North Essex Teacher Training (NETT)

This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors and additional inspectors 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

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Inspection judgements

The quality of training across the partnership

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Inspection judgements

The quality of leadership and management across the partnership

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North Essex Teacher Training (NETT)

Initial Teacher Education inspection report 3–6 February 2014 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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North Essex Teacher Training (NETT)

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

1. North Essex Teacher Training is a secondary school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) partnership for graduate trainees. Training programmes are offered across all subject areas and lead to the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). For non-salaried School Direct trainees, the postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) qualification is also awarded. Similarly, salaried School Direct trainees can gain the PGCE if desired. The training covers the 11-18 age range in all subjects.

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Information about the secondary partnership

2. The partnership works closely with the University Campus Suffolk. The award of PGCE is accredited by the Universities of East Anglia and Essex.

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Information about the secondary partnership

3. The partnership is based in the Tendring area of North Essex at Clacton Coastal Academy and works with six local schools. The lead school is Clacton County High School. The partnership uses a specialist training centre based in the Jaywick Lane site of the Clacton Coastal Academy.

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Information about the secondary partnership

4. At the time of the inspection, there were 37 trainees on the programme. Their subject specialisms were drama, dance, physical education, art, design and technology, English, geography, science, mathematics, computer science and history.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

5. Inspectors observed seven lessons taught by trainees and six by newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Some of these were joint observations with mentors. Inspectors observed some trainees receiving feedback on their teaching from their mentors. Discussions were held with a further 11 trainees and four NQTs, and inspectors scrutinised trainees’ files. 6. Inspectors spoke with ex-trainees, school ITT coordinators, headteachers and programme and subject leaders. Recruitment interviews were observed. Documentation was scrutinised and the results of the online trainee survey conducted by Ofsted were analysed. 7. Inspectors visited each of the five main schools in the partnership.

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Inspection Team

Elaine Taylor HMI Lead inspector Trevor Riddiough HMI Assistant lead inspector Angela Milner HMI Team inspector Terry Russell Team inspector

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 The well-established partnership of good and outstanding schools that are committed to ensuring trainees enter the profession as good or better teachers and where trainees have opportunities to observe and work alongside excellent classroom practitioners.  The recruitment of trainees, who are highly committed to their training and to the local area, many of whom make rapid progress in their careers.  Trainees’ high expectations of their pupils and their ability to create positive and harmonious relationships and manage behaviour well.  The coherent training programme that provides a balance of experience across the 11-18 age range and promotes good understanding of primary practice, especially the teaching of early reading.  The consistent feedback that trainees receive, as a result of the comprehensive training for mentors and other teachers who might be involved in providing feedback to trainees.  Placements that are carefully selected to be personalised and

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

complementary, in order to maximise the potential benefits to trainees.

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The partnership should:

 increase further the quality of trainees’ teaching by the end of their training by: – ensuring trainees put the strategies they have devised to support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs fully into action in their lessons – adjusting the time spent in their second school for trainees on the salaried route so that they have sufficient time to plan, teach and assess learning for their classes  ensure that the intended outcomes of improvement plans are clear, that improvement points are prioritized and that the plans contain details of how their success will be evaluated  strengthen the development of subject knowledge by: – providing subject leaders with the skills and opportunities to assure the quality of their work and that of the teachers in their teams – ensuring all mentors provide trainees with precise targets that develop and build their ability to use their subject knowledge in their

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The partnership should:

lessons to increase the progress their students make.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

8. Trainees’ attainment is good. By the end of the course, all trainees exceed the minimum requirements of the Teachers’ Standards. The proportion of trainees gaining the highest grade is slowly increasing, but needs to be even higher for the outcomes to be judged outstanding. While there are few clear differences in measures of attainment for different groups, more of the mature trainees gain the highest grade in their end-of-course assessments than others. Small numbers and changes of subjects each year make other comparisons unreliable. Inspectors’ judgements broadly match those of the partnership in assessing both the teaching seen and trainees’ overall achievement.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

9. Completion rates are above average, but not consistently so. A very small number, usually one or two per year, fail to complete the course, mostly for personal reasons. Employment rates are very high. Schools in the partnership support each other in providing training places for applicants judged to have the potential to become good or better teachers.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

10. Headteachers in partnership schools are extremely positive about the contribution the training is making to help improve the quality of teaching in their schools. This is supported by the generally improving inspection outcomes for the partnership schools. In some schools, over half the staff are ex-trainees.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

11. Trainees and ex-trainees demonstrate several key strengths in their teaching. They manage behaviour effectively and often make skilful use of humour to create pleasant, collaborative working relationships. Trainees understand the importance of planning their lessons carefully so that all pupils have work that is sufficiently challenging, but they sometimes fail to put these plans fully into action.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

12. Trainees reinforce students’ literacy well and some develop their numeracy too. For example, in an art lesson a trainee creatively used time limits to practise quick mental calculations. All trainees understand how to make good use of additional adults in their lessons. 13. Few trainees make full use of their subject knowledge to ensure outstanding progress for all levels of ability in their classrooms. Some need to develop their subject knowledge further, especially to prepare them fully for teaching in the sixth form.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

