The Cornwall Council

Learning and Skills inspection report Date published: 10 July 2013 Inspection Number: 410630 URN: 51349

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Summary of key findings for learners

 The proportion of learners who succeed on courses leading to qualifications is not high enough.  Learners’ attendance at lessons is too low.  Not enough teaching, learning and assessment are good.  The quality of accommodation and resources varies too much across the service.  Learners completing courses do not receive enough information and advice about continuing their studies. For most, guidance on what other providers offer is too limited.  Improvement activities have not raised standards of teaching and learning sufficiently.  Teaching, learning and assessment do not increase learners’ understanding of equality and diversity enough.

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Summary of key findings for learners

 Most learners following courses that do not lead to accreditation complete their programmes successfully.  Learners receive good coaching and individual support in lessons.  The broad curriculum provides well for the needs of the region, in particular for people who face difficulties in continuing with their education.  Tutors are well qualified and gain from good continuing professional development  Partnerships with community groups and other regional providers are strong and benefit learners. Inspection dates 3−7 June 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?

 Ensure learners attend regularly and punctually by establishing high expectations which all tutors and learners understand, and by implementing sound measures to tackle absenteeism and lateness.  Raise the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and success rates on courses leading to qualifications by: − increasing the range and variety of teaching activities − promoting peer and group learning in lessons effectively − setting and regularly reviewing specific individual targets for learners so that they have a clear understanding of what they need to do to achieve their learning goals and of the progress they are making − extending the use of information and learning technology in the classroom − developing the virtual learning environment so that it becomes a valuable resource for all learners to study independently − increasing the focus on the development of learners’ English and mathematics in the

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

planning of all courses − ensuring that lessons routinely promote the value of diversity and cultural difference.  Enable learners to make informed choices about their next steps in learning by ensuring that information and advice on progression within the service and to provision made by other local and regional providers is readily available, and promoted effectively.  Ensure the effectiveness and impact of quality improvement initiatives by: − making self-assessment consistently and objectively critical − developing precise and clearly-focused action plans which prioritise improvement, particularly in teaching, learning and assessment.  Raise the quality of accommodation and resources by ensuring all centres are sufficiently well equipped to support courses effectively.

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Inspection judgements

Outcomes for learners Requires improvement  Outcomes for learners require improvement. Across the Cornwall Adult Education Service (CAES) the proportion of learners who succeed on programmes leading to qualifications is in line with that for learners nationally. However, while learners’ success rates rose slightly between 2009/10 and 2010/11 they remained broadly unchanged in 2011/12. The service’s data for the current academic year suggest a modest improvement in the proportion of learners completing courses compared to the same point last year.  Most learners following courses that do not lead to accreditation complete their programme. Overall success rates have remained consistently high over the last three years, but performance varies between areas. While rates have decreased slightly in visual arts provision, they have risen on information and communication technology (ICT) courses.  The standard of learners’ work is adequate across the provision. Learners in subjects such as life

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Inspection judgements

drawing produce good work. Learners of French at intermediate level speak the language fluently enough to communicate their ideas effectively. In courses leading to accreditation, most learners’ attainment is appropriate to the level of the qualification for which they are working.  In ICT and English and mathematics provision, learners’ progress from their starting points is good. Across the service, learners following non-accredited programmes often repeat the same levels over a number of years. Too many of these learners consolidate rather than extend their skills.  Attendance at many lessons is low. Too many learners either arrive late or leave early. On programmes where this is particularly prevalent, learners do not improve their team-working or collaborative learning skills sufficiently.  Learners receiving additional learning support and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities generally achieve better than others, but less well on English and mathematics

