University of St Mark and St John Teacher Education Partnership

1

This inspection was carried out by four of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and four 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 June 2014.

p.1

1

The inspection draws upon evidence from each phase and separate route 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.

p.1

1

This was a re-inspection of both primary and secondary provision following the inspection in May 2013 that judged both phases to require improvement. It was conducted as a one-stage inspection during one week.

p.1

Inspection judgements

Key to judgements: Grade 1 is outstanding; grade 2 is good; grade 3 is requires improvement; grade 4 is inadequate

p.1

Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness How well does the partnership secure consistently high quality outcomes for trainees? 2 2

p.1

Inspection judgements

The outcomes for trainees 2 2 The quality of training across the partnership 2 2 The quality of leadership and management across the partnership 1 1 University of St Mark and St John Teacher Education Partnership Initial Teacher Education inspection report Inspection Dates Re-inspection: 23–26 June 2014 ITE inspection report June 2014

p.1

Overview of the ITE partnership

The overall effectiveness of the ITE partnership is: good in primary; and good in secondary.

p.2

Overview of the ITE partnership

These have both improved significantly since the previous inspection last year as a result of outstanding leadership and management overall for both primary and secondary programmes. Improvements in the quality of training have led to improved outcomes for trainees. Some aspects of these outcomes are outstanding in the secondary phase. In primary, there is a clear and marked trend of improvement.

p.2

Overview of the ITE partnership

Since the previous inspection, the outstanding leadership and management of the partnership have resulted in much improved outcomes for trainees. The new vice chancellor demonstrates a strong commitment to improving the quality of teacher education and the dean of the faculty has taken a more incisive lead in this area. The new programme leaders for the primary and secondary phases and for the school direct routes have implemented successful and far-reaching changes to the way the partnership is managed. The new headteacher-led strategic management groups for both phases and the new operational groups now ensure that all aspects of the trainees’ programme meet high standards. Both groups have extensive representation from schools to ensure a sharp focus on meeting their needs.

p.2

Key findings

 Significant improvements to the overall leadership and management, and for the individual programmes, have led to marked improvements in the quality of training and outcomes for trainees on all phases and routes.  Extensive quantitative and qualitative data about all aspects of the outcomes for trainees and of the partnerships are gathered, analysed and used well to ensure that senior and programme leaders have a detailed understanding that enables them to drive and sustain improvement.  The tracking of trainees’ progress, quality of their teaching and achievement of the Teachers’ Standards are all much improved.  The outcomes of this tracking are used well to monitor continuously the quality of training so that any required interventions are mostly swift and effective.  Across both phases and all routes, trainees and mentors are clear that the teaching of trainees should be, and is, evaluated through the impact

p.2

Key findings

on learners’ progress over time. This principle is well embedded and practised across all partnerships. ITE inspection report June 2014

p.2

3

 All programmes make good use of the diversity of schools and learners in the region to provide trainees with a breadth of skills and experiences that make them highly employable, as shown by the high employment rates.

p.3

To improve the ITE partnership should:

 ensure that the primary, secondary and School Direct programme leaders embed the use of the provider’s excellent model of mentoring and coaching across all of the partnerships to raise the quality of school- based training further.

p.3

Information about this ITE partnership

 The University of St Mark and St John works with schools across the South West and further afield.  The primary partnership includes postgraduate and undergraduate routes specialising in teaching pupils aged 3 to 7 or 5 to 11.  The secondary partnership includes postgraduate and undergraduate routes specialising in teaching modern foreign languages and physical education to students aged 11–16 with a range of enhancements to enable trainees to gain specific additional experiences.  The university works with teaching schools and teaching school alliances on primary and secondary School Direct routes, including School Direct (salaried). ITE inspection report June 2014

