Bradford College ITE Partnership

June 2013 This inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and one additional inspector in accordance with the ITE Inspection Handbook. This handbook sets out the statutory basis and framework for ITE inspections in England from January 2013.

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The inspection draws upon evidence from the secondary phase 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 Bradford College ITE Partnership

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Inspection judgements

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) inspection report Inspection Dates 12–15 May 2014 June 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 June 2013

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Information about the secondary partnership

 Bradford College is a large further and higher education college based in the centre of the city. The college works in partnership with a large number of schools in Bradford and its surrounding local authorities and with a number of teaching school alliances in the region. At the time of the inspection a very small number of trainees were on placements some distance from the partnership’s base.  Core training is offered in the 11 to 16 age range in the subjects of citizenship, chemistry, physics, physics with mathematics, mathematics, computer science, and design and technology (food). Core training in business studies and health and social care is offered in the 14 to 19 age range. Subjects offered through the 11 to 16 School Direct programme in the current year are citizenship, computer science, dance and drama, English, history, modern languages, physical education, religious education and science. School Direct training is also provided for

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Information about the secondary partnership

business studies in the 14 to 19 age range. Training on the core and School Direct programmes leads to the award of qualified teacher status (QTS) and a post-graduate certificate in education (PGCE).  At the time of the inspection there were 54 core trainees, 14 School Direct funded trainees and 19 School Direct salaried trainees. There were 20 School Direct trainees from the Yorkshire Inclusive Teaching School Alliance (YITSA) and 13 trainees from across a number of other smaller teaching school alliances.  The partnership also provides ITE in the primary age-ranges and for further education. These phases of the partnership’s provision were not inspected at this time.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

 Inspectors visited nine partnership schools and observed 19 current trainees and one former trainee teaching. All observations of trainees were carried out jointly with a school-based mentor or class teacher. Inspectors observed school-based colleagues providing feedback to trainees following the lesson. Inspectors scrutinised the training files and held discussions with all trainees observed.  Discussions, either face-to-face or over the telephone, were held with other current trainees, a group of former trainees, school-based mentors, professional mentors and a number of headteachers. June 2013  Inspectors also met with a group of partnership link tutors, representatives of the partnership’s secondary steering committee and representatives of the YITSA.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation including data about the outcomes for different groups of trainees, improvement plans, findings of the partnership’s monitoring and evaluation, and minutes

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

from a range of different partnership meetings.

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Inspection Team

Katrina Gueli HMI Lead inspector Charles Lowry HMI Assistant lead inspector Terry Russell AI Team inspector

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership

 The good-quality training and very effective support from college tutors and school-based colleagues that ensures trainees become good or better teachers.  Trainees’ broad experience of teaching pupils with varying abilities and from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds that enables them to develop their skills in meeting the needs of different groups of learners effectively, particularly disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and pupils who speak English as an additional language.  Trainees’ personal qualities and professional conduct, their ability to reflect on and improve their own practice and their willingness to engage in the wider life of the school.  The strong relationships between the college and its partnership schools that contribute to good training and outcomes for trainees.  The partnership’s commitment to widening participation and the recruitment of trainees from under-represented groups.

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The key strengths of the secondary partnership

 The college’s proactive engagement with regional teaching school alliances to develop additional routes into teaching to help meet regional recruitment needs further. June 2013

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What does the secondary partnership need to do to improve further?

The partnership should increase the proportion of trainees whose teaching is outstanding by:

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What does the secondary partnership need to do to improve further?