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Inspection judgements

programmes. The very small number of learners from Black and minority ethnic heritages achieved much less well than other learners in 2011/12, but the service’s data for the current academic year suggest this gap has closed.  On vocational and creative programmes, learners improve aspects of their English and mathematics, but these gains are not broad enough. Some use technical terms appropriately and those learning ICT use English and mathematics more accurately as a result of practise when using software packages. However, learners do not routinely display the skills they need to progress to higher level courses or employment.  Learners make useful gains in their confidence. They often report improvements in their job prospects as a result of skills they develop while studying at CAES. Learners following access to higher education courses increase their study skills particularly well.  Progression for learners who complete access to higher education courses is very good and

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Inspection judgements

most gain a higher education place or secure a better job. A good proportion of learners who follow discrete English and mathematics courses move on to higher levels or other subjects at CAES. Data on what most learners do after leaving CAES are currently incomplete.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement  Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement. While they enable many learners to succeed, they are not sufficiently effective to drive consistent improvement in success rates on courses leading to qualifications, nor to ensure learners on courses with non-accredited outcomes make sufficient progress from their starting points.  Across the provision, tutors have suitable expectations and motivate and support learners well. They consistently provide learners with good coaching and individual help. Additional learning support is generally effective.  Not enough classroom teaching and learning are good. Where learning is most effective, learners often work productively in groups and pairs, sharing ideas and learning from each other. They participate fully in a wide range of well-chosen activities which effectively develop their skills and knowledge. Tutors routinely make good use of question and answer techniques

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Inspection judgements

to check and develop learners’ understanding.  Where learning is less successful the range of teaching methods is often narrow. Particularly when attendance is poor, learners work alone on projects or topics and do not extend their learning sufficiently through interaction with their peers. Tutors rely too heavily on explanation rather than building effectively on what learners already know. Checking of learning is infrequent.  The promotion of independent learning requires improvement. On ICT courses, programme design is highly effective in enabling learners to work outside the classroom. However, in some other areas, learners do not routinely learn how to study independently or receive enough regular homework. While the service’s virtual learning environment contains examples of good practice, these are not yet sufficiently widespread to benefit most learners.  The quality and consistency of accommodation and resources across the many different centres

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Inspection judgements

vary considerably. A minority of teaching rooms and resources do not provide an effective learning environment, although staff generally manage any shortcomings well. Tutors are well qualified and draw effectively on their own professional experience when teaching creative and vocational subjects.  On courses leading to qualifications, initial assessment is thorough, and ensures learners follow courses at the right level. However, tutors do not always use the information from initial assessments and more detailed diagnostic assessments to identify clearly the specific areas that individuals need to work on. Practice in assessing learners’ work for external qualifications is sound.  Learners are generally clear about the main goals of their programmes, particularly in ICT, but planning to meet their individual learning needs is not consistently effective. Personal learning goals are often too general. Short-term targets and the feedback tutors provide on progress are

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Inspection judgements

not clear enough to ensure learners know what they need to do next.  Tutors plan appropriately the teaching and learning of English and mathematics on discrete courses and on family learning and access programmes. Learners understand the importance of these skills in realising their goals and ambitions. However, on other courses, planning to develop English and mathematics is not systematic or effective enough.  Prospective learners receive effective advice and guidance before joining programmes at CAES. Subsequent information about progression to higher levels or other programmes within the service is good, but information about provision elsewhere is not routinely available. Learners following access to higher education courses receive excellent guidance on progression to higher education and employment.  Promotion of equality and diversity requires improvement. Those lessons that are highly inclusive of learners with a wide range of differences and abilities implicitly promote these

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Inspection judgements

values. Although tutors and learners across the service treat each other with fairness and respect, lessons rarely include activity which might increase learners’ understanding of diversity and cultural differences.

