Setting

Ms Kriss Turner Director Department for Teacher Development Faculty of Education, Health and Social Care University of Winchester Winchester SO22 4NR

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University of Winchester primary ITE partnership

Thank you for the help which you and your colleagues, trainees, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and schools and settings gave when Janet Connor, Her Majesty’s Inspector, and Andrew Maher and Dr Kiran Campbell-Platt, Additional Inspectors, and I conducted a monitoring inspection of your primary ITE partnership on 26 March 2015. The focus of the inspection was to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of behaviour training.

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University of Winchester primary ITE partnership

Having considered all of the evidence I am of the opinion that, at this time, the quality and effectiveness of behaviour training are outstanding.

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Context

The University of Winchester works in partnership with about 422 schools to provide initial teacher education (ITE) in the primary age range. At the time of the monitoring inspection there were 180 trainees following the Bachelor of Arts (BA) honours degree course in primary education in their final year. There were 664 trainees following the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) honours degree course across years one to three in primary education and teaching, including 84 continuing on to the Master of Education (M.Ed.) integrated masters in primary education next year. There were 116 trainees following the post graduate full-time route which leads to a post graduate certificate in education (PGCE) and a further 52 part-time trainees following the PGCE route. The partnership works in collaboration with four school alliance partners and the South Coast School Centre Initial Teacher Training (SCITT). Tribal

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Context

King’s Orchard One Queen Street Bristol BS2 0HQ T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01173115309 Direct F 01173150430 Direct email : hannah.parry@tribalgroup.com FMI monitoring inspection letter

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Context

Page 2 Inspectors visited four partnership schools and observed parts of lessons taught by four trainees and four NQTs. The trainees and NQTs represented a range of programmes. Inspectors also held discussions with the trainees and NQTs who were observed and other trainees and NQTs at the schools visited. Discussions were held with university tutors, teacher tutors, initial teacher training coordinators and senior staff. At the university, inspectors met with leaders and managers, the director for teacher development, the quality assurance manager, the initial teacher education partnership manager, the professional studies coordinator, three programme leaders, the priority leader for behaviour and a headteacher from a partnership school who contributes to the behaviour training programme. Inspectors looked at documents including improvement plans, impact studies and trainees’ files. No centre-based training relating to the management of behaviour took place during the

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Context

inspection, but inspectors considered a range of lecture presentations and task- based assignments from across the different programmes relating to training in behaviour management.

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Outcomes for trainees

Trainees and NQTs recognise the importance of creating strong, supportive relationships with pupils to enable them to enjoy learning and feel safe. They have a very well-developed understanding of the links between effective lesson planning, appropriately matched learning tasks for pupils and the importance of creating a positive environment for learning, to promote good behaviour.

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Outcomes for trainees

Trainees and NQTs use a range of strategies to support pupils’ good behaviour in lessons. They use a consistent approach to help pupils understand the high expectations they have for their behaviour. Trainees and NQTs effectively use praise and rewards to motivate pupils to behave well. Clear timescales and boundaries during the movement between lessons and parts of lessons ensure that very little learning time is wasted.

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Outcomes for trainees

From the start of their training in all training routes, strong emphasis is placed on developing trainees’ understanding of why pupils behave in different ways. Trainees read widely and carry out a range of research to enable them to develop a very good understanding of the triggers for some behaviour and the environmental factors that impact on pupils and the way they behave. As a result, they are fully aware that understanding pupils and the challenges they face as individuals is of paramount importance.

