University of York ITE Partnership

This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors, a seconded inspector and an additional inspector in accordance with the ITE Inspection Handbook. This handbook sets out the statutory basis and framework for initial teacher education (ITE) inspections in England from January 2013.

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The inspection draws upon evidence from 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? The outcomes for trainees 2

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Inspection judgements

The quality of training across the partnership 2

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Inspection judgements

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

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Inspection judgements

Initial Teacher Education inspection report Inspection Dates 22  25 April 2013 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

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Information about the secondary partnership

 The University of York’s ITE partnership provides initial teacher training in the 11 to 18 age range leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). All trainees follow a one-year post-graduate certificate of education initial teacher training programme in one of five subjects: English; history; mathematics; modern foreign languages (German, French or Spanish); and science (biology, chemistry or physics).  The partnership includes over 50 secondary schools across seven local authorities. At the time of the inspection there were 100 trainees on the course.  The partnership is currently involved with two School Direct training programmes.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 trainees teaching. Most observations were carried out jointly with a mentor or host teacher; the post-lesson feedback to trainees by the mentor or the host teacher was also observed. In addition, inspectors saw three newly qualified teachers teach.  Inspectors held meetings with individual and groups of trainees and newly qualified teachers in schools. They also held meetings with trainees and newly qualified teachers at the University of York campus.  Inspectors held meetings with leaders and managers, school-based professional tutors and subject mentors.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including improvement plans, the partnership’s self-evaluation, data relating to trainees’ outcomes and the training and assessment files for each trainee observed teaching.

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Inspection Team

Katrina Gueli HMI: lead inspector Pippa Jenkinson: assistant lead inspector David Brown HMI: team inspector – thematic programme: science Michael Maddison HMI: team inspector – thematic programme: history Jackie Hill: team inspector – thematic programme: modern foreign languages

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 the high expectations and commitment of all those involved in the partnership to providing trainees with a rich training experience to enable them to become good teachers  the very good support for trainees provided by university tutors, professional tutors and mentors  good training in relation to key national priorities that ensures most trainees are thoroughly prepared to manage pupils’ behaviour and meet the needs of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs  the high level of involvement of school-based colleagues in the partnership and their very effective contributions to the development and delivery of the training  the quality and coherence of the different elements of the training that support trainees’ development effectively and meet their individual needs successfully  trainees’ commitment to teaching, their enthusiasm for their subject and their willingness to reflect critically on their practice

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 the consistently high employment rates of English and mathematics trainees.

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The partnership should:

 ensure that by the end of the course trainees’ teaching is never less than good and often outstanding by: - making sure all trainees are consistently given high-quality, challenging targets to improve their practice - ensuring trainees develop thoroughly their ability to assess pupils’ achievement and provide regular feedback to pupils through marking and target-setting - ensuring all trainees consistently and effectively adapt their teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils  improve completion and employment rates in those subjects where it is not consistently high  sharpen improvement planning so it systematically focuses on securing the measurable improvements in outcomes for trainees needed to improve the partnership’s effectiveness from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

1. Trainees’ commitment to teaching, the coherence and quality of training and the high level of personalised support they receive enables most to become good teachers by the end of the course. There are no significant differences between subjects in the proportion of trainees judged to be good or better teachers.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

2. A key element contributing to trainees’ development is their willingness to reflect on and improve their own practice. Trainees are thoughtful and suggest for themselves how their teaching could be improved but equally respond very positively to guidance and advice from mentors and university tutors.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

3. Trainees recognise the importance of thorough preparation and planning in order to teach effectively. They demonstrate the ability to incorporate a broad range of teaching strategies in their lessons, confidence in the use of new technologies to enhance their teaching and an appropriate approach when covering sensitive topics.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

4. Trainees are fully aware that they need to plan to meet the needs of different pupils in each class and could explain how they have adapted their teaching for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities. However, their planning and teaching does not always consistently ensure the needs of other learners of differing abilities, including higher- attaining pupils, are being effectively met. For a small minority of trainees, their practice in assessing pupils’ work and providing quality marking and written feedback is less well developed.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