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Community learning

 Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Learners work hard at their studies, developing very effective skills in using computers, and increasing their employability. Their technical knowledge is secure and they demonstrate high levels of competence using software packages. The good teaching is reflected in high, and improving, success rates on non-accredited programmes, but not yet in success rates on courses leading to qualifications.  Learners receive highly effective individual coaching and support in lessons. Tutors demonstrate techniques skilfully and explain concepts clearly. Carefully structured learning materials, which learners also use at home through the service’s virtual learning environment, provide very good support for independent learning.  Tutors are knowledgeable and manage learning activities well. However, in a minority of lessons, they do not to make sufficient use of questions to encourage problem solving. Learners

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Community learning

do not work and learn together frequently enough in groups and pairs.  Tutors train learners well in the physical aspects of using computers safely. This includes encouraging learners to adjust chairs if necessary and to take suitable breaks away from their computer screen.  Tutors identify learners’ needs accurately at the start of their programmes. They support those with specific needs well. They provide effective strategies to learners with dyslexia to help them with their reading and writing.  Learners are clear about their long-term goals and short-term targets. Tutors closely monitor learners’ achievement, making good use of computer-based personal learning plans. Comments tutors make are very supportive and encouraging but do not identify clearly enough how learners can improve.  Assessment of learners’ work is accurate and thorough. In particular, an electronic system provides a clear and immediate indication of learners’ progress in acquiring specific skills and of

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Community learning

their success in exercises. The effective feedback it provides shows learners very clearly how to correct errors in their work, and helps them to progress quickly.  Learners’ development of mathematics and English is satisfactory. Learners improve their skills in carrying out calculations through using spreadsheets, and their accuracy in English when doing word-processing exercises. In some lessons tutors carefully develop learners’ understanding of precise technical language, but this is not consistent across the provision.  Learners receive accurate and effective information and guidance when joining CAES and on progression available within the service and beyond. Guidance is effective in encouraging learners to progress from non-accredited short courses to longer courses which lead to qualifications valued by employers. Induction at the start of learners’ programmes provides a thorough introduction to their course and the support arrangements available.

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Community learning

 Tutors are highly sensitive to the different backgrounds and expectations of their learners, supporting learners with learning difficulties or disabilities well. Teaching and learning do not explicitly increase learners’ understanding of equality and diversity, although occasionally classroom exercises extend their awareness of cultural differences. In one entry level lesson, for example, learners used the internet to research cuisines from around the world and illustrated a tabular display with images they had downloaded.

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Community learning

 Teaching, learning and assessment in the visual arts require improvement. This is reflected in learners’ outcomes which between 2010/11 and 2011/12 show a slight decline in success rates for those following non-accredited courses, and a more marked decline in success to well below national rates for the small minority of learners who work towards qualifications.  Learners benefit from good individual support during lessons. Tutors provide effective coaching on practical aspects of their work. This helps learners create well-rendered glass pieces, photographs, drawings and paintings. They develop an adequate knowledge of materials and their qualities.  Tutors effectively encourage learners to recognise that their skills are improving and ensure they are suitably motivated to learn, concentrating well in sessions. Their projects and portfolios develop at an appropriate pace. They also value the good pastoral support their tutors provide.

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Community learning

 Tutors successfully ensure learners value the creative work they produce and foster their aspirations to work in the arts industries. They enable learners to exhibit their work frequently at significant art shows held in regional centres, libraries and festivals. Learners sell their work and learn valuable skills including installing exhibits and stewarding at events.  Tutors draw well on their specialist expertise in their subjects, but do not provide a wide enough range of activities in lessons. Learners spend too much time focused on individual endeavours, and do not work together enough as a whole group or in smaller groups. They rarely benefit from collaborative learning and peer-assessment, nor make presentations to their fellow learners.  Learning activities do not cater well for the different needs of learners. Tutors do not ensure that they consistently extend the skills of the large numbers of learners repeating courses.

