Wandsworth London Borough Council

AI-15 first re-inspection monitoring visit report

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Published date 9 April 2015 Inspection Number 463317 Unique reference number: 53152

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Address:

The Professional Centre Franciscan Road London SW17 8HE Telephone number: 020 8871 8491 Wandsworth London Borough Council

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Context and focus of visit

This is the first re-inspection monitoring visit to Wandsworth London Borough Council following publication of the inspection report on 19 January 2015, which found the council to be inadequate overall.

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Improvement in arrangements to safeguard learners

At the time of the inspection, managers did not ensure the appropriate assessment of all those who work with young people and vulnerable adults to ensure that they do not pose a risk to learners.

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Improvement in arrangements to safeguard learners

Records of risk assessments and the outcomes of criminal records disclosure and barring checks of staff who work directly with young people and vulnerable adults were incomplete.

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Improvement in arrangements to safeguard learners

Risk assessment and monitoring of subcontractors’ and employers’ safeguarding arrangements were weak, and managers were unable to identify potential dangers for young people and vulnerable adults.

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Improvement in arrangements to safeguard learners

Not all staff had undertaken safeguarding training, including training on preventing extremism and radicalisation. Records of the training that staff had undertaken were incomplete. Inspectors did not find any examples during the inspection of learners who felt unsafe.

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Priorities for improvement

 ensure that all relevant staff receive appropriate checks that assess their risk to learners and suitability for their role  review the outcomes of the vetting and barring checks on staff to ensure that risks to learners are appropriately considered and managed  work with the council’s health and safety team to ensure that health and safety checks of all learning venues are undertaken and that all training and education activities are fully assessed for potential risks to learners  establish a comprehensive central record of: o risk assessments to premises and learning activities o outcomes of disclosure and barring checks on all staff o safeguarding training for all staff  ensure that the monitoring of safeguarding arrangements of subcontracted provision is robust and records are recorded thoroughly  ensure that all staff undertake safeguarding training appropriate to their role, including training to prevent extremism and radicalisation

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Priorities for improvement

 provide greater scrutiny of the safeguarding training delivered by subcontractors to ensure that it is of good quality.

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subcontracted providers

The previous inspection found that the management of subcontractors was not consistently rigorous and, as a result, success rates, particularly on the apprenticeship programme, varied too much among subcontractors. Meetings with managers of larger subcontracting providers did not pay sufficient attention to improving the quality of provision, such as the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, safeguarding, and the timely achievement of apprenticeships.

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Priorities for improvement

 develop a set of clear standards that the council expects its subcontractors to adhere to, including their arrangements for safeguarding learners  develop and apply a demanding quality assurance framework and cycle  ensure that monthly and quarterly reviews of the performance of all providers take place and take appropriate action to ensure that all learners make good progress  ensure that reviews are rigorous and that safeguarding, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for learners, and in particular the timeliness of apprenticeship success rates, are prominent in reviews  act swiftly and effectively when the performance of subcontractors is below the standards expected, including considering de-commissioning providers where they have insufficient capacity to make the improvements needed.

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Improvement in the proportion of apprentices who successfully complete

their programmes within the planned time.

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Improvement in the proportion of apprentices who successfully complete

At the time of the previous inspection, the apprenticeship programme made up over a third of the provision. The proportion of apprentices who completed their programmes successfully in 2013/14 was just below the national rate.

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Improvement in the proportion of apprentices who successfully complete

The inspection found that, while young adults who have not been in education or employment for some time receive good information to join the apprenticeship programme. However, the guidance that other apprentices receive at the start of the programme does not always provide them with enough information about the requirements of the programme or help them to understand what they need to do to make rapid progress. Written feedback to apprentices does not always provide learners with sufficient information on how they can improve further and use their knowledge and skills in the workplace. However, this is not the case for learners in fashion and textiles, where learners benefit from very detailed and clear feedback, and know precisely what they need to do to improve their work.

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Improvement in the proportion of apprentices who successfully complete

Teachers and assessors do not always give enough attention to learners’ existing knowledge or to their current levels of ability when planning learning activities. This limits the progress that apprentices make. Teachers and assessors do not always set appropriately demanding targets for apprentices. The monitoring of the progress that apprentices make towards their targets is not always thorough enough.