p.3

Information about the primary partnership

 The University of St Mark and St John Teacher Education Partnership includes over 300 primary schools. It works across six local authority areas and has representation in several Service Children Education (SCE) schools in Germany and Cyprus. The partnership also includes a number of cooperative trusts, teaching schools, academies, federations and alliance groups.  The university offers a one-year postgraduate programme in Early Years Education which specialises in teaching 3 to 7-year-olds. It also offers a one-year postgraduate training course to teach 5 to 11-year-olds. There are also two undergraduate primary routes: one for Early Years; and one for the full primary age range.  At the time of the inspection, there were 96 postgraduate trainees, 18 on the 3 to 7 route and 78 on the 5 to 11 route, and 301 undergraduates, with 29 of these following the Early Years programme. Undergraduate trainees specialise in one of the primary National Curriculum subjects. If

p.4

Information about the primary partnership

they wish, postgraduates can choose to follow a specialism in physical education or modern foreign languages. There are also 14 primary non- salaried and one primary salaried School Direct trainees who undertake part of their training in the university.

p.4

Information about the primary ITE inspection

 Eleven schools were visited as part of the inspection. Inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by trainees and four by newly qualified teachers (NQTs). All of the lessons taught by trainees were observed jointly with the class teacher or a university tutor. Inspectors were able to observe the feedback given to the trainee following the lesson. Discussions took place with the trainees in schools and their mentors. Inspectors also scrutinised trainees’ files of work.  Discussions were held with a group of undergraduate trainees in the university. Inspectors met with staff involved in the partnership. Documentation was scrutinised and the results of the online trainee survey conducted by Ofsted were analysed.

p.4

Inspection team

Lorna Brackstone, Her Majesty’s Inspector Primary lead inspector ITE inspection report June 2014

p.4

5

Ian Hancock, Her Majesty’s Inspector Assistant primary lead inspector Jane Neech, Her Majesty’s Inspector Primary team inspector Kiran Campbell-Platt, Additional inspector Primary team inspector

p.5

The key strengths of the primary partnership are:

 outstanding programme leadership and management which have enabled the areas requiring improvement identified at the previous inspection to be rectified swiftly and effectively  the high-quality training in the teaching of reading, primary mathematics, behaviour management and teaching pupils who have special educational needs, which prepares trainees well and accounts for their improving outcomes  the highly professional conduct of trainees and their positive contributions to all aspects of school life  the partnership’s effective use of local diversity and wider links which ensures that trainees have breadth and variety in their training, so making them highly employable  the consistent approach to observing trainees teach and the use of a comprehensive recording and tracking system which highlights any areas of concern  the partnership’s exceptional contribution to securing an ample supply of very good teachers within Plymouth and the wider south-west region.

p.5

The partnership should:

 increase the proportion of trainees whose teaching is outstanding by ensuring that they challenge the most-able pupils to do as well as they can in lessons

p.5

The partnership should:

 improve the quality of training in schools so that more is outstanding by: - developing trainees’ critical reflection through the use of probing questions in oral feedback following observations of their teaching - using the provider’s excellent mentoring model to encourage more mentors to coach trainees, not just observe and provide feedback ITE inspection report June 2014

p.5

6

- targeting specific aspects of the Teachers’ Standards to help trainees refine their practice - refreshing the training of school mentors who have been mentoring for a substantial period of time.

p.6

Inspection Judgements

1. The outstanding leadership and management of the partnership have led to extremely rapid improvements across all aspects of the provision. The leadership’s relentless pursuit of excellence is evident in the swift action that has been taken to tackle the issues arising from last year’s inspection report. The exceptionally well-motivated leaders and managers have wasted no time in getting to grips with what needed to be changed. In particular, they have swiftly introduced highly effective ways to collect and analyse information about trainees’ performance, the quality of their teaching and their future employment. Consequently, leaders and managers know exactly how well each trainee is doing and the positive difference that training is making. The monitoring of the effectiveness of training, through its impact on trainees’ progress, is much improved so that it is now a strength of the partnership.

