the beginning of training. Other courses occasionally recruit to their target quite late in the year. This makes the involvement of school staff in the process difficult, particularly in July and August, and leaves little time for pre-course personalisation. Increasingly, Hope trainees have impressive pre-entry qualifications and significant pre-experience in education settings.

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good

51. Regular monitoring and tracking of trainees’ progress supports trainees’ good progress and outcomes effectively. The partnership’s new electronic tracker is already bringing further improvements in timely data collection. This is giving leaders up-to-date knowledge of trainees’ progress and achievement, and facilitating even more timely intervention to support trainees’ progress. Self-evaluation is accurate against the data the partnership holds. However, some staffing difficulties in the partnership office mean that the partnership is not completely secure about its employment data over time. Recent improvements in tracking former trainees are bringing benefits to the partnership’s understanding of its trainees’ outcomes. Furthermore, the partnership increasingly understands the importance of being able to incisively analyse the quality of teaching and views of former trainees in their schools. As a result, the partnership is looking to extend the

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good

partnership steering group with NQT representation.

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good

52. Reviews of the courses are informed well by a wide range of internal and external satisfaction surveys. Whole-course and subject-level planning correctly target improvements in provision and outcomes. Plans do not always incisively target measurable improvements in outcomes based on a thorough analysis of current performance. The secondary leadership knows the partnership well and is trusted by schools to further improve the training and quality of NQTs in local schools. This and the partnership’s track record of improvement demonstrate good capacity to improve further. November 2012

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

South Wirral High School Saint Francis Xavier College The Belvedere Academy Hillside High School St Edward’s College Neston High School Woodchurch High School Wade Deacon High School Fazakerley High School Calderstones Community College The Mosslands High School Notre Dame Catholic College St Margaret’s High School Weatherhead High School November 2012

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ITE partnership details

Unique reference number Inspection number Inspection dates Lead inspector Type of ITE partnership Phases provided Date of previous inspection Previous inspection report

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ITE partnership details

Provider address 19–22 November 2012 Peter Gale HMI HEI Primary and Secondary 9–13 May 2011 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection- reports/find-inspection- report/provider/ELS/70130 Hope Park Liverpool L16 9JD

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