University of Cumbria ITE Partnership

September 2012 This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors, seconded inspectors and 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 and separate programme 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? 2 2

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Inspection judgements

The outcomes for trainees 2 2 The quality of training across the partnership 2 2

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Inspection judgements

The quality of leadership and management across the partnership 2 2 University of Cumbria ITE Partnership

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Inspection judgements

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) inspection report 26–29 November 2012 PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Inspection judgements

September 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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Inspection judgements

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 PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Key findings

 Schools and settings display strong commitment to the partnership and play a leading role in the training. This means trainees gain an effective range of experience which helps prepare them for teaching in schools.  Both primary and secondary trainees promote literacy very effectively. Primary trainees’ confidence and competence in teaching phonics (the linking of letters and the sounds they make) has improved. Secondary trainees promote accurate use of written and spoken language and focus on subject-specific vocabulary.  Trainees in both phases benefit from training that helps them promote good behaviour in pupils. Trainees understand the links between good behaviour and good learning.  Leaders in both phases have been successful in bringing about improvements that are reaping rewards in ensuring trainees are successfully prepared to teach.

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To improve the ITE partnership should:

 Strengthen the arrangements for quality assurance so that in:  the primary phase checks take place to ensure all tutors use the same approach to report and record how well each trainee has achieved at each key assessment  the secondary phase evaluations from school-based mentors enable leaders and managers to monitor more effectively how the quality of provision changes over time.

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Information about this ITE partnership

1. This partnership is the largest provider of initial teacher education in England. There are nearly 2,500 trainees (known by the partnership as student teachers).

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Information about this ITE partnership

2. For those wishing to train to teach primary pupils, the university offers full-time three- and four-year programmes leading to qualified teacher status (QTS) as well as a full-time and flexible distance-learning programmes leading, on successful completion, to the award of a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). For those wishing to teach in the secondary sector, there is a three-year programme leading to QTS and a full-time postgraduate programme. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Information about the primary partnership

 The partnership is very large numbering over 1,500 primary schools and settings in 40 clusters from all over England and in Northern Ireland. There are over 2,000 trainees on a range of courses. On the undergraduate courses there are 1,570 trainees of whom 217 are specialising in Early Years, 69 in special educational needs, and 410 in one of 10 primary-age related subjects.  There are 283 trainees on the general PGCE route and 47 have a focus on Early Years. Two-hundred and sixty trainees follow the distance learning PGCE. Training is centred in schools and three regional campuses: Lancaster, Carlisle and Tower Hamlets.

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

 The inspection of the primary courses was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and three additional inspectors. Trainees and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) were observed teaching in 15 schools. In two of these schools, an inspector observed trainees learning how to teach phonics and early reading.  Seventeen parts of lessons taught by undergraduate and PGCE trainees were observed, as were four taught by NQTs. Inspectors also spoke to headteachers and school-based mentors who are known by the partnership as associate or partnership tutors.  Meetings or video-conference discussions were held with five groups of trainees from a range of year groups and courses. Discussions were also held with trainees and NQTs in schools and in sessions at the Lancaster campus.  An inspector observed a training session in mathematics and another inspector observed part of the interview day for candidates who had

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

applied to be trainees in 2013.  Discussions were held with partnership colleagues about leadership and management, recruitment and selection, and the quality of training. Inspectors scrutinised trainees’ files and looked at a wide range of documentation including improvement plans and evaluations of work undertaken.  Inspectors took into account the findings of the national NQT survey and the 347 responses to the online inspection questionnaire for trainees. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Inspection team

Mark Williams HMI: lead inspector Eileen Mulgrew HMI: assistant lead inspector with focus on mathematics Rajinda Harrison: team inspector Terry Holland: team inspector Rebecca Lawton: team inspector

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The key strengths of the primary partnership are:

 the very good improvements in the quality of school-based training in phonics which have led to trainees displaying greater confidence and competence in teaching this important aspect of early reading  the passion which trainees have for their chosen profession and the increasingly sharp way in which they reflect on the quality of their own teaching and its impact on how well their pupils learn  the way in which trainees manage the behaviour of their pupils and see the link between good learning and good behaviour  the way training in mathematics shows trainees how to teach this subject effectively in the classroom so that, even at a very early stage in their training, they find opportunities to see how mathematics could be taught across other subjects and, most importantly, enable their pupils to make progress in their learning  the commitment of schools to the partnership which has resulted in trainees gaining a wide range of experience in schools which has

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The key strengths of the primary partnership are:

successfully prepared them for employment in very small rural or large urban schools.