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Outcomes for trainees

Trainees are highly reflective of their practice and respond positively to any feedback from teacher tutors and link tutors. One trainee reflected that as a result of only using one strategy to manage behaviour some pupils were not fully engaged. When a range of strategies were introduced to support different pupils’ needs, pupils responded positively and their behaviour improved. FMI monitoring inspection letter

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The quality of training across the partnership

Trainees and NQTs are extremely positive about the training they receive. This high quality training enables them to develop an excellent understanding of how to create a strong and supportive environment in classes, which is free from disruptive behaviour, to enable pupils to learn well. The United Nations Charter on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is well understood by trainees and NQTs. Their understanding of a range of behaviour management strategies is developed through reading and research, lectures, seminars and discussions with university tutors, serving headteachers and placements in contrasting school settings. Weekly feedback from teacher tutors during school placements enables trainees to reflect on the comments, develop their skills and strengthen their practice over time. During lesson observations, trainees and NQTs demonstrated extremely well-developed skills in creating strong relationships with pupils. As a result, pupils displayed high levels of

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The quality of training across the partnership

respect for adults and other pupils. Trainees and NQTs created an exceptionally effective environment for learning for pupils.

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The quality of training across the partnership

Regular assessments of trainees’ development, which includes the effectiveness of trainees’ behaviour management skills, take place. These assessments, linked to the Teachers’ Standards, using the university’s ‘dartboard’ to show minimum, good and high standards, identify strengths and areas for development for each trainee. This enables trainees to focus on the most important aspects of their practice to improve. Link tutors are highly responsive to trainees’ needs and, when teacher tutors identify issues, a supportive open dialogue between tutors and trainees quickly establishes the improvements required. For a small number of trainees, more substantial improvement is required. In these instances, additional individually tailored support is swiftly put in place. Trainees recognise the value of this additional support and respond positively. As a result, their practice rapidly improves.

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The quality of training across the partnership

Feedback gathered from trainees at the end of their course in July 2014, relating to how well prepared they are to implement a range of strategies to establish and maintain a good standard of behaviour in the classroom, is high, with 95% of BA trainees and 90% of PGCE trainees saying that their training prepared them well or very well. This is in stark contrast with the 34 responses to the NQT survey in 2014, published by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) in November 2014, which showed only 71% of respondents felt well prepared to maintain a good standard of behaviour in the classroom. The results of this survey are well below the sector norm for this aspect of training. The trainees interviewed by inspectors were overwhelmingly positive about their training to manage behaviour. As one trainee reflected, ‘Behaviour management is about engagement rather than discipline.’ Trainees’ confidence to manage a range of behaviour deepens during training

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The quality of training across the partnership

because, in all aspects of training, discussions about pupils’ engagement in learning and their behaviour are an integral thread that weaves its way throughout training programmes. FMI monitoring inspection letter

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The quality of leadership and management of the ITE partnership

The CRC Rights-respecting values underpin the leadership and management and philosophy of all programmes. Leaders and managers are relentless in their drive to continually improve outcomes for trainees. Thorough and detailed evaluations of survey findings, both internally sought or nationally published, enable sharply focused action plans to be developed to drive improvements. Behaviour training is now an integral part of all training programmes and a senior lecturer has the responsibility to lead this aspect of the providers’ work. The quality assurance manager checks that all programmes are equally effective in terms of their training in behaviour. Programme leaders work extremely well together and the views of trainees are gathered from trainee representatives to ensure appropriate adjustments to programmes are made in a timely manner.

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The quality of leadership and management of the ITE partnership

Leaders and managers respond swiftly to the changing landscape within schools and education as a whole. For example, the greater emphasis on enabling trainees to develop a good understanding of how to deal with a wide range of bullying issues that may arise, including homophobic bullying and prejudice-based bullying. The expectations for trainees to understand how to actively promote fundamental British values and to thread the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils across all aspects of teaching is clear from partnership plans.

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The quality of leadership and management of the ITE partnership

Thorough and detailed evaluations of trainees’ performance and the detailed tracking of their progress enable highly effective, targeted support to be put in place. Trainees develop their own action plans with clear sharply focused targets for improvement. Link tutors and teacher tutors are extremely successful in ensuring trainees make excellent progress in their ability to promote and manage good behaviour confidently by the end of their training.

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The quality of leadership and management of the ITE partnership

I hope that you have found the inspection helpful in promoting improvement in your ITE partnership. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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