p.6

Inspection Judgements

2. Trainees are selected carefully. Comprehensive recruitment procedures assess trainees’ suitability by ensuring that they have the appropriate qualifications and competences for teacher training. Trainees’ attainment has improved over the past two years. All trainees exceed the minimum level expected and a rising proportion attain at a good or outstanding level. There is a clear upward trend in the proportion of trainees who are outstanding teachers by the end of the training. The proportion of trainees who successfully complete their course has improved during the past two years and is now above average. Employment rates are improving and are well above average. Almost two thirds of the newly qualified teachers who were employed in Plymouth schools last year had trained at St Mark and St John. This shows that the provider is meeting the needs of the local area extremely well. There are no differences in outcomes for different

p.6

Inspection Judgements

groups of trainees, such as men and women or those in different age groups.

p.6

Inspection Judgements

3. The quality of training is good overall and meets the needs of the phase specialisms well. There are some aspects of the training which are outstanding and these enable trainees to be well prepared and equipped for teaching. Trainees develop a good understanding of the key skills required to teach reading; centrally-based activities prepare them extremely well in understanding the wider context of teaching children to read. A particular strength is the way in which specialist tutors and the national experts used in the training emphasise all aspects of learning to read, such as through reading for pleasure. School-based tasks enable ITE inspection report June 2014

p.6

7

trainees to develop a secure understanding of how letter sounds are used to teach reading.

p.7

7

4. The trainees show high levels of professionalism in the way that they conduct themselves in school. They eagerly immerse themselves in their schools and create classroom environments that are nurturing and supportive. Trainees reflect well on their practice with a good focus on the impact of their teaching on pupils’ progress.

p.7

7

5. Trainees’ subject knowledge is secure and their understanding of how children learn is impressive. This is because trainees’ grasp of each subject is audited frequently and any shortcomings are followed up rigorously. Trainees are unequivocal in assuming personal responsibility for taking action to address any gaps in their subject knowledge. Training prepares trainees well for the forthcoming changes to the National Curriculum. The proposed changes are discussed regularly in lectures and used in assignments. While on placement, trainees in several schools had experience of planning and teaching aspects of the new curriculum.

p.7

7

6. Since the previous inspection, the partnership has ensured that the trainees gain a wider understanding of the different groups of pupils they might be required to teach. Consequently, trainees have a much better knowledge of the information that is available and how to use it to plan lessons. For example, early in the postgraduate programme, trainees evaluated and compared the provision for pupils eligible for the pupil premium in two schools. Consequently, they were well prepared for their subsequent placement. By knowing which pupils are in receipt of additional government funding, trainees ensure that sessions are supporting them well. Trainees’ teaching also has a greater focus on individual pupils. They ask questions skilfully at the start of lessons to recap on previous learning. They also discreetly target individual pupils at the end of lessons to check on how much they have learnt.

p.7

7

7. Trainees feel confident teaching those pupils who speak English as an additional language as a result of the effective training they receive from local schools. For example, in one training session, staff from a local school gave some of the training in Polish. This enabled trainees clearly to understand the difficulties that some pupils with very limited English may experience when they are in school. Similarly, training provided by a headteacher of a local school has ensured that trainees are adept at analysing the progress of different groups of pupils using RAISEonline reports.

p.7

7

8. Trainees now have improved confidence when they teach pupils with disabilities or have special educational needs because they have had more in-depth training. Since the previous inspection, trainees now receive preparatory lectures before they start their placements in special schools. This enables them to have a greater understanding of specific disabilities ITE inspection report June 2014

p.7

8

and more complex needs. The centrally based training has been extended and there is greater focus on teaching pupils with physical disabilities. Subsequently, key themes are developed early in the school placement, when trainees meet with the special educational needs co-ordinator and review individual programmes of support.