5. Schools comment very positively about trainees’ professionalism and their willingness to gain experience of the wider role of the teacher. Trainees foster good relationships with pupils in the classroom and are typically effective in managing pupil behaviour. They are clear about how to tackle issues such as bullying or safeguarding concerns.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

6. Trainees’ good subject knowledge in their specialism enables them to recognise possible pupil misconceptions and consider how a particular topic or lesson could be most effectively approached. They make good progress in identifying and addressing gaps in their wider subject knowledge, for example, another science subject or their second modern foreign language. 7. Published completion rates are typically in line with sector averages. However, analysis frequently reveals that when a trainee leaves the course it is related to personal decisions or circumstances rather than their unsuitability for teaching. There are some differences in completion rates between subjects. Employment rates are consistently high in English and mathematics but in other subjects, although high in some years, there is less consistency over time.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

8. Science trainees develop a good understanding of the importance of practical work to support pupils’ progress and learning. They appreciate the spiral nature of the National Curriculum for science and can explain how to plan to support pupils’ progression.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

9. History trainees can talk in detail about the issues related to teaching history in secondary schools but are less secure about pupils’ experiences of the subject below Key Stage 3.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

10. In modern foreign languages, subject tutors place a strong focus on the use of the target language but not all trainees are putting this into practice in schools. When trainees’ use of the target language was observed, they demonstrated very good pronunciation, intonation and fluency providing good role models for pupils.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

11. Trainees and newly qualified teachers are very positive about the quality of training across the partnership. The expertise and enthusiasm of course tutors and the high level of support that trainees receive from both university tutors and school-based colleagues are frequently identified as strengths of the course.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

12. Schools have a clear understanding of their contribution to training and go to great lengths to ensure school-based training experiences enable trainees to apply and extend the knowledge gained through the university’s generic and subject-specific training sessions. A face-to-face transition meeting involving mentors from both placement schools ensures trainees’ individual development needs are fully understood and effectively addressed as they progress through the course.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

13. All elements of the training combine successfully to ensure trainees make good progress in developing their professional knowledge and teaching skills. However, a few schools raised concerns about the variation in the amount of teaching by trainees on the first placement. Although this always meets minimum requirements, a minority of trainees are less well prepared for the second placement as a result. 14. University and school-based training has effectively enabled trainees to develop their understanding of how their subject teaching can be used to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills. In practice, they are more confident in relation to promoting literacy than numeracy.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

15. Most trainees benefit from high-quality mentoring and detailed professional dialogue following lesson observations. These aspects of training make a strong contribution to trainees’ good progress during the course. In most cases target-setting is developmental and effective in pinpointing accurately what trainees need to do to improve their teaching. However, a small proportion is not of this quality because it is insufficiently challenging, there is too little focus on the subject-specific developments needed or targets are little more than a list of, ‘things to do’.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

16. Placements are of high quality and largely provide trainees with contrasting experiences. As a result they successfully develop their ability to teach a wide range of different pupils and manage behaviour effectively. The opportunity for focused professional enhancement towards the end of the course is a real strength and adds to the opportunities for trainees to widen their teaching experience further.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

17. Training to ensure trainees are fully prepared for teaching minority ethnic pupils and those who speak English as an additional language has been enhanced significantly since the last inspection. Coverage through the university’s whole-school issues programme has been extended and a broader range of subject-specific resources are accessible through the virtual learning environment. This is enabling trainees to gain a secure understanding of the implications for their practice. While some trainees benefit from placements or professional-enrichment experiences that enable them to apply this knowledge through teaching minority ethnic pupils, many partnership schools provide very limited opportunities in this respect. The partnership is addressing this issue increasingly effectively by establishing links with schools beyond the locality to enable more trainees to gain first-hand experience of how to meet

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

successfully the needs of these groups of learners.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

18. New partnerships and projects with a local pupil referral unit and a group of special schools are being used very effectively to broaden trainees’ experiences and meet their individual development needs and interests.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