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The partnership should:

 within and across clusters check that all tutors use the same approach to report and record how well each trainee has achieved at each key assessment, including where expectations are exceeded  develop trainees’ skills further in finding how effectively their pupils are learning during and at the end of lessons so that activities are reshaped according to need. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The outcomes for trainees are good

3. By the end of their chosen courses trainees’ attainments are good. An increasing number of trainees are judged correctly by the partnership as outstanding, particularly on the distance-learning PGCE course. Also improving are the numbers of trainees seeing their courses through to completion. The overall figure of 92% doing so is above average. On the full-time PGCE courses the figure is even higher at 98%.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

4. By the end of their training most trainees teach consistently good lessons and can do so in a range of contexts. For example, two trainees responded very effectively to the challenges set in which pupils regularly move between short activities taking place both inside and outside the classroom. Thanks to the high-quality input from the school-based mentors, these trainees were quickly able to adapt to this approach. They were also able to consider thoughtfully how their pupils’ (several of whom had special educational needs) understanding of pictograms and related vocabulary could be enhanced further. Such abilities make the ‘Cumbria trainee’ an asset to schools. It is not surprising that employment rates have improved markedly.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

5. The ‘Cumbria trainee’ is passionate about his or her chosen profession. Trainees are keen to learn and put into practice what they have been taught in both school- and university-based training. This is seen in the way they think of ways to plan and teach that makes their pupils’ learning fun and effective. For example, a first-year trainee, just eight days into her first school experience, stimulated a group of more-able Key Stage 2 pupils by challenging them to think of ways in which fractions, decimals and percentages could be linked together. Using the exciting resources she had made, the pupils answered correctly questions such as ‘What is 40% of 80?’ and ‘How else might sixth eighths be written as a fraction?’. When asked after the lesson how the pupils might have made even better progress, the trainee offered extended questioning such as ‘What is 12% of 55?’ so that answers needed to be given as whole numbers and decimals. This level of

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The outcomes for trainees are good

thinking is typical of the ‘Cumbria trainee’. Sometimes, however, trainees miss opportunities at the end of lessons to find out how effectively their pupils are learning and, more importantly, during lessons so that activities can be re-shaped according to need.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

6. Former trainees are able to teach successfully in a range of settings. For example, one NQT who has found employment in a small rural school was able to keep her pupils interested in Christmas-related activities such as making decorations from nets, measuring and cutting sticky paper to make paper chains, using the ‘sh’ sound to shine their torches PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The outcomes for trainees are good

September 2012 and to find shadows, and encourage early writing skills in letters to Father Christmas. Her 30 pupils aged from four to seven were interested, worked hard and explained clearly what they were learning. In addition, the teacher ensured her teaching assistant was also clearly focused on what the pupils were to do and learn.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

7. Over time NQTs have not always been positive about the training they have received and particularly so about that relating to phonics. The most recent national NQT survey, reflecting the views of final-year trainees who left in July 2011, showed signs of improvement. The partnership did not wait for these results to be published before taking action. Instead, and immediately following the inspection of May 2011, the partnership set about, with urgency, to address the recommendations made by inspectors. As a result, the quality of university- and centre-based training has improved. Of the trainees who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, 97% were confident the training would make them a good or better teacher and an equal percentage was as confident they would be able to meet the Teachers’ Standards.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

8. Schools are central to this partnership and the development of the ‘Cumbria teacher’. Schools are good or better venues for training. The documentation provided to support trainees and school-based mentors is clear and consistent across all courses. It explains the partnership’s view that experience in school starts out as ‘beginning’, then is ‘developing’ and becomes ‘extended’. Training is embedded in schools with mentors knowledgeable about what trainees have completed at the university. Mentors report their training is of good quality and focuses on getting the best out of trainees and their pupils.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