p.8

8

9. As confident practitioners, trainees are not afraid to take risks in their lessons to involve pupils fully and make learning meaningful. Practical approaches to demonstrate key facts are used well to enhance the pupils’ learning experiences. Trainees have high expectations of what their pupils can achieve. They accept only the best attitudes for learning and use a range of strategies to promote good behaviour in class. Occasionally, pupils who are more able do not receive the challenge they need to make as much progress as they could.

p.8

8

10. A further strength in the training is the way that trainees benefit from a very broad range of placements. The provider’s strong local, regional and national links enable the trainees to experience teaching within the city and its suburbs, in rural locations and in areas experiencing social challenge. Trainees have additional opportunities to undertake a school placement in a school in London or an SCE school overseas. By undertaking complementary placements and taking a full part in the life of their schools, trainees gain a good breadth of experience that helps them to secure a teaching post on completion of their training.

p.8

8

11. The previous inspection highlighted weaknesses in the assessment of trainees. The use of an agreed format for evaluating trainees’ teaching has ensured greater consistency across the partnership. In mathematics, the provider makes exceptionally good use of lesson observation data to gauge trainees’ knowledge of the subject and the difference that teaching makes to pupils’ progress. Individual weaknesses are identified and followed up promptly. There is a robust system of internal and external moderation, in addition to the role of the external examiners, which ensures greater accuracy of assessment. Inspectors agreed with the provider’s assessment of all of the trainees visited.

p.8

8

12. The introduction of an electronic system which records and evaluates the trainees’ growing confidence and competence in each area of the Teachers’ Standards is understood by all and is used very effectively to identify areas that need further development. This is not only used well to assess the rate of individual trainees’ progress, but is used by university tutors to identify further training needs which are then organised centrally. This has led to a much tighter monitoring of both trainees’ progress and of the quality of the training to ensure that both are consistently good.

p.8

8

13. Not all oral feedback to trainees following observations of their teaching is good. Some mentors fail to give their trainees time to reflect on the lesson and pupils’ progress, or do not use sufficiently probing questions to help ITE inspection report June 2014

p.8

9

them develop high-level skills. Despite the university’s excellent model of mentoring, not enough mentors use coaching strategies consistently to benefit their trainees. Improved mentor training, centrally and on an individual basis in school, has raised the overall quality of mentoring. However, programme leaders are fully aware that there is still some way to go. A handful of well-established partnership schools require a deeper refreshing of their mentoring skills.

p.9

9

14. Since the previous inspection, there have been significant improvements in both day-to-day and strategic leadership and management. Programme leadership is strong. The primary partnership strategic group scrutinises current information and data on trainees’ progress closely, identifying trends and making recommendations to the partnership operational group. All members of this operational group have a strong interest in the sustained improvement of the partnership and are actively involved in the future planning of the partnership. Leaders react quickly to suggestions or concerns raised by providing well-targeted support, additional training or amending the programme structure.

p.9

9

15. Self-evaluation is rooted in the rigorous analysis of qualitative and quantitative information from a wide range of sources, including trainees and schools. It leads to planning and actions that have resulted in the marked improvements to the quality of training and outcomes for trainees. The carefully crafted improvement plan has provided the partnership with a clear and well-understood blueprint for change. Systematically, it addresses each area requiring improvement and lays down firm foundations for sustaining the ambitious plans for future developments.

p.9

9

16. The partnership is strongly committed to its wider involvement with schools both locally and within the south-west region. Working closely with a teaching alliance, the university is ensuring that newly qualified teachers have access to good continuing professional development. This includes those newly qualified teachers who are yet to secure a permanent post and work on a supply basis within partnership schools.