14. The training course has a good structure, with general professional studies and subject training complementing each other well. Trainees are prepared well to deliver the existing curriculum. Trainees’ preparation for the new curriculum is in line with the partner schools’ own transition arrangements for the timely introduction of the new arrangements.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

15. Trainees are positive about all aspects of their training. They enjoy the creative elements that provide them with useful resources for use in their later teaching. For example, the artefact assignment is an opportunity to produce extremely colourful and imaginative classroom resources that enliven teaching.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

16. The partnership selects second placements carefully to match the needs and prior experience of trainees and to maximise the potential for increasing their progress. For trainees on the salaried route, the second placement is sometimes too brief to allow sufficient time to practise planning, teaching and assessment for different groups.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

17. All trainees teach at least one sixth form class during the year. A staged approach is adopted, where trainees observe, plan together with the class teacher, team-teach and then teach alone. The implications of the raising of the age of compulsory participation, the implications of the new post 16 programmes of study, and providing the support to help post 16 students acquire GCSE qualifications in English and mathematics are all addressed in the training.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

18. The quality of subject training is variable. Subject knowledge development is the responsibility of the trainees, but mentors do not always drive the development through subject specific targets or reference to subject specific issues in lesson observation feedback. The subject handbooks vary in quality significantly.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

19. The primary experience is well organised. Trainees have useful prompts and a clear focus that enable them to gain maximum benefit from the visits. The focus on the teaching of phonics and early reading helps them to support students in Key Stage 3 who have low reading ages.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

20. The training prepares trainees well for supporting disabled students and those who have special educational needs, reinforced by undertaking a case study of a student in their placement school. Trainees feel less confident about providing support for students for whom English is an additional language. The programme includes a visit to a school where they can observe good practice, but there are few opportunities to gain practical experience of working with these students in partnership schools.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

21. Trainees have good personal support from their mentors and from school coordinators. The programme leaders know trainees individually and communication is good. Trainees’ progress is tracked carefully so that issues can be picked up and dealt with quickly.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

22. Trainees receive good quality mentoring and feedback on their performance, although the support for their subject development is less consistent. The programme leaders make sure that all teachers who might be giving formal or informal feedback are fully aware of the basic elements of effective practice.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

23. The training prepares all trainees well for their additional professional responsibilities. Trainees understand the need to keep children safe in all contexts, including a good understanding of how to deal with all forms of bullying.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

24. Assessment is accurate at the end of the training, but occasionally on- going feedback is a little generous and some of the targets for trainees lack precision. Assignments are moderated and marked appropriately. Some of the supporting documentation requires rationalisation to ensure all who use the materials are very clear of how to do so.

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good

25. Good leadership of the partnership has ensured that attainment has continued to improve in times of considerable change in the national context. Partnership schools are equally involved in the strategic development and day-to-day running of the programmes.

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good

26. The schools in the partnership are starting to provide support for other local schools not directly involved in the training. The aim is to ensure that the scheme attracts and recruits high calibre candidates able to achieve their potential as good to outstanding teachers. In this, the partnership is increasingly benefiting local schools in a coastal area where there are high levels of deprivation.

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good

27. Recruitment and selection processes are effective in selecting trainees who have the necessary academic and personal qualities to become good or better teachers. The partnership makes good use of trainees’ views to enhance and develop their provision. It has established a network for NQTs to enable the support to continue beyond the training year. A high proportion stays in teaching in the area.

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good

28. The recruitment of minority ethnic trainees is below average, but has risen this year because of imaginative and persistent recruitment strategies. The partnership provides good support for disabled trainees. All trainees are clear of their role in promoting equality and demonstrate good awareness of the needs of all their students.

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good

29. A major strength of the leadership is the strong emphasis on the continuing development of all who are involved in the training. A ‘roadshow’ event is held regularly in schools to support all staff that might be giving feedback. Leaders have high expectations of attendance and take training to those who cannot attend.

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good

30. Although subject leaders are skilled practitioners, too little emphasis is given to ensuring they have sufficient opportunities and resources to keep fully informed of developments in their areas of expertise. They have a limited role in the quality assurance of the training in their subjects.

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good

31. Data on the progress trainees are making is gathered and analysed to make sure issues are dealt with rapidly, but the partnership does not use an incisive evaluation of the data to inform self-evaluation or action planning. The plans themselves are not sharp enough as they lack detail on timescales and measurable success criteria.

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good

32. The leaders of the partnership ensure that the programme meets current statutory initial teacher training criteria and requirements, and all relevant legislation. The improvements in outcomes for trainees and the strong commitment of schools in the partnership to improving provision and outcomes indicate that there is good capacity to improve further.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching: Tendring Technology College Clacton County High School Clacton Coastal Academy Colne Community School Harwich and Dovercourt 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 3–6 February 2014 Elaine Taylor SCITT Secondary June 2010 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection- reports/find-inspection- report/provider/ELS/70015

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ITE partnership details

c/o Clacton Coastal Academy Jaywick Lane Clacton on Sea Essex CO16 8BE

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