Green Labyrinth

FE&S report Green Labyrinth Independent learning provider

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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This is a good provider

 Very effective leadership has developed the provision to meet the needs of learners and the community well.  Success rates for young people on study programmes are high and above national averages.  All staff have high, but realistic, expectations for learners, many of whom are severely disadvantaged, and enable them to improve their employment prospects.  Very effective initial assessment, reviews and support enable learners to reach their full potential.  Learners develop their personal and social skills very well and improve their confidence and self- esteem.  The support for learners with severe learning difficulties and/or disability is excellent.

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This is a good provider

 Managers have not developed or organised the collation and analysis of data well enough to monitor the overall performance of the provision efficiently or to provide the basis for self- assessment.  A minority of learners arrive late to lessons and staff have not taken effective actions to remedy this.  Tutors intervene too quickly to provide answers when learners are working out solutions to tasks they have set in lessons.

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Information about the provider

 Green Labyrinth (GL) was established in 2013 as an independent learning provider within the holding company of Green Inc. and holds a contract with the Education Funding Agency. It is based in Swindon town centre and recruits learners from the Swindon area. It offers a qualification in the development of personal and employability skills.  This inspection looked at study programmes for learners aged 16 to 19 who have significant barriers to learning and poor prior educational experience. Many learners have poor school attendance records.  This is the first inspection of GL and only the second year of funded provision. GL is increasing the number of learners and is recruiting new staff to meet their additional teaching and pastoral care needs. The provider has recently moved into new training accommodation.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Collate and analyse learners’ data and produce summary statistics which reflect the overall performance of GL so that managers identify indications of underperformance quickly and are better able to take remedial action. Use this information when evaluating the quality of provision for learners.  Train tutors to check learners’ knowledge and understanding in lessons and to recognise better when learners need their help.  Put into place systems which encourage learners to attend punctually.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leadership is very effective. Directors have introduced the study programme provision very effectively, with high expectations for the development of the provision to meet the needs of some of the most disadvantaged young people in the community. Staff have high expectations of all learners, many of whom have very low starting points.  The management of the provision is good. Tutors deliver the programmes flexibly to meet the changing and often chaotic lifestyles of the learners and provide good one-to-one tuition to compensate for any absences.  Managers have introduced a new electronic system to monitor quality improvement initiatives. They use this effectively to track progress against key performance indicators and to provide all staff with feedback on their performance.  Staff collect learners’ views systematically and these are collated and used to introduce improvements to the provision, such as the acquisition of new resources and more flexible delivery of the curriculum.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Partnership working is excellent, with managers attending a wide variety of meetings and fora designed to enhance educational and employability opportunities in the community. GL has very good working relationships with local colleges, schools, employers and other organisations; this has led to an increase in demand for study programmes and more employment opportunities.  Managers observe teaching, learning and assessment systematically and provide feedback to staff on how to improve their performance. This has been effective in improving the quality of the teaching; however, observers focus too closely on what the tutor is doing rather than on the learning that is taking place.  Opportunities for continuing professional development are good, with several tutors pursuing additional qualifications.  Staff organise work-related activities for all learners. Many have real work experience or take part in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

voluntary work. The minority who are not yet ready for work experience are actively involved in running open days which enhance their social and organisational skills.  Managers make good use of data to track individual learner progress while they are completing their qualification and also to monitor the progression of learners when they leave. However, managers do not systematically collate and analyse data to monitor the overall performance of the study programme provision.  Staff are very vigilant with respect to bullying and harassment and tutors ensure that learners have a good understanding of these issues and behave appropriately. Staff challenge any inappropriate behaviour promptly but diplomatically.  Staff promote learners’ understanding of equality and diversity well and challenge stereotyping and inappropriate language. Tutors promote learners’ understanding of fundamental British values well within

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

lessons. Staff and learners have developed an ethos of mutual respect and all work together to promote acceptable language and behaviour.  Some learners have profound learning difficulties and/or disability, and staff provide discreet and effective support to assist these learners. Access to external specialist support is readily available as well as very effective in-house pastoral care.  Self-assessment of the study programme is not well defined and is embedded within the self-assessment of the broader company. Managers do not formally evaluate the strengths and areas for improvement for this provision sufficiently. Managers are very aware of developmental issues, which are reviewed regularly through the electronic quality improvement system.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The governance of the provider The chief executive officer has oversight of the provision and provides good support and challenge to the manager. An external consultant also acts as a critical friend and offers further independent scrutiny. Contacts with partner organisations are very effective and provide mutual support and critical insight.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective Policies and procedures for safeguarding are robust. The administrator has completed all required checks on staff and the manager maintains a central register of these checks. All staff have received training in safeguarding procedures. Learners feel safe. They know what to do and who to contact in the event of an incident. They know how to keep themselves safe physically and online. Many potential safeguarding issues have been identified and the few actual incidents have been managed appropriately. Staff have made reasonable progress to promote learners’ and staff members’ awareness of the risks of extremism and radicalisation through training in the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty. Staff and learners are all knowledgeable about the ‘Prevent’ duty.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Staff have high expectations of learners. Good teaching and a well-designed curriculum give learners a good learning experience. A strong emphasis on providing diverse learning opportunities, such as the use of role play and video production, helps learners develop their confidence and self-esteem. This also improves their skills for independent living and prepares them for employment and their next steps.  At all levels staff design learning that is fun and enjoyable. Lessons are short and well focused, involving creative activities, individual and whole-class work and relevant business scenarios. For example, in a mathematics lesson on multiplication a tutor used a game of bingo very effectively to develop mental arithmetic skills. However, in a minority of lessons tutors do not always provide sufficiently interesting or challenging activities for the more able. Learners find these tasks repetitive and mundane, and lose