p.9

9

17. The provision meets fully all relevant statutory criteria, requirements and legislation.

p.9

Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs’) teaching:

p.9

Annex: Partnership schools

Bickleigh Down Church of England Primary School Bickleigh-on-Exe Primary School Buckfastleigh Academy Diptford Parochial Church of England School ITE inspection report June 2014

p.9

10

Drake Primary School Hooe Academy Hyde Park Infants School Lew Trenchard Primary School Mount Wise Community Primary School Prince Rock Primary School St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Plymouth ITE inspection report June 2014

p.10

Information about the secondary partnership

 The University of St Mark and St John Teacher Education Partnership includes secondary schools and academies mainly in Plymouth, Torbay, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, but also in other areas such as some London boroughs and schools near Bristol. It works with a number of teaching schools and teaching school alliances, and with groups of church-linked and other schools. The underpinning principle for all of these partnerships is a set of shared values.  The partnership offers a range of routes: a one-year postgraduate route in modern foreign languages, across a wide range of languages, and physical education; a three-year undergraduate BEd route in physical education; one-year School Direct routes (leading to QTS or a postgraduate teaching qualification); and a salaried School Direct route. From the beginning of this academic year, the partnership no longer offers the other subjects that were available at the time of the previous

p.11

Information about the secondary partnership

inspection. The School Direct subjects offered are driven by the needs of schools and change from year to year. In the current year, trainees were recruited in English, history, mathematics, modern foreign languages, music, physical education and physics.  A total of 56 trainees started the one-year programmes or year 3 of the undergraduate programme.  All trainees are prepared to teach students aged 11 to 16. However, all are also provided with experience of teaching post-16 classes. A particular feature of the provision is the range of enhancements available. These include: further post-16 teaching; a second subject for modern foreign languages and physical education trainees; a second foreign language for linguists; developing expertise in teaching students with special educational needs (SEN); or a focus on Key Stage 2 to 3 transitions.

p.11

Information about the secondary ITE inspection

 The inspection of the secondary provision was undertaken by four inspectors. Inspectors observed 16 lessons taught by trainees and five taught by newly qualified teachers (NQTs). Inspectors visited nine partnership schools. One of the observations took place in Newquay Zoo as part of a visit to teach French in a different setting. Another took place in a pupil referral unit run by the City of Plymouth as part of an enhancement to develop skills in teaching students with special educational needs. All of the observations of trainees’ teaching were ITE inspection report June 2014

p.11

12

undertaken with the class teacher, school subject mentor or professional tutor and inspectors observed the feedback given following the lesson.  Frequent meetings were held with senior and programme leaders in the university, and with the secondary strategic group and leaders of teaching school alliances. The lead inspector met with the university vice-chancellor to discuss the university’s strategic plan and the place of teacher education. In schools, inspectors interviewed professional tutors, subject mentors and trainees, observed the feedback provided by the mentor or professional tutor following the lesson observation and met with headteachers or Principals. A range of documented evidence was scrutinised, much via the partnership’s virtual learning environment. Trainees’ teaching files, records of their weekly meetings with their subject mentor, individual learning plans and professional development

p.12

12

reviews were scrutinised. The results of the online trainee survey conducted by Ofsted were analysed.

p.12

Inspection Team

James Sage, Her Majesty’s Inspector Overall and secondary lead inspector Anne Looney, Additional inspector Assistant secondary lead inspector Heidi Boreham, Additional inspector Secondary team inspector Ronald Sergeje, Additional inspector Secondary team inspector

p.12

The key strengths of the secondary partnership are:

 the very high proportion of trainees who successfully complete the course  how well the partnership prepares trainees to make them employable, leading to all securing, and remaining in, teaching posts  the quality of the training that leads to trainees’ strengths in promoting good attitudes and behaviour, and in developing students’ skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics through their specialist teaching  trainees’ passion for their subject and the teaching of it, and their relentless focus on developing their subject knowledge and how to apply it to their lessons  the quality of the mentoring and coaching model  the quality of the assessment arrangements and how well the training is matched to individual trainees’ developmental needs, ensuring that trainees make progress against challenging individual expectations ITE inspection report June 2014

p.12

13

 how the evaluation of trainees’ teaching through its impact on the progress of the students they teach permeates the training and leads to trainees being sharply and critically reflective  the collaborative nature of the partnership that promotes high-quality training across all settings  the effectiveness of the strategy group and its relationship with the operational group, programme leaders and school professional tutors in setting and maintaining high expectations for all aspects of the partnership, with a clear focus on improving the outcomes for trainees and holding senior and programme leaders to account  the much improved work of programme leaders that enables them to apply all of the improvements effectively to raise the standard of the outcomes for trainees.