9. Overall the assessment of trainees is accurate, including at the pass/fail boundary, and it is increasingly focused on the learning and progress of pupils. Any identified weaker practice in assessment is addressed in future training and updates. However, there is some inconsistency in the way trainees’ progress on each school placement is recorded. While helpful targets are set to help trainees move on, on occasions there is a ceiling put on the grade trainees can attain at the end of each placement. This means trainees may have good or outstanding characteristics but are recorded only as ‘satisfactory’.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

10. Very good improvements have been made in the quality of school-based training in phonics. As a result, trainees are more confident and competent in teaching this important aspect of early reading. This is due in no small part to the significant contribution made by the ‘Cumbria Teacher of Reading’ programme. This has ensured all staff checking on the progress trainees are making in teaching phonics are aware of what PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

September 2012 they are looking for. In addition, it is enabling the partnership to ensure trainees can put into practice in schools their skills in using this approach to teach reading. It is also identifying quickly trainees who, for whatever reason, need more support and providing them equally swiftly with the means to access it.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

11. During the course of the inspection two school-based training sessions in phonics and early reading were observed. Both were outstanding in quality. In one, trainees taught small groups of pupils from Key Stage 1 and were observed by teachers and trained teaching assistants. Probing discussions then took place between the trainees and the observers to highlight what learning had taken place and what could be improved. Trainees then fed this understanding into their plans for subsequent sessions. Later on in the training session a higher-level teaching assistant, dressed as the ‘Phonic Fairy’, expertly taught an outstanding session in which both pupils and trainees were used very skilfully to demonstrate how words such as ‘bone’ use split digraphs. In another session six fourth-year trainees, having spent the morning observing two teachers, reported their findings. Again probing questions by the school-

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

based tutors prepared the trainees very effectively for them to plan the next steps in their pupils’ learning. In both sessions trainees’ confidence, and more importantly competence, in teaching phonics and early reading were greatly enhanced.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

12. Equally impressive is the training in mathematics. Trainees report they are no longer fearful of teaching this subject. This is because tutors themselves demonstrate how to use and apply mathematics in different situations so that activities for pupils are practical and exciting and, most importantly, lead to pupils making progress in their learning. Sessions with many practical ideas link very effectively the teaching of mathematics with strategies to promote good behaviour. In a session for second-year trainees, the trainees were asked to work out the number of handshakes needed if all trainees shook hands with each other. This generated much debate about how to work this out to reach an answer. As a result of high-quality training, trainees’ planning of mathematics lessons is detailed showing, for example, how a trainee had planned progress through subtraction and the questions necessary to deepen

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

their pupils’ thinking. Good links are made with other subjects such as science and design technology to show trainees how more meaningful activities can be presented to their pupils. Resources for mathematics are high quality and they aid trainees’ planning and teaching in the classroom. In addition, the university’s website includes information about mathematics which NQTs can access.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

13. Ninety-four per cent of trainees who responded to the online inspection questionnaire were confident that the training was successfully preparing them in promoting good behaviour and in using a range of PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

September 2012 strategies to promote this quality. This confidence is accurately placed, as demonstrated in lessons observed and the way good relations with pupils are quickly established. Most importantly trainees recognise that good pupil behaviour is inextricably linked to the quality of teaching and learning. Trainees’ understanding of how to tackle different types of bullying, including that based on racism or homophobia, is good.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

14. Trainees are also fully prepared to teach the range of needs they find in their classrooms. The partnership’s module on including pupils with disability, special educational needs and English as an additional language is rated highly. Inclusion is a key component of all the training with, for example, trainees considering the needs of Traveller children in English modules. Specific school-based tasks in and between placements are effective at keeping inclusion at the forefront of trainees’ thinking.

