Catch 22 Charity Limited

Learning and Skills inspection report Date published: 20 February 2013 Inspection Number: 406777 URN: 54215 Catch22 South East Training

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Summary of key findings for learners

 The number of foundation learners that complete their programme, gain qualifications and move into further education, training or employment is too low.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not yet good enough for all learners, in particular for foundation learners.  While initial assessment adequately captures specific detail of English and mathematics difficulties, it is not used adequately to plan good enough coordinated support.  Managers do not have good enough systems for collating information to enable them to be sufficiently self-critical about all aspects of the training provision, nor do they have sufficient formal systems to plan and implement effective quality checks of all learners’ activities.

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Summary of key findings for learners

 Good success rates and progression to higher level courses for sports apprentices.  Good development of apprentices’ practical skills and work competences, through well-planned learning sessions by highly experienced and motivated staff.  The good partnerships that directly benefit learners.  Well-managed apprenticeship programmes. Inspection dates 15-18 January 2013

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This inspection: Requires improvement-3

Previous inspection: Satisfactory-3 Outcomes for learners Requires improvement-3 Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement-3 Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement-3

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Improve the rate of foundation learners gaining qualifications and progressing into further education, training or employment by ensuring that learners understand the purpose of the programme and more remain on programme and complete their training.  Make better use of initial and diagnostic assessments to set clear, relevant, specific and measurable targets for all learners, but in particular develop all aspects of foundation learners’ individual programmes and ensure individual targets are included in planning and teaching.  Improve teaching and learning for foundation learners by ensuring all staff have the skills to plan and provide stimulating and relevant learning activities that meet individual learners’ needs and encourage learners to attend more regularly and make better progress.  Prioritise the teaching of English and mathematics for all learners to support the development of these skills in everyday life and work.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Develop arrangements for foundation learners to have a range of practical work placements that will enable them to develop better employability skills and to help more learners progress into employment.  Develop arrangements for self-assessment and improvement planning to include the views of all staff and implement more formally planned quality monitoring checks and better use of data to identify and make improvements to the provision.  Improve the promotion of equality and diversity during training activities to develop learners’ understanding further and to ensure that all individual needs of learners are met appropriately.

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Inspection judgements

Outcomes for learners Requires improvement  Success rates for sports apprentices and those completing within agreed timescales are good and above the national rate. Success rates for child development and business apprentices showed a decline last year, but current year indicators show an improving trend.  Catch22 has significantly increased the range of external awards it offers foundation learners to include a number of vocational and personal qualifications and functional skills in English, mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT). However, success rates are low in all functional skills and in the majority of vocational and personal development qualifications.  Progression rates into further training, education or employment for foundation learners are poor. Very few foundation learners progress onto apprenticeship programmes or into employment, with the majority of those who do progress enrolling into further education

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Inspection judgements

provision.  The rate of sports apprentices progressing from intermediate to advanced level programmes is good and shows an improving trend over the past three years.  Retention, attendance and punctuality are good for sports apprentices but poor for foundation learners. Only about half of the learners who joined the Foundation Learning programme last year completed the course. Currently, less than half of all foundation learners attend training sessions, but those that do enjoy their learning.  Sports apprentices demonstrate good standards of work, particularly in practical aspects of their training, with some able to demonstrate high levels of skills of talented sports performers. They are motivated to succeed and enjoy their training. Over the course of their programmes, sports apprentices develop good levels of collaborative team working skills and employability skills.  The standard of work is generally satisfactory for those foundation learners who stay on

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Inspection judgements

programme. They improve their self-confidence and, for a minority of learners, develop useful employability skills.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement. In apprenticeship programmes, assessors have high expectations of their learners. This reflects the good and improving success rates in sports programmes. The majority of current learners, including those in business and child development, are making good progress towards completing their qualifications. In the better foundation learning sessions, learners improve their confidence and benefit from good individual support. In other sessions though, attendance and punctuality are poor and teaching does not meet the individual needs of learners.  Reviews of progress for apprentices are thorough, constructive and help learners to develop and improve their work skills. Tutors use opportunities for providing additional teaching support during reviews very well, including on occasions to teach elements of English. There is an over