p.13

The partnership should:

 ensure that the excellent mentoring and coaching model is fully embedded across the partnerships, including for the School Direct routes, to improve further the teaching of trainees, so that in all cases: – the feedback following lesson observations is probing and challenging – trainees develop a deep understanding of subject pedagogy – subject mentors support trainees in applying what they learn to their teaching – trainees’ developmental targets become more challenging as their teaching improves – quality assurance visits can identify and act on what is required to improve school-based training further.

p.13

Inspection Judgements

18. In the 12 months since the previous inspection, the partnership has improved rapidly and significantly as a result of outstanding leadership and management. All of the improvement points in the previous inspection report have been addressed fully and remedied effectively. The partnership has secured these improvements alongside introducing a wide range of positive developments in response to the changing landscape of teacher training and developing a wide range of new and ITE inspection report June 2014

p.13

14

evolving partnerships. This demonstrates outstanding capacity for yet further improvement.

p.14

14

19. The most significant improvements are:

p.14

14

 the outstanding collaboration and communications between all of the partners with all systems and procedures being much more rigorous and robust  stronger programme leadership  the much sharper assessment of trainees’ progress and achievement that is now better focused on the Teachers’ Standards, clearer and well documented, better understood and more consistently applied  the focus on the progress of individual trainees against individual expectations, leading to training that is well matched to their individual needs and targets  the evaluation of trainees’ teaching through its impact on students’ progress that is fully embedded across all of the programmes  the incisive use of the much tighter tracking of individual trainees’ progress to monitor the impact of the training provision, so that swift and effective interventions can be made to support the trainee or improve the quality of subject mentoring.

p.14

14

20. The partnership recruits onto all routes trainees who are very well suited to teaching and have the attitudes, subject knowledge and skills required. The effectiveness of selection is clear from the high completion and employment rates and from the quality of trainees’ teaching by the end of the course. Schools are fully involved in the selection process.

p.14

14

21. Successful completion and employment rates are consistently high and well above national and regional averages. At the end of the 2012/13 academic year, almost all trainees (95%), on all of the routes that continue to be available, successfully completed the course and all exceeded the minimum level of practice expected of teachers as defined in the Teachers’ Standards: just over half at an outstanding level and all of the others at a good level. All gained employment in schools, all are still in their jobs and all have continuing or new contracts for the following year – many in local schools or within the wider region. The university makes a highly significant contribution to meeting the need for teachers in the area.

p.14

14

22. For the current cohorts, inspectors agreed with all of the assessments made by the provider. The provider’s own accurate tracking data show that the current cohorts are well on track to sustain the very high successful completion and employment rates of last year. Overall, a similar proportion are on track to exceed the Teachers’ Standards at an ITE inspection report June 2014

p.14

15

outstanding level and all of the others at a good level; more than half are already outstanding teachers. In particular, the large majority of physical education trainees from both routes are already teaching at a consistently outstanding level.

p.15

15

23. Trainees and NQTs are confident classroom teachers. They have a strong presence and establish good relationships with the classes they teach, setting and maintaining high expectations. They demonstrate excellent personal and professional conduct and make good contributions to the wider life of their placement schools. Beyond having very positive attitudes and commitment to teaching, they show a passion for their subject, and want students to do well and enjoy their work.