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good

15. Since the university was established in 2007 it has been through a time of significant change, not least through the widely reported transfer of trainees from the popular site in Ambleside because of financial considerations. Without a doubt these upheavals influenced the NQT surveys in the past, in part explaining why responses had been so negative. Nevertheless, the partnership has not sought to use this as an excuse. On the contrary, it has remained focused on improving outcomes for its trainees and the pupils they teach. Its vision of the ‘Cumbria teacher’ is clear and the improving employment rates are testament to schools’ understanding of this. Headteachers are positive and spoke with inspectors about the strides the university and the partnership has made. A very few schools, however, were less positive about the distance-learning PGCE course although trainees’ attainment by the end of this course is good. Overall, the steps the partnership has

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good

taken to improve trainees’ confidence and competence to be good or better teachers have been effective. This is a good recommendation for the future.

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good

16. The partnership has not stood still since its last inspection 17 months ago. Leaders of mathematics, for example, in their clear vision for good and better teaching in the subject, have analysed trainee satisfaction data. In response, they have introduced a module for Early Years’ trainees to tackle the teaching of calculation skills. They have also increased the number of sessions delivered for teaching division.

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good

17. Good progress has been made with phonics and early reading. The ‘Cumbria Teacher of Reading’ programme is understood by trainers and trainees alike. While just 43% of the trainees who left in 2011 agreed the training had given them confidence to teach phonics, the PROTECT - INSPECTION

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good

September 2012 partnership’s own survey of trainees leaving in July 2012 and the online inspection survey both highlighted much higher rates of satisfaction.

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good

18. Schools are very much at the heart of this partnership. The piloting of a school-embedded approach with the PGCE courses was exactly the right step to take given the size and geographical spread of the partnership. The pilot proved to be most successful. All courses have adopted this approach so that training formerly carried out at one of the university’s bases is now delivered in school. This has the benefit of ensuring trainees are applying theory to practice in real situations with pupils on hand consistently across all courses. Schools themselves deliver a wide range of training opportunities attended not only by trainees but by partnership staff so that all are aware of what is going on and, more importantly, the quality of the training delivered. This model of training is successfully preparing the partnership for the challenges and demands of potential changes to initial teacher education in order to have more

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good

19. The partnership has a good understanding of its strengths and what needs to be improved. It makes good use of a range of trainee surveys and external examiners, and responds promptly to suggestions. In response to requests for greater school involvement, clusters of schools were established to share good practice and to check consistency between the gradings different school-based mentors and partnership tutors give to trainees. Nevertheless, given the potential that a false ceiling may be placed on some trainees during each placement, there is scope for these effective arrangements for clustering schools to be strengthened by more rigorous checking within and across the clusters.

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good

20. The partnership has a strong and long-established reputation for widening participation in initial teacher education, particularly through its work on the Tower Hamlets campus. This continues and above-average numbers of trainees from minority-ethnic backgrounds are recruited. In addition, the distance-learning PGCE continues to be a great asset to those who may otherwise be lost to teaching. Trainees and NQTs who were interviewed report how the procedures at interview are fair and rigorous.

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good

21. All statutory requirements are met. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

Baines Endowed Thornton Cleveleys VC Primary Bowerham Community Primary Brunswick School Cockerham Parochial C of E Primary Kirkoswald C of E Primary Moor Park Primary Morecambe and Heysham Westgate Primary Northfold Primary Quernmore C of E Primary Ribbleton Avenue Infant Sacred Heart Catholic Primary St Bernard’s Catholic Primary St Mary’s Catholic Primary St Stephen’s C of E Primary Wreay C of E Primary PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Information about the secondary partnership

 The University of Cumbria’s secondary trainees follow one of two programmes leading to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS). Most trainees follow a full-time, one-year PGCE; a smaller number are on a three-year undergraduate programme leading to a BA/BSc honours degree. Recruitment for the undergraduate programme stopped from 2012 so at the time of the inspection all trainees on the programme were in Year 2 or Year 3 of their training. PGCE places are available in 12 secondary subjects, with the largest numbers in English, modern foreign languages, and science. Undergraduates follow courses in English, mathematics, physical education (PE) and religious education. Training in all subjects is for the 11 to 16 age range.  Subject knowledge enhancement courses are available in mathematics, physics and chemistry. These courses enable potential candidates to gain the necessary breadth and depth of subject knowledge prior to