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Priorities for improvement

 monitor regularly and scrutinise closely the performance of subcontractors to ensure that all components of the apprenticeship framework are completed on time  set minimum standards of performance for subcontractors, and target interventions where their performance is unacceptable  increase observations of information, advice and guidance during induction to identify weaknesses and prioritise training and staff development activities to ensure that subsequent information, advice and guidance is at least good  review entry requirements to ensure learners are placed on the right course  provide training for staff on setting targets for learners and how to give effective feedback to learners  review and improve handbooks for learners to ensure that course requirements and what learners should expect from teachers and assessors are clear.

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Priorities for improvement

 monitor the progress of learners more closely  provide good quality written feedback on what learners need to do to improve  take into account the existing knowledge and skills of learners when planning learning  set demanding targets for learners and monitor better the progress that they make against these.

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Improvement in the monitoring of teaching, learning and assessment

The inspection found that records of lesson observations are incomplete and a significant minority of teachers have not had an evaluation of the quality of their practice. This means that managers do not thoroughly identify and tackle specific areas for improvement in teaching, learning and assessment. Evaluations of the performance of teachers are over-generous and do not identify many areas for improvement.

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Priorities for improvement

 ensure all teachers are observed annually  improve the accuracy, quality and consistency of observations through rigorous quality assurance  ensure that observers complete records of lesson observations fully and identify individual areas for improvement  put in place training and development activities to respond to the individual needs of teachers  ensure that best practice is shared effectively amongst staff  identify and record better, common themes that emerge from observations of teaching, learning and assessment and use these to plan staff development and training activities.

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Improvement in the oversight of the service provided by elected members

The inspection found that, while members receive regular and detailed reports about recruitment and the service’s work, reports lack sufficient information about the quality and impact of individual programmes. This means that members are not always able to provide sufficient challenge to leaders and managers to improve performance.

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Priorities for improvement

 review the performance information and data that members need so that they can provide effective support and challenge to managers to improve the quality of provision  ensure that performance data inform members about the quality and effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment, success rates and the progression of learners on to employment, training and further learning  build the capacity of members so that they fully understand what the service delivers  ensure that members are routinely involved in the task group that oversees the implementation of the post-inspection action plan.

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English, mathematics and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)

The inspection found that learners do not always make sufficient progress in improving their English and mathematical skills. Less than half of the learners who started an English course in 2013/14 left with a qualification.

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English, mathematics and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)

Staff do not always ensure that those learners who do not have English as their first language are guided appropriately to courses that will enable them to gain a relevant English qualification. As a result, too many leave their courses without formal recognition of the skills that they have acquired.

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English, mathematics and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)

On the apprenticeship programme, a significant minority of learners do not complete the English and mathematical elements of the framework successfully. Teachers and assessors provide insufficient support to enable apprentices to improve their skills in English and mathematics and achieve appropriate qualifications before their planned end date. Staff do not always ensure that apprentices understand the importance of English and mathematics in the workplace, or correct the accuracy of their written work.

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Priorities for improvement

 set high standards for teaching in English and mathematics  put in place training and development activities that improve teachers’ skills in teaching English and mathematics  increase the number of lesson observations that focus on English and mathematics, and improve the skills of observers in identifying effective teaching in these subjects  build the capacity of assessors to support better the development of learners’ skills in English and mathematics  improve the initial assessment of learners’ abilities in English and mathematics by teachers and assessors  require teachers and assessors to track the progress of individual learners better, to ensure that they are on track to achieve their qualification, and, in the case of those learners who do not have English as their first language, progress on to an accredited English course.

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on completion of their course

Managers do not collect information systematically about how well learners progress into employment or on to vocational courses and apprenticeships. As a result, they are unable to evaluate fully the impact of learners’ achievements on their future employment, training or education.

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Priorities for improvement

 develop coherent arrangements for tracking the progression of learners  monitor these arrangements closely to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted across subcontracted provision  report regularly to members on how well learners progress to employment, training or further learning.

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lead to qualifications

The inspection found that managers’ judgements of the progress and achievement of learners on non-accredited courses are over reliant on feedback gained from learners. Managers take insufficient account of information held by teachers about learners’ progress and achievement.

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Priorities for improvement

 develop clear and well understood criteria of what constitutes good achievement by learners  ensure that learners’ personal learning goals are appropriate and that reviews of progress take full account of information held by teachers  undertake regular audits of individual learning plans and progress reviews to ensure that data on the achievement of learners are based on sound evidence. 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 and 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 assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Priorities for improvement

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Priorities for improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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