p.15

15

24. As a result of outstanding training in some areas, trainees and NQTs demonstrate strengths in particular aspects of their teaching. Trainees are able to combine the elements of training well to develop their teaching skills. Trainees and NQTs plan their lessons and teach in a way that promotes good attitudes and behaviour from their students. They rarely need to deal with behaviour that is not at least good but, when they do, they have the skills to do this well. All develop students’ skills in reading, writing, oral communication and mathematics through their specialist teaching, using well what they learn from their training and from the good practice in many schools.

p.15

15

25. All trainees have a full commitment to the ongoing development of their subject knowledge and how to apply it to their teaching; they generally do this well. The enhancement part of the programme enables trainees to develop particular skills in a specific area; for many, this involves further development of subject knowledge to enable, for example, physical education trainees to teach another subject, linguists to teach a second or third foreign language and others to develop their knowledge to teach post-16 groups. A trainee training to teach physics who had come through the subject knowledge enhancement route was required to teach high-ability and sixth form groups to ensure his subject knowledge was secure. A physical education trainee chose the SEN (special educational needs) route and was observed teaching an outstanding lesson on ‘anger management through boxing’ in a local pupil referral unit. This feature of the training programme is particularly

p.15

15

important in helping trainees to find teaching posts, is highly valued and supported by schools, and contributes to the 100% employment rate.

p.15

15

26. A notable improvement since the previous inspection is the relentless focus on evaluating the effectiveness of trainees’ teaching through the impact on students’ progress over time. Discussions with trainees currently in their first year of the three-year course show that this is established firmly from the onset of the training. Trainees use this focus on learning in their frequent reflections on their own teaching; most ITE inspection report June 2014

p.15

16

mentors use it when discussing their observations with trainees. It is a strong feature of most oral feedback, but sometimes less evident in the written records.

p.16

16

27. The outcomes for trainees are not yet outstanding because more trainees need to demonstrate consistently the higher-order teaching skills of outstanding teachers. These trainees do not fully involve all learners in discussions through, for example, targeted questioning and the use of follow-up questions to involve other students. While trainees’ planning usually makes reference to particular students, for example those with special educational needs or specific behavioural problems, it rarely refers to individual students’ current progress. The trainees have full access to tracking data for the classes they teach, but do not use this to, for example, target those who are underachieving or to offer challenge for those doing better than expected. NQTs are better at this. For example, a science NQT carefully planned for every student in a poorly motivated and underachieving Year 10 group, who made outstanding progress as a result of the way she applied this to the

p.16

16

lesson and the way she involved every student fully in the learning. While almost all trainees plan well for the deployment of teaching assistants, some need to focus this more on supporting students’ learning.

p.16

16

28. For those trainees who could make more progress, the feedback from mentors does not use enough probing questions. For example, there is insufficient use of identifying individual students to discuss progress, rather than just the whole class. In a small minority of cases, the developmental targets set for trainees do not become more challenging as the trainee’s teaching improves.

p.16

16

29. The partnership has developed an excellent research-based, but highly practical, model of mentoring and coaching. When used well, this leads to excellent mentoring; this is especially strong in physical education. However, it is not fully embedded across the partnership, leading to the remaining variations in the quality of mentoring described above. For this reason, while the training has some outstanding features, it is not yet outstanding overall.

p.16

16

30. There are no significant variations in the quality of outcomes for any groups of trainees, although some on School Direct routes are not as strong in their understanding of subject pedagogy: their understanding of the underpinning theories about learning and teaching in the subject. In these cases, the crucial training role of the subject mentor is not fully developed. These trainees are not encouraged to develop a deeper understanding through probing questions about why and how to teach aspects of the subject. Although these School Direct trainees do extensive reading, this is often not followed up to help them apply the ITE inspection report June 2014

p.16

17

lessons learned to their teaching. The notion of ‘supported application’ by the mentor to help the trainees with this is not fully established.