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Community learning

Questioning and discussion to check their understanding or elicit their responses are not frequent enough.  A suitable range of learning resources includes carefully chosen art books and professional models for life-drawing classes. Where facilities are good, learners work productively in recently refurbished, well-equipped crafts rooms and art studios, but others are in need of updating. While most learners work safely, in carpentry and glass subjects they do not handle resources carefully enough or routinely use personal protective equipment.  Standards of assessment in accredited learning are high. Assessors use photography well to record learners’ progress and achievements in their artwork and to support assessment discussions. However, the quality of goal setting and assessment in non-accredited learning activities is too variable to ensure all learners receive consistent detailed feedback on their

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Community learning

progress.  Learners’ use of technical vocabulary is satisfactory. However, tutors do not always plan systematically enough to develop learners’ English and mathematics.  Learners receive suitable advice and guidance on visual arts courses available within CAES. The range and availability of information on provision and progression elsewhere, however, is not consistent; it depends too heavily on individual tutors’ personal knowledge of what is available.  Tutors and learners create a welcoming and inclusive ethos in lessons. However, they do not promote learners’ understanding of diversity sufficiently. Exploration of art from diverse sources and cultures is rare and learners are not often presented or challenged with concepts of art within the wider context of society and varied communities.

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Community learning

 Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement, as do outcomes for learners of English and mathematics. The proportion of learners successfully completing their qualifications has declined slightly and is broadly in line with learners nationally. Learners receiving additional support do not always achieve as well as their peers.  Tutors have appropriate specialist qualifications, engage learners well and have high expectations for them. This results in motivated learners who use their new skills in their everyday lives with increasing confidence. Despite this, rates of attendance at lessons are often low.  Learners are keen to participate and complete tasks in lessons. The majority makes good progress and many continue to the next level of study or on to a different functional skills subject. Learners studying English often improve their skills in using computers, although on occasions this is at the expense of the progress they make in developing their English.

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Community learning

 In the best lessons, tutors set learning creatively in contexts which are familiar to their learners. Learners engage productively with tasks such as weighing ingredients for recipes or reading advertisements in local newspapers to explore the features of persuasive language. Tutors ensure that the pace and level of activities are suitably challenging, and frequently check learners’ progress and understanding.  In less effective lessons, tutors do not plan learning in sufficient detail to meet the learners’ differing needs. They do not organise enough activities where learners might work collaboratively, share learning strategies or support each other. Although information and learning technology is routinely available, tutors do not use it enough to enhance and stimulate learning, or to stretch more able learners.  Accommodation, equipment and materials for learning are good. Learning centres for English

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Community learning

and mathematics are widely distributed across the county, have long opening hours and suitably-equipped rooms. The standard of learning materials which tutors prepare and present is generally high.  A thorough initial assessment of learners’ skills ensures learners follow courses at the right level, but tutors do not always use the results effectively when drawing up learners’ personal learning plans. Individual goals are often too broad and periodic reviews of learners’ progress do not consistently identify which skills they need to develop further. However, learners compile useful learning diaries which help them evaluate their progress in each lesson.  Additional learning support is satisfactory. Tutors providing support focus effectively with learners on specific areas of difficulty. For example, they help mathematics learners with weak reading skills to improve their understanding of questions in mathematics tests.

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Community learning

 The information, advice and guidance most learners receive are too narrow. Too few learners are aware of other courses they could follow in their local area. However, the small minority who is learning to improve their potential for employment receive good guidance on progression to other courses within the service.  The promotion of equality and diversity in teaching and learning requires improvement. Tutors know their learners’ needs well and provide safe and friendly learning environments. However, they do not systematically teach learners about social and cultural contexts from the wider world.

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Community learning

The effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement  CAES has a clear strategy that is responsive to national priorities for community learning partnerships, and also to the Cornwall Council’s priorities for the county. The service’s mission focuses clearly and appropriately on providing community-based learning which contributes to social inclusion, stimulates economic development, widens participation and promotes a culture of lifelong learning. The strategy and mission help the service to respond well to the needs of the local community.  The council recently undertook a comprehensive review of the service. This resulted in significant structural and financial reorganisation and a major reworking of key policies and procedures. While the service is now financially more secure, other structural and procedural changes have not yet taken full effect, particularly in raising the overall quality of provision.

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Community learning

 Governance arrangements are satisfactory. They help support the work of managers in monitoring the financial position of the provision, reviewing quality and outcomes, and ensuring that the service aligns closely to the broader council priorities. However, the board is made up solely of elected council members and, as a consequence of recent local elections, there is now a regrettable lack of continuity in governor membership.  The service has comprehensive performance management procedures for staff. A well-conceived lesson observation scheme enables managers to monitor the quality of tutors’ work, identify their individual support needs and establish priorities for wider staff development. However, despite these procedures, the scheme has largely failed to raise the standards of teaching and learning.  Tutors are appropriately qualified and experienced in their respective fields. All have good access to the service’s broad programme of continuous professional development, and to wider

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Community learning

council training and development activities. Attendance rates at staff development activities are high, but opportunities for sharing good practice on a day-to-day basis across different subject areas and centres are insufficient.  Quality assurance arrangements require improvement. Managers have suitable access to reliable data and obtain and use the views of learners well as part of the course review process. However, the service’s self-assessment report and quality improvement plans do not capture some significant areas in need of improvement that inspectors identified. In particular, they do not focus sufficiently on strategies and actions to help raise the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  The service offers a broad range of suitable provision across Cornwall. The diverse spread of local venues meets the needs of small rural communities across the county well. Managers are particularly good at targeting and providing for certain key groups of learners, for example

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Community learning

members of the local Traveller community, and learners with mental health difficulties. However, accommodation and resources for learning vary significantly between centres, and in too many they do not provide an adequate environment for effective learning.  The service gains significantly from a valuable alliance with other adult learning services in the region. Managers from each service usefully review and moderate lesson observation outcomes and self-assessment findings, and work together to identify key improvement priorities. This partnership shows significant potential for further benefits, such as the sharing of knowledge, expertise and best practice more widely and for collaborative staff development.  Managers have developed valuable working partnerships which include those with local voluntary organisations and the two further education colleges within the county. This helps ensure a curriculum which is responsive to learners’ needs across Cornwall, fosters positive

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Community learning

relationships between the organisations, and provides good progression opportunities for learners.  The service has a sound approach to raising awareness of equality and diversity. Coverage of these themes at staff induction and in subsequent training is suitable. However, the promotion of equality and diversity in lessons is insufficient.  CAES meets its statutory requirements for safeguarding learners. Arrangements to train staff in safeguarding are appropriate. In most areas the focus on promoting safe working practices is good, although some lax practice exists on a minority of art and design courses.

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on a provider’s performance:

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

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Overall

19+ Learning programmes Community learning

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Overall

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment 3 3 3

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Overall

The effectiveness of leadership and management 3 3 3

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full contract year

Principal/CEO Mr Rob Sweetzer-Sturt Date of previous inspection June 2009 Website address www.cornwall.gov.uk/adultlearning

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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 6 7 3 5 3 115 0 1 Part-time 141 1505 70 1178 13 253 0 148

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Apprenticeship level and age

Intermediate Advanced Higher 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 0 5 0 3 0 0

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Apprenticeship level and age

Number of community learners 3300 Funding received from Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency

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following main subcontractors:

 Questions and Answers  Digital Peninsula Network  Volunteer Cornwall  SR Training  Combined Training Centre  DMT  M-Mad  Access Training  Rio Xtravert  PCDT

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Additional socio-economic information

Cornwall is a large rural county. The population is just over half a million, of whom a fifth are over 65. The proportion of the population from Black and minority ethnic heritages is under half that for England as a whole. The economy is characterised by small businesses and self-employment. Much of the work in the county is part time or seasonal. Levels of poverty and social exclusion are relatively high.

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Information about this inspection

Lead inspector Alastair Pearson HMI Three of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and four additional inspectors, assisted by the Head of Service 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, and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners; these views are reflected throughout the report. They observed learning sessions. 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 ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, 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 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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