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Information about the secondary partnership

starting to train as a teacher in the relevant subjects, all of which are shortage areas.  Most training is based at the university’s Lancaster campus. Training in design and technology and PE is based in two different schools in north- west England. Training for some modern foreign languages trainees is based in Dallam School in Cumbria; for others it is based at the university’s Tower Hamlets campus in London. At the time of the inspection, there were 260 trainees on the PGCE programme and 84 trainees on the undergraduate programme, of whom 53 were in their final year.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

 The inspection team consisted of two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI), one seconded inspector and two additional inspectors. They observed lessons taught by eight newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and six trainees.  Inspectors held meetings with individual and groups of trainees and newly qualified teachers in 14 schools. They also met with five groups of trainees at the university’s Lancaster campus.  Inspectors held meetings with leaders and managers, professional mentors, subject mentors, and university subject tutors.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the partnership’s self-evaluation, improvement planning, internal and external data on trainees, mentors’ training records and external examiners’ reports. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

September 2012  Inspectors considered the responses received from 141 trainees via the online inspection questionnaire.

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Inspection Team

Paul Chambers HMI: secondary phase lead inspector Kath Harris: team inspector Pippa Jenkinson: secondary phase assistant lead inspector Ramesh Kapadia: team inspector Michael Maddison HMI: subject inspector – thematic programme: history

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 the involvement of schools that are fully committed to the partnership and their role in training teachers that contributes to the consistency of the training  the training in behaviour management that helps trainees build their skills quickly so that, by the time they qualify, they are able to establish and maintain a productive working atmosphere in lessons  trainees’ ability to teach well-structured lessons and to use ideas from their training that focus on learning and interest pupils  school-based training that links strongly with the central training and includes regular targets for trainees that are specifically focused and help them to develop their practice effectively  the track record of leaders and managers in leading improvements to training that has had a positive impact on trainees’ preparation to teach.

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The partnership should:

 ensure that trainees are fully prepared for teaching in a diverse society through evaluating the impact of recent initiatives in order to assess whether the early indications of increased effectiveness are maintained  improve outcomes for trainees further through ensuring that improvement plans focus on a wider range of outcomes PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The partnership should:

September 2012  improve quality assurance through ensuring that evaluations from school-based mentors enable leaders and managers to monitor more effectively how the quality of provision changes over time.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

22. Trainees benefit from effective training so that they show strong teaching skills by the end of the course. Attainment is good for all groups of trainees. There is little evidence of difference in the success of different groups, except that females do better than males, particularly in the proportion attaining the highest grade. Inspection evidence shows that the partnership’s judgements of trainees are accurate.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

23. Former trainees are highly regarded in employing schools. They plan and teach well-structured lessons; they demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge and manage behaviour effectively. Their strong planning helps them to build in activities that focus on learning and interest pupils. They understand the importance of promoting high expectations and fulfil wider professional responsibilities through, for example, establishing or taking charge of clubs or societies. Stronger trainees establish good relationships with pupils that help to maintain pupils’ engagement. They demonstrate good subject knowledge and can apply it to ensure that subject teaching is accurate and follows a clear progression.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

24. All the newly qualified teachers seen during the inspection exceed the minimum requirements of the Teachers’ Standards. Relative to other areas of the standards, their skills are weaker in adapting teaching to the strengths and needs of all pupils so they ensure a suitable level of challenge for all. Similarly, they make accurate and productive use of assessment but some miss opportunities to assess individual pupils’ progress during lessons.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

25. At the time of the inspection, undergraduate trainees were based in the university so inspectors were unable to observe any of them teaching. PGCE trainees, at a relatively early stage of their first school placement, were beginning to plan and deliver lessons, often under guidance. Inspection evidence shows that these trainees are making good use of the ideas they have acquired from school and central training to plan lessons. Many bring fresh ideas, are imaginative and willing to try new approaches and/or materials. Stronger trainees are developing good questioning skills, such as following up an initial question with a more probing or demanding supplementary question. School-based mentors PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The outcomes for trainees are good

September 2012 report that trainees show high levels of commitment and are beginning to take on wider professional responsibilities.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

26. Completion and employment rates for the most recent trainee cohort are above average. However, rates are not consistently high, as would be expected for outcomes to be judged outstanding. For example, employment rates in 2010/11 were below average. Reduced recruitment targets have enabled the partnership to be more selective in its recruitment and have contributed to better-qualified trainees and higher overall standards of attainment.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

27. The partnership provides an increasingly coherent programme of training. In an effort to blur the distinction between school-based and university-based training, the partnership is making additional use of school-based staff to lead training in the university. The training also gives increasing opportunities for trainees to visit schools for targeted experiences. For example, undergraduate mathematics trainees spend several days visiting local schools helping groups of pupils to achieve a grade C in their GCSE examination.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

28. A revised structure for the PGCE professional studies training is based around a series of conference days in the university, with trainees working in both cross-subject groups and subject groups. This helps them to understand how, for example, teaching disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is addressed at a school level and also the implications for teaching their particular subject. In the best practice, partnership schools follow up the conference theme the following week with additional school-based training. Training in teaching disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is good. As a result, NQTs and trainees can apply their learning and use individual education plans and teaching assistants effectively. For example, one NQT was able to describe how he adapts his lessons to accommodate the needs of a pupil on the autistic spectrum.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

29. Leaders and managers recognise that, in recent NQT surveys, trainees’ rating of their training in teaching minority ethnic pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language have been lower than other areas of training. They have responded by raising the profile of this training in a conference day and including a focused visit to a partnership school where trainees can gain additional training and experience. Initial evaluations suggest that this training is beginning to have a positive impact on trainees’ knowledge of, and confidence to, teach in schools with diverse populations. For example, one trainee explained how it has helped him to reflect on key aspects of language and learning. However, as with other recent programme changes, at this PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

September 2012 stage of the training the course revisions are not yet fully implemented and their long-term impact is not clear.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

30. Trainees and former trainees speak positively about their training in behaviour management and this is supported by very positive responses in the online inspection questionnaire. Central training, supported by school-based training in the school’s behaviour policy, helps trainees to make a positive start in their placements and former trainees to make a positive start in their teaching careers.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

31. Trainees understand the importance of developing pupils’ communication, language and mathematical skills. For example, undergraduate trainees can explain how they promote pupils’ literacy skills, such as through expecting pupils to read out questions clearly, promoting accurate use of written and spoken language, and focusing on subject-specific vocabulary. English specialists have a clear understanding of the principles behind teaching reading through phonics.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

32. Subject training helps trainees to see alternative ways of presenting lessons. As a result, trainees have a good understanding of pedagogical approaches and are generally willing and able to apply them effectively in the classroom. For example one English NQT explained how, in his training, he had learned about teaching drama and media and had used some of the drama techniques in his English teaching. All subjects include an audit of trainees’ subject knowledge at the beginning of the course. In an example of good practice, the audit in science includes not only a list of topics but also an indication of what knowledge might be expected as an expert practitioner. Trainees value the opportunity to fill in gaps in their subject knowledge including, in some cases, through peer teaching.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

33. The online trainee survey shows high levels of satisfaction with their training in schools, with 94% of respondents believing that they benefit from high-quality placements. In most cases, the two placement schools offer trainees contrasting experiences. School-based mentors are committed, well-trained and make a significant contribution to the training. However, one trainee’s progress slowed when the partnership did not do enough to compensate for the absence from school of her mentor. Where leaders and managers have identified variation in the quality of mentoring, they have addressed it effectively through, for example, on-site mentor training and/or additional guidance.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

34. Training in schools is focused around weekly meetings with professional mentors and subject mentors. Regular lesson observations provide trainees with appropriate feedback on how they are progressing against the Teachers’ Standards. Mentors set regular targets that are sharply PROTECT - INSPECTION

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

September 2012 focused and help trainees to develop their practice effectively. Assessment is accurate and based on a useful professional discussion between the trainee, mentor and university tutor.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

35. The history course sets high demands and recruits trainees who have the personal qualities and professional skills to become good teachers. Trainees are hardworking, well organised and have good subject knowledge. They are enthusiastic about history, specific about what they are trying to achieve through their teaching, and reflect on their practice. The course is well organised and led by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable practitioner. Subject documentation that provides clear and helpful guidance for trainees and subject mentors helps to prepare trainees effectively for teaching. The ongoing subject-knowledge development log requires trainees to focus on historical concepts, and specific guided reading helps them to understand how practising teachers interpret and teach these concepts in the classroom. Trainees benefit from reflecting on how their reading has contributed to their teaching. Trainees are expected to read widely. However, it would be

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

helpful to have key texts highlighted in the handbook’s comprehensive bibliography.

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good

36. The provision complies with all national requirements. Leaders and managers have a clear view of how they want the partnership to develop. A decision to concentrate the training around the Lancaster campus has improved the consistency of trainees’ experiences. The increased use of school-based tutors and other opportunities for trainees to work with groups of pupils have strengthened working links with schools. School-based mentors feel fully involved in the partnership. For example, the recent review of the PGCE course involved input from several professional mentors. Leaders are good at managing change. For example, several of this year’s course developments follow a trial of the same idea last year with a small group. A set of descriptors, known as the professional mentor evaluation framework, is helping professional mentors to share what constitutes good practice and understand how to improve.

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good

37. Self-evaluation is thorough and accurate and takes account of the views of trainees and school-based mentors. Improvement planning includes an appropriately strong focus on trainees’ attainment and the results of the NQT survey but gives less focus to other outcomes such as completion and employment rates. The partnership promotes equal opportunities effectively and trainees feel valued, as demonstrated by the trainees’ online survey. Leaders and managers monitor carefully the attainment of different groups, including trainees who start the course PROTECT - INSPECTION

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good

September 2012 after having completed the subject-knowledge enhancement course. The partnership does not do enough to monitor other outcomes by group.

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good

38. The recruitment process is increasingly selective and this contributes to recent improvements in completion and employment rates. Recruitment statistics show that those selected for the course are better qualified than in the past. Recruitment is generally below average for under- represented groups. The partnership meets its recruitment targets in most subjects. However, recruitment in mathematics, which has met the target in other years, is below target this year.

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good

39. Mentors are very supportive of the partnership. During the inspection, inspectors heard school-based mentors using terms like ‘genuine partnership’, ‘increasingly listening’ and ‘equal partnership’. One mentor described the current PGCE programme as ‘immeasurably better’ than the old programme and believes that current trainees are ‘more confident, more informed and making better progress’ as a result of better training. For example, an additional focus on trainees’ understanding of how to observe teaching and what to look for in a lesson observation has led to trainees being more analytical, more reflective and able to evaluate different ways of teaching.

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good

40. The partnership monitors the quality of school placements through joint observations, visits from link tutors and subject tutors, and from feedback from the trainees themselves. Schools benefit from a short summary of what the feedback says so that they can adapt their provision accordingly. Leaders and managers seek the views of school- based mentors through zone meetings and mentor training meetings but have only limited information that helps them to monitor over time the schools’ views of provision.

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good

41. Improvements are evident in a range of outcomes for trainees. Results from the NQT survey demonstrate that, as a result of better-organised training in a range of areas, trainees are rating their training more positively than in the past. These improvements, supported by accurate self-evaluation and an increasingly strong partnership, demonstrate good capacity to improve further. PROTECT - INSPECTION

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

All Saints Roman Catholic High School Bishop Rawstorne C of E Academy Dowdales School Garstang High School: A Community Technology College Highfield Humanities College Hodgson Academy Kirkbie Kendal School Leyland St Mary’s Catholic Technology College Montgomery High School: An Academy Language College Queen Elizabeth School The Lakes School The Queen Katherine School Trinity School Ullswater Community College PROTECT - INSPECTION

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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 26-29 November 2012 Mark Williams HMI Higher Education Institution Primary and secondary May 2011 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find- inspection-report/provider/ELS/70128 Lancaster Campus, Bowerham Road, Lancaster, LA1 3JD

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