19. The assessment of trainees’ attainment is accurate. Robust moderation of evidence ensures all trainees awarded QTS meet the Teachers’ Standards. 20. Developments in science teaching and current national issues relating to science education are incorporated effectively into training sessions. Science trainees are motivated to make good progress by course leaders with high expectations and very strong subject experience and expertise, a well-resourced programme and effective, targeted support.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

21. The modern foreign languages course sets high demands for trainees. The programme design has been strongly influenced by the outcomes and recommendations in Ofsted’s 2010 report on Achievement and Challenge in Modern Languages, with use of the target language and intercultural understanding being given particular emphasis. This is helping trainees to develop their practice in relation to these essential elements enabling them to teach modern foreign languages skilfully. The sessions led by external subject specialists and school-based colleagues have been really valued by trainees and stand out as one particularly beneficial aspect of the course.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

22. History subject method sessions help to prepare trainees successfully for their teaching placements. Resources and subject session materials available through the virtual learning environment allow trainees to access what they note is a rich seam of advice and guidance. The history sessions led by external speakers have strengthened the quality of the training received, for example, the work by practising teachers from partnership schools in relation to questioning skills and differentiation in history.

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good

23. Leaders and all those working within the partnership are strongly committed to providing trainees with a rich, high-quality training experience that meets their individual needs very effectively. Schools are extremely willing to contribute to recruitment and to the review, development and delivery of training.

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good

24. Professional tutors and subject mentors are highly positive about the quality of training for their roles and the support they receive from university staff. Good use is made of partnership meetings involving school-based colleagues to develop training skills and explore good practice. More recent work has included the development of helpful additional guidance to bring about partnership-wide improvement, particularly in relation to improving training in the national priority areas. New mentors and professional tutors value the additional support they receive as they develop skills in these roles. 25. Clear communication between the university and its partnership schools and helpful documentation are frequently identified by trainers as key factors in ensuring roles and responsibilities are understood, assessment of trainees is accurate and that there is good coherence between different elements of the training. The responsiveness of partnership

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good

leaders and managers when trainee issues or concerns arise is strongly appreciated by schools and trainees.

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good

26. Recruitment and selection processes are successful in selecting trainees who have the subject knowledge and personal qualities needed to become good teachers. Approaches to recruitment and selection are regularly reviewed and improved to ensure no under-represented group is disadvantaged at this stage and further reduce the chance of trainees who are unsuited to teaching being recruited.

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good

27. The partnership monitors its work thoroughly. This includes the quality assurance of school-based training, seeking the views of schools, trainees and former trainees both formally and informally, and considering responses to trainee exit and newly qualified teacher surveys. Meetings held each July, for example, enable professional tutors and mentors to reflect on what has gone well and identify aspects of training that could be improved further. Trainee representatives from all subjects share the views of current trainees with leaders and managers; they feel their comments and concerns are considered and acted upon where possible.

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good

28. Improvement plans largely reflect the findings of the partnership’s monitoring and evaluation and the areas for development highlighted in reports from external examiners. Many actions usefully relate to making further improvements to training but success criteria do not focus sharply on securing a measurable impact on the quality of trainees’ teaching. Plans are less systematic in addressing how differences in outcomes for trainees, such as completion rates, will be addressed to enable the partnership’s effectiveness to improve from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.

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good

29. The partnership’s capacity to improve is good. Substantial progress has been made in tackling the recommendation made at the last inspection and many of the strengths of trainees’ teaching that were identified at the last inspection have been sustained. The determination and commitment of leaders and partnership schools to securing continuous improvement is unwavering. This is reflected in the partnership’s positive response to the changing landscape of ITE, the effectiveness of ongoing developments to training in response to national and local changes and the broadening of the range of schools involved in the partnership.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

All Saints School, York Archbishop Holgate’s School Barlby High School Easingwold School Fulford School Huntington School Lady Lumley’s High School Macmillan Academy, Middlesbrough Manor CE School Millthorpe School St Aidan’s CE High School, Harrogate Selby High School Sherburn High School Tadcaster Grammar School Wetherby High School

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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 22  25 April 2013 Katrina Gueli HMI HEI Secondary 15 March 2010 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find- inspection-report/provider/ELS/70087 Heslington, York, YO10 5DD

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