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

interest.  Tutors work very effectively, along with appropriately trained support staff, so that all learners can participate fully in challenging learning activities. Support staff enhance the learning sessions with carefully considered individual attention, praise and practical support.  Learners benefit from well-conceived additional enrichment activity. Second year learners are working with a local theatre group to produce a hard-hitting video on the impact of sexual abuse. This not only develops teambuilding and self-reliance but also learners’ confidence in expressing and sharing difficult experiences.  Tutors plan the teaching of English, mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT) particularly well to meet the needs of individual learners. Tutors pay close attention to learners who have not found these aspects easy in the past and who have lost confidence in their abilities. Tutors set work

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

that takes account of learners’ prior achievement in these subjects.  Tutors monitor and record learners’ work and achievements carefully. Assessments are frequent and start early in the programme to ensure learners make progress according to their potential. Assessors mark work carefully and provide detailed feedback on how learners might improve further. Tutors are often too quick to give answers or provide solutions to problems rather than allowing learners to work out solutions fully for themselves.  Staff link closely with external agencies and social workers and are successful in removing barriers to learning and supporting learners with significant emotional needs and disability. Learners make good progress, with around half progressing into sustained employment in, for example, care, hospitality, ICT, warehousing and retail.  GL’s open culture ensures staff promote all aspects of good behaviour and welfare. Staff are good role

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

models who set clear boundaries and expectations for behaviour. Managers and staff take rapid actions to resolve learners’ concerns. This helps learners feel safe at all times in the calm environment provided by staff.  Staff are quick to tackle the use of aggressive or derogatory language and stereotypical comments. Learners are respectful and are becoming more aware of the beliefs and attitudes of people beyond their immediate experience. Consequently, learners make strong gains in their social skills and are better prepared for sustainable employment.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare is good

 Learners enjoy their learning. They are becoming more confident and self-assured. They take pride in their work and value the opportunities the small class sizes and individual attention afford.  Learners’ attitudes to learning are highly positive. They follow tutors’ instructions closely in lessons and complete tasks well. As a result, lessons progress without interruption and most learners work hard.  Learners attend regularly; this helps them to make good progress. However, a minority arrive late for a small number of lessons, which disrupts the learning for those who make every effort to arrive on time.  Learners develop good social and teamworking skills. Learners show respect for each other’s views and opinions and gain valuable customer care skills.  External work placements match learners’ needs well. Learners routinely support open-day events and administrative duties. Staff members’ links with local employers are good and provide learners and

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare is good

employers with a good level of support. This means that learners can gain valuable experience in real work environments.  Staff use careers advice and guidance and work experience well to increase learners’ understanding of the vocational choices they have and enable them to make informed decisions about their future.  Learners all participate in a wide range of activities that challenge and inspire them and develop their social and organisational skills. Learners use drama activities well to confront and explore issues that reflect their personal lives.  Learners quickly improve their English skills. Staff successfully encourage learners to organise and present their written work and to improve their spelling and grammar.  Learners develop their mathematics skills well. Tutors give helpful individual support to those with very low ability and confidence and provide access to online learning materials to help with adding and

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare is good

subtracting, multiplication and division. They introduce learners to percentages and ratios effectively through retail outlet discounting and credit card interest rates.

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Outcomes for learners are good

 A large majority of learners at GL make good progress relative to their starting point. Many who have had poor academic achievement at school and severe barriers to learning make significant progress beyond their own expectations.  Learners develop a wide range of personal skills that result in improvements to their personal confidence and self-esteem, enable them to interact socially and ensure they move towards gaining employability skills.  The proportion of learners achieving their qualification successfully is high and well above the national average. Nearly all learners achieve their learning goals with only the very few who drop out failing to do so. Success rates for the learners on English and mathematics functional skills courses are very good.  Nearly all learners who complete their qualification progress into some form of further training with about a third progressing into employment. Those learners who are not yet ready for work experience or further

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Outcomes for learners are good

training progress into a bespoke summer school to enhance their development further.  Learners enjoy their learning and become increasingly confident and motivated to engage with wider enrichment activities and to move towards full-time employment.  Managers monitor individual learners’ progress well to assess the performance of different groups of learners. All groups, including those with severe learning difficulties and/or disability, perform equally well.

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Provider details

Type of provider Independent learning provider

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full contract year

CEO Bryan Davis Website address Greenlabyrinth.co.uk

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Intermediate Advanced Higher

16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Number of traineeships 16-19 19+ Total N/A N/A N/A Number of learners aged 14-16 0

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Intermediate Advanced Higher

Funding received from Education Funding Agency (EFA)

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Inspection team

Charles Clark, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Martin Bennett Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

The above team was assisted by the operations director, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of students and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider . guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. 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 reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk Learner View is a website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too.

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Inspection team

To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk

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Inspection team

Employer View is a new website where employers can tell Ofsted what they think about their employees’ college or provider. They can also see what other employers think about them too.

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Inspection team

To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk

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