p.17

17

31. Quality assurance operates effectively at carefully managed levels: trainee, mentor, school professional tutor, university tutor, and external moderators and the external examiner. The trainee, subject mentor and school professional tutor are all involved at each stage. In the very large majority of cases, this leads to swift and effective interventions and improvements in the outcomes for trainees. Currently, it does not always work as effectively for all of the schools involved in School Direct.

p.17

17

32. The highly effective ‘hub training model’, that brings together subject trainers and tutors, mentors, leading teachers and trainees across groups of schools to make best use of all of the expertise available, is to be expanded to include all schools, including all of those involved in providing School Direct places, from September. This is a clear and sensible plan for resolving these remaining variations in the quality of training.

p.17

17

33. Trainees’ progress as teachers is supported well by an extremely effective assessment and monitoring system that is clear, logical, well documented and understood by trainees, mentors and others. A very strong feature is establishing an early ‘baseline’ so that the progress of each trainee is monitored against individual expectations. While guidelines, based on the Teachers’ Standards, for where trainees should be are set at each of the six well-spaced review points, trainees are able to exceed these if they have the ability. These guidelines provide a good basis for setting developmental targets. This leads to a highly personalised programme.

p.17

17

34. This personalisation of the training enables school placements to be accurately determined and based on the individual needs of each trainee. This is done well for the second placement for School Direct trainees. All trainees have a good breadth of experience that makes excellent use of the diversity of, and in, schools in the partnership and the region. This breadth also contributes well to the employability of the trainees.

p.17

17

35. The provider sets extremely high expectations for all aspects of the provision. These are set within a clear and ambitious strategic vision, not just for the partnership, but for teacher education and training in the region. The partnership works closely with schools and others to support the further professional development of NQTs. Their future progress is tracked carefully, where possible, using the clear developmental targets set for them at the end of the course; this feeds back into the provider’s self-evaluation. The partnership supports a clear continuum of professional development through initial training, the early stages of ITE inspection report June 2014

p.17

18

teaching and the ongoing professional development of established teachers.

p.18

18

36. The setting up of a secondary partnership strategic group has been instrumental in driving improvement. This group undertakes its own rigorous analysis of data on trainees’ progress and outcomes, and uses this well to hold senior and programme leaders to account. The strategic group works well with the new operational group, programme leaders and school professional tutors to ensure that high-level planning is turned into practical action that improves the outcomes for trainees.

p.18

18

37. The provider’s gathering, analysis and use of data are much improved with a clear focus on improving trainees’ progress and outcomes. Programme and senior leaders analyse trainees’ progress constantly to plan and make rapid and effective interventions. Self-evaluation uses qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources, but all focused on the impact on trainees. Improvement planning stems directly from this ongoing and summative self-evaluation and clearly identifies what needs to be done to sustain and/or improve outcomes. The university usefully produces cogent briefing booklets for each aspect of the outcomes and key strands of training that provide sharp analysis and clear actions that affect all of the partnership. These provide an excellent means of sharing priorities for improvement so that they are fully understood across the partnership.

p.18

18

38. The provision meets fully all relevant statutory criteria, requirements and legislation.

p.18

Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs’) teaching:

p.18

Annex: Partnership schools

ACE Alternative Complementary Education, Plymouth All Saints Academy, Plymouth Budehaven Community School Coombe Dean School Eggbuckland Community School Paignton Community and Sports Academy Queen Elizabeth Academy and Sixth Form, Crediton Stoke Damerel Community College Wadebridge School ITE inspection report June 2014

p.18

ITE partnership details

Unique reference number Inspection number Inspection dates : one stage re- inspection Lead inspector Type of ITE partnership Phases provided Date of previous inspection Previous inspection report

p.19

ITE partnership details

James Sage HMI HEI-led partnership Primary and secondary QTS 13–16 May 2013 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection- reports/find-inspection- report/provider/ELS/70131 Derriford Road, Plymouth PL6 8BH ITE inspection report June 2014

p.19