- ensuring its criteria for judging trainees’ current performance in relation to the Teachers’ Standards are used consistently to drive rapid improvements in trainees’ teaching as they move through the course - making sure that targets set in weekly meetings and at interim assessment points sharply to what trainees must do to improve their practice from good to outstanding - improving the small minority of mentoring that is not of the high quality evident in many partnership schools - using the analysis of internal and external evaluations to focus improvement planning more explicitly on improving trainees’ attainment and securing consistently high-quality training in all partnership schools.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

1. Trainees’ teaching by the end of the course is predominantly good. For a minority of trainees it is consistently good and sometimes outstanding. The proportion of trainees judged to be at least good by the end of the course has increased since the last inspection because the quality of training is more consistently good across the partnership. However, the number of trainees judged to be outstanding has not risen at a similar rate.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

2. Trainees’ lesson planning is carefully structured. Their teaching incorporates a good range of strategies, reflecting their understanding of how different pupils learn, promotes pupils’ engagement successfully and supports the intended learning very effectively. Trainees have high expectations of the pupils they teach and their lessons typically provide a good degree of challenge for different groups of learners. However, a few trainees, while able to plan effectively to meet the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, do not always ensure that they challenge the highest-attaining pupils in each class.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

3. Most trainees are confident in using a range of approaches, including questioning, to check what pupils know or how well they understand. They can adjust their teaching when appropriate, for example, to tackle June 2013 identified misconceptions. The majority of trainees observed have effectively developed their skills in marking and providing feedback so that pupils know how to improve their work but, for a few trainees, this aspect of their practice is less secure.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

4. Most trainees’ subject knowledge is strong in their area of specialism. Many core trainees have completed a subject-knowledge enhancement course prior to their PGCE and they are universally positive about the difference this has made to their confidence to teach their subject. While most trainees benefit from good support for their subject knowledge development, for a small minority the initial subject knowledge audit and the development of their subject knowledge for teaching as they move through the course is not sufficiently thorough.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

5. Rigorous selection procedures and the strong support provided by college tutors and school-based staff have resulted in the proportion of trainees completing the course being consistently above the sector average and on an improving trend over time. Trainees recruited demonstrate the personal qualities and professional approach needed to become a good or better teacher and willingly involve themselves in the wider life of the department and their placement schools.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

6. Employment rates are above average with the very large majority of trainees successfully gaining employment in teaching at the end of the course. Many gain posts in local schools, successfully meeting recruitment needs in Bradford and its surrounding authorities, particularly in shortage subjects such as mathematics and the sciences. Partnership data show the proportion of former trainees staying in teaching is higher than the sector average.

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The outcomes for trainees are good

7. There are no significant differences in outcomes for different groups of trainees.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

8. Trainees are very positive about the overall quality of their training and its impact on helping them to become good teachers. They feel very well supported by all those involved in the partnership. School-based training and trainees’ teaching experiences combine successfully with the education and academic studies programmes to ensure trainees develop their skills, professional knowledge and understanding effectively. For core trainees and School Direct trainees from alliances other than the YITSA, additional subject training sessions enable trainees to consider effectively the implication and application of generic themes and topics in the context of their subject. The assessment of trainees at the end of the course is accurate. Trainees who are part of the YITSA work with June 2013 their subject mentors and other teachers in the department to fill subject-knowledge gaps.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

9. Most mentors are highly skilled and support trainees very effectively in reflecting on their teaching and how it could be improved. Trainees’ reflection is carefully balanced with valuable advice and guidance from mentors and other school-based colleagues, enabling trainees to develop their teaching successfully. Where mentoring is particularly strong, trainees’ files show clear evidence of their practice improving rapidly over time. However, at times, mentors’ feedback does not make the link between the trainees’ teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning and progress clearly enough. In addition, despite much good practice, not all school-based trainers are making full use of the partnership’s criteria to assess trainees’ current performance. As a result target- setting is sometimes insufficiently precise and/or not followed up with enough rigour to ensure trainees are challenged to improve their

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

teaching from good to outstanding. Feedback from link-tutors’ visits is highly valued by trainees.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

10. Placement schools provide contrasting experiences for almost all trainees and are particularly effective in ensuring trainees have the opportunity to teach pupils from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and with differing learning needs. Partnership surveys of trainees’ views at the end of the course and those of current trainees confirm the vast majority feel well prepared for teaching the full range of pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language. A minority of School Direct trainees expressed a concern about the timeliness of the organisation of their placement away from their ‘home school’.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

