Haydon Training Services Limited

Haydon Training Services Limited Independent learning provider

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a provider that requires improvement

 Too few learners make sufficient progress towards achieving their English, mathematics and vocational qualifications; attendance at lessons is too low.  Not enough learners progress to further learning and education.  Managers have been slow to implement their strategy to raise awareness of the risks of radicalisation and to prepare learners for life in modern Britain.  Self-evaluation is not sufficiently thorough and does not identify all of the issues that require improvement.  The observation process is not sufficiently focused on improving tutors’ skills.  Staff do not use initial assessment well enough to identify learners’ starting points and plan learning to meet individual need.  Staff do not review learners’ progress and agree targets to help them improve well enough.

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This is a provider that requires improvement

 Learners, who are often far from ready for the labour market at their starting points, make significant progress in developing personal and employability skills while on work placement.  Staff carefully match learners to the increasing number and variety of work placements available.  Managers work well with partners to provide learning opportunities, welfare and support for disadvantaged and disengaged young people.  Staff provide effective support to help learners overcome the barriers they face.  Managers carefully plan the curriculum to meet the needs of learners and employers; a good variety of vocational subjects is available.  Managers and staff promote equality of opportunity well.

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Information about the provider

 Haydon Training Services Limited is based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. It specialises in vocational qualifications and has been in operation since 1992. The main training centre is located in Aylesbury, but training for study programme learners is also provided at a venue in Watford. In addition to 16 to 19 study programmes, but out of scope for this inspection, the provider offers apprenticeship provision in childcare as a subcontractor and works in partnership with local schools to provide learning opportunities to 14 to 16 year olds. There are currently 71 learners on 16 to 19 study programmes in a variety of vocational subjects such as childcare, construction, beauty and catering.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Increase learners’ achievement rates and progression into further learning, education and employment by more effective management of learners’ attendance, behaviour and conduct.  Plan for improvements more effectively by being more self-critical and analytical in the self-evaluation of all aspects of the learners’ experience.  Ensure that teachers accurately assess learners’ starting points and use this information to plan learning that meets individual needs and helps all learners to achieve their potential.  Ensure that tutors agree targets with learners that help them to improve and that they monitor carefully learners’ progress towards achieving these targets.  Further develop tutors’ skills by using the observation process more effectively to focus on the quality of learning and learners’ progress.  Ensure that all staff and learners gain a sufficient understanding of fundamental British values and that learners are protected from the risks of extremism and radicalisation.

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requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has declined. Managers do not ensure that enough learners make good progress in all components of their study programme.  Many learners have challenging behaviours and chaotic lifestyles and have previously not participated fully in learning. Managers’ attempts to encourage learners to attend regularly and participate have not been sufficiently successful and attendance rates are too low.  Quality improvement arrangements are not sufficiently effective. Self-evaluation is not thorough enough and does not provide a sufficiently accurate evaluation of all aspects of the learners’ experience. Managers’ observations of lessons do not sufficiently focus on learning and do not result in agreed actions to help tutors improve their skills, such as how to better manage classroom behaviour.  Staff liaise well with local schools, youth offending teams and specialist agencies to

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requires improvement

successfully engage and support learners with complex needs such as homelessness, addictions and mental health issues.  Managers carefully plan the curriculum to meet the needs of learners and employers. They provide learners with good opportunities to develop skills in a variety of relevant vocational subjects such as childcare, construction, catering and beauty.  Staff have been successful in increasing the variety and availability of good-quality work placements and the number of learners accessing work experience is increasing. Staff match learners well to suitable placements and ensure that employers are well briefed and able to support learners effectively.  The training centre provides an effective learning environment, with sufficient classrooms and rest areas. However, teachers do not have sufficient access to technology to support and improve teaching and learning.  Managers and staff promote equality and diversity well and provide good opportunities

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requires improvement

for disadvantaged young people. The inclusive ethos among managers and staff helps to encourage learners to realise a more positive future and to progress into employment. However, managers have been slow to implement their strategy to ensure learners are adequately prepared for life in modern Britain.  Managers have not identified the reasons for female learners achieving less well than males or been successful in closing the achievement gap.

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The governance of the provider

Governance requires improvement. Although leaders and senior managers provide effective oversight of business performance, they do not have a sufficiently strong awareness of all of the strengths and weaknesses of the study programme and therefore do not set sufficiently challenging targets to drive improvements. The senior management team has a good awareness of overall contractual performance and meets regularly to review progress and set actions in relation to these performance targets.

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The arrangements for safeguarding are effective

Learners feel safe and know whom to contact if they feel vulnerable or threatened. Managers carry out all necessary checks on staff and maintain a central register of these checks. Staff ensure that work placements are safe and provide employers with appropriate guidance on safeguarding learners. Staff have a good understanding of learners’ support needs and provide effective referrals to specialist external agencies where necessary. They are undertaking relevant training in both safeguarding and the Prevent duty. However, learners have not yet had sufficient training to ensure that they too have an effective understanding of the risks of extremism and radicalisation. Managers and staff take appropriate action to report any potential safeguarding instances, or those at risk of radicalisation. Managers have very recently produced and implemented an action plan to ensure that incidents and risk assessments are

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The arrangements for safeguarding are effective

more thoroughly documented and that access to the building is monitored more carefully.

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requires improvement

 Staff know their learners well. They understand the barriers learners face and provide effective support both inside and outside lessons. The large majority of learners are far from being job-ready at the start of their programme and this support enables a majority of them to progress into employment. However, tutors do not use their knowledge of learners’ starting points well enough to ensure that all learners make the progress of which they are capable. They do not use information about the skills that learners need to develop, such as building confidence, improving behaviour or the development of work-related skills, to ensure that all learners benefit fully from their time at Haydon Training. Too few progress to further learning.  In a significant minority of sessions, poor behaviour inhibits effective teaching and learning. In these sessions, tutors spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to

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requires improvement

manage behaviour. Not all tutors are sufficiently trained and skilled to use effective strategies to manage learners’