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Inspection judgements

reliance on the use of an electronic record of progress, that too often results in an insufficiently diverse range of evidence to reflect learners’ achievements. Employers contribute significantly to the training and skill development of learners.  Assessors and trainers working with apprentices are well qualified and experienced, with good current industry experience. They are highly skilled at using their commercial experience in reviews to link theory to practical workplace situations, which apprentices value highly. However, in foundation learning not all tutors are adequately skilled or qualified to ensure learners benefit sufficiently from teaching and learning activities.  Use of initial and diagnostic assessment to plan learning to meet individual needs requires improvement. Too often tutors working with learners do not know the outcomes of diagnostic assessment. For example, tutors and assessors are not sufficiently aware of how to adapt

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Inspection judgements

learning materials to meet the specific needs of learners with declared or assessed dyslexia.  The teaching and learning of functional skills in most areas require improvement. Functional skills sessions for foundation learners are often dull with teaching focused on passing the test rather than application within work, personal or social contexts. Most sessions in all programmes do not successfully focus on the individual aspects of English and mathematics that each learner needs to improve. The correction of English and mathematics in assessed work requires improvement.  Overall, information, advice and guidance require improvement. In sport, the good advice about learning and progression opportunities, often in conjunction with employers, helps learners progress to higher-level training and into employment. While the organisation has maintained strong links with external careers guidance, tutors give insufficient attention to identifying

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Inspection judgements

foundation learners’ aspirations and matching these to available progression opportunities to higher-level programmes or employment.  The promotion of equality and diversity requires improvement. Not all teaching sessions plan for and develop learners’ understanding effectively. During reviews of apprentices’ training, assessors ask questions about aspects of equality and diversity to extend learners’ understanding. However, the questions are often insufficiently challenging and not related to the context in which they work. For foundation learners, equality and diversity are emphasised during induction, but tutors often miss opportunities to promote or reinforce aspects that naturally occur in lessons.

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Apprenticeships

 Training, coaching and learning are good and reflect the good progress and success rates made by sports apprentices. Tutors lead well-planned training sessions that are interesting, interactive, and participative and are frequently physically challenging for learners. Learners enjoy their practical sessions and demonstrate a real enthusiasm for learning. Attendance and punctuality are good.  Practical sessions develop learners’ skills very effectively and successfully combine theory and practice. Learners are encouraged and take up opportunities to learn and develop coaching techniques and participate in centre activities to gain on-the-job experience. Teaching materials are organised and presented very well. The majority of learners develop independent learning skills, although a minority rely too much on their tutors’ support.  Tutors and assessors have a strong commitment to supporting apprentices towards achieving

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Apprenticeships

their goals and set high standards and expectations for learners, which they clearly promote and reinforce very well in each training centre. Tutors hold relevant coaching and teaching awards and are highly experienced in the sports industry. However, the teaching of functional skills is not as well structured or taught in sufficient depth in learners’ programmes.  Learners experience a thorough introduction to their programmes and tutors use the results from initial and diagnostic assessments effectively to plan individual learning programmes. Where need is identified, tutors provide additional learning support to help learners achieve their learning goals.  Reviews of learners’ progress are frequent, thorough, and particularly effective in helping learners to understand how to improve their coaching skills and meet their course requirements.  Assessment practices and target setting are generally sound. However, some learning and

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Apprenticeships

review activities take place in inappropriate settings such as busy reception areas and canteens, which are bustling and noisy. Learning and assessment are through an online resource, which occasionally is difficult to access remotely. The company is aware of this and is currently exploring solutions to remedy the problem. Although the online system offers many advantages, it does not allow for the collection of more diverse forms of evidence.  Tutors pay good attention to health and safety practices and, as a result, learners are able to demonstrate safe working practices in the practical sessions. Apprentices learn to appreciate the importance of healthy eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle relating to their future sports careers.  Learners generally receive good information, advice and guidance to ensure they are clear about their learning options. Tutors frequently discuss with learners their individual aspirations,

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Apprenticeships

providing useful guidance on further learning and career opportunities.  Tutors and learners clearly demonstrate a mutual respect for each other. While the promotion of equality and diversity is adequately included during induction, tutors and assessors do not consistently check or reinforce learners’ understanding well enough during training.

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Foundation Learning

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is inadequate. This reflects the low number of learners achieving qualifications, the poor retention and attendance rates and the poor rate of learners who progress to further training, education or employment.  Too much teaching requires improvement and, as a result, learners make slow progress. Learners find functional skills lessons dull as teachers place too much emphasis on the requirements of qualifications rather than planning their teaching to develop the specific skills of individual learners. Activities fail to relate well enough to learners’ lives or work aspirations. Not all tutors are adequately skilled or appropriately qualified to effectively teach functional skills or assist learners who have dyslexia problems in developing the strategies they need to manage their learning.  In the minority of good lessons observed, learners benefit from good individual coaching and

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Foundation Learning

participate well through teachers’ skilful use of questioning and by using a range of interesting resources. Learners enjoy practical work, particularly for the minority who have work placements arranged. However, the company does too little to encourage learners to take up work placements as part of their programme, which results in too few learners having the opportunity to practise new skills in a work-based setting.  Learners do not benefit fully from the results of initial and diagnostic assessments. Learning plans and reviews of progress documents do not clearly identify the small targets to help learners improve and teachers do not take account of targets sufficiently when planning their lessons. Tutors ask learners to read and sign documents during initial interviews, prior to having their literacy skills assessed and any difficulties appropriately identified.  Reviews of progress focus on tasks rather than on the skills that learners need to improve.

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Foundation Learning

Learners have a limited understanding of the qualifications they are taking, the level at which they are studying, what they have already achieved and when they expect to finish. However, learners find the comments and feedback on written work very useful in helping them to understand what they need to do to improve.  The quality and usefulness of information, advice and guidance, particularly during learners’ initial interviews, vary widely across centres. Too many learners assume the main purpose of the programme is to achieve qualifications and are not always encouraged to consider more challenging options or realistic employment options relating to their future aspirations. However, the provider does have effective links with external careers advisers who, for some learners, provide useful opportunities to explore work and training options. In one centre, initial interviews take place in a public area, making it difficult to discuss confidential information.

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Foundation Learning

 The majority of learners receive good individual support in class from teachers and support assistants, who work well together. Tutors give support staff clear instructions and clearly direct them in lessons. One learner reported that his confidence and ability to speak in public had improved since receiving support from centre staff.  Learners have an adequate understanding of equality and diversity and while this is satisfactorily promoted during induction, learners’ knowledge is not sufficiently checked or reinforced well enough in all lessons. Too few lessons and reviews focus on how equality and diversity issues might affect learners in the workplace.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement. The parent company has a clear strategic vision about how their education and training programmes fit into strategies for developing young people’s move into sustained employment. A major restructuring of the organisation’s directorates has resulted in recent new appointments of directors and senior manager posts to meet the company’s strategic aims, but this restructure is still to impact fully.  Directors and managers are aware of the majority of areas that require improvement, particularly relating to the Foundation Programme, and are in the early stages of implementing changes and improvements. Foundation learning has expanded its provision this year and now includes outreach centres in Essex and London alongside established centres in Kent. New subcontracted arrangements are now in place with an established training provider in London. However, it is too soon to see any impact on the adequacy of the programme from the new

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The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

structure and additional outreach developments.  Apprenticeship programmes have significantly expanded over the last year, specifically through two new subcontractors based in North East England and in the Portsmouth area. The company’s vision and implementation plan for training apprentices clearly sets challenging targets and actions to improve all programmes.  Arrangements to monitor the quality of teaching and learning are adequate but rely too heavily on one member of staff. As a result, there are insufficiently well-planned observations of teaching across all areas of learners’ activities. The majority of trainers and assessors are well qualified on apprenticeship programmes but less so for Foundation Learning. At one outreach centre, one tutor currently provides the entire range of functional skills, vocational and personal development training, but does not have appropriate qualifications in all areas. Staff do, though,

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The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

have access to a wide range of professional development.  The company has revised its structure of how it self-evaluates its provision, but there is no overarching self-assessment report to indicate how effective leadership and management are with the strategies or operational management of all the company’s training provision and no grades identified.  The new structure now effectively includes the views of all staff working within the three apprenticeship programmes. Each programme’s reviews evaluate and adequately inform the overall report for the apprenticeship provision. The self-assessment report clearly highlights strengths and areas requiring improvement, with clear links to a detailed quality improvement plan. While there is a similar process for the Foundation Learning programme, not all outreach staff contribute. Priority actions do not sufficiently highlight the low progression rates or

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The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

successful outcomes of external awards.  The management of apprenticeship programmes is good and very effective, but arrangements for managing Foundation Learning are inadequate and result in low attendance and poor results. While managers collate a good amount of information about learners’ performance, they do not systematically analyse or make use of this data to identify actions to improve the provision.  Partnership working is very good. The parent company has much experience in developing partnerships with large corporate organisations. The standards of apprentices’ work placements are high. Subcontractors speak highly of the value added to the quality of training by Catch22. A new initiative to enhance skill levels of young people in conjunction with a large multinational bank and other private and public sector organisations as part of a regeneration strategy is ambitious and promises to make a considerable impact on sustainable employment prospects for

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The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

learners.  The promotion of equality and diversity during induction is adequately covered, but in teaching activities it is not always sufficiently well planned or implemented. The performance of different groups of learners is not sufficiently evaluated or the data used to action improvements. Managers, however, are aware that some groups perform better than others and acknowledge that further analysis and action are required.  The provider meets its statutory requirements for safeguarding learners and satisfactorily ensures the safety of learners through the promotion of health and safety procedures, particularly within apprentices’ training venues and workplaces. Effective links with support organisations ensure that the organisation’s response to incidents and concerns is effective.

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on a provider’s performance:

1: Outstanding 2: Good 3: Requires improvement 4: Inadequate

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Overall

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment 3 2 4

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Overall

The effectiveness of leadership and management 3 2 4

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Catch22 South East Training

Type of provider Independent learning provider

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full contract year

CEO Mr C Wright Date of previous inspection February 2010 Website address catch-22.org.uk

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programme level

Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 and above

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(excluding apprenticeships)

Full-time 92 - - - - - - - Part-time - - - - - - - -

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Apprenticeship level and age

Intermediate Advanced Higher 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 122 113 20 2 - -

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Apprenticeship level and age

Number of learners aged 14-16 N/A Number of community learners N/A Number of employability learners N/A Funding received from Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency

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following main subcontractors:

 The Bridge  LionHeart  Just One Step  Hart Neighbourhood Centre (HNC)  Gosport Pro Active  GB Training Ltd.  GDF Consultancy Ltd.  Youth Options

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Additional socio-economic information

Catch22 South East Training’s main administrative training headquarters are based in Portsmouth. The company provides apprenticeships and Foundation Learning through a recent and significantly expanded network of subcontractors and outreach centres that provide training in the South of England, London and the Home Counties, as well as the North East of England.

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Information about this inspection

One of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and four additional inspectors, assisted by the service manager as nominee, carried out the inspection with short notice. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors also used data on learners’ achievements over the last three years to help them make judgements. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected throughout the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all of the provision at the provider. Inspectors looked at the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across all of the provision and graded the sector subject areas listed in the report above.

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Grade Judgement

Detailed grade characteristics can be viewed in the Handbook for the inspection of further education and skills 2012, Part 2:

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Grade Judgement

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/handbook-for-inspection-of-further-education-and-skills- september-2012

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Grade Judgement

guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Grade Judgement

Learner View is a new website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too.

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Grade Judgement

To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk or if you have any questions about Learner View please email Ofsted at: 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, community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Grade Judgement

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Grade Judgement

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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