11. Training to meet the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is good. Taught sessions, school-based tasks, school placements and opportunities for trainees to spend a week in a special- school setting combine successfully to give trainees the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with these groups of pupils. This was evident in trainees’ classroom teaching, through discussions with trainees and in the highly positive response to the online survey.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

12. Trainees develop their skills in managing behaviour successfully. This is because training at key points in the course is effective and trainees’ first-hand experiences, often in at least one school that provides a challenging context, enables them to hone their practice. They learn to apply school policies consistently and build positive relationships based on mutual respect with the pupils they teach. During several observations, trainees’ calm and measured approach to dealing with challenges from pupils was a particular strength. Trainees have a good understanding of how to deal with issues of bullying and their duty to safeguard children. June 2013 13. Trainees’ have a good knowledge of how to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills through their subject teaching. Almost all those who completed Ofsted’s online survey are confident that the training has prepared them fully in this respect. Where the development of pupils’

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

literacy and numeracy skills is a whole-school priority on a placement their skills and understanding are particularly strong.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

14. All trainees interviewed were aware of forthcoming changes to the National Curriculum. In addition, they have been involved in discussions, both at college and in school, about ‘assessment without levels’. However, different subject tutors use different approaches and the extent to which school-based experiences develop trainees’ knowledge also varies. As a result, the depth of trainees’ knowledge is variable.

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The quality of training across the partnership is good

15. Most trainees feel appropriately prepared to teach their subject to post- 16 students and many have already had first-hand experience of observing, team teaching or delivering lessons. Additional placements towards the end of the course enable those who have not spent time in an 11 to 18 school to gain similar knowledge and understanding.

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good

16. All those involved in the partnership are highly committed to securing the best outcomes for trainees and, in particular, enabling trainees from under-represented groups, such as minority ethnic trainees, to train as teachers.

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good

17. Schools are very keen to be involved with the partnership and engage well with trainee recruitment, the development of training and the shaping of future provision. Strengths of individual teachers or schools within the partnership are used very effectively to enhance the quality of training for trainees.

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good

18. The college is working successfully with a number of Teaching School Alliances to provide School Direct training places in a wide range of subjects. Strong collaboration and a flexible approach with different alliances has resulted in bespoke models of course delivery, mentor training, link-tutor support and quality assurance that combine appropriately to ensure good training for trainees.

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good

19. Rigorous recruitment, involving a range of tasks and activities, ensures that the suitability of applicants for teaching is assessed effectively. The subject-knowledge enhancement completed by many trainees before they start their PGCE programme enables them to make good progress during their training year. June 2013 20. The partnership is proactive in seeking the views of current trainees, former trainees and school-based colleagues to evaluate training and identify improvement priorities. However, action planning does not focus sharply enough on using the findings of the partnership’s internal and external evaluation, such as the annual NQT survey, to improve outcomes for trainees and provision across the partnership.

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good

21. Training for school-based mentors and professional mentors is viewed as developmental and informative. The partnership has rightly increased the extent to which training is ‘taken to schools’ and broadened the scope of link tutors’ visits to provide additional support, ensuring training is at least good across the partnership.

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good

22. Since the last inspection, the partnership has been successful in improving the quality and consistency of training, increasing the proportion of trainees who are good teachers by the end of the course and raising completion rates. This confirms the partnership’s good capacity for further improvement.

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good

23. The partnership is compliant with all Initial Teacher Training requirements.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

Batley Business and Enterprise College Bradford Academy Brighouse High School Carlton Bolling College David Young Community Academy Grange Technology College Immanuel CE Community College Oakbank School Thornhill Community Academy June 2013

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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 12–15 May 2014 Katrina Gueli HMI Higher Education Institution Primary/Secondary/FE 8–12 March 2010 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection- reports/find-inspection- report/provider/ELS/70134

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ITE partnership details

McMillan Building Trinity Road Bradford West Yorkshire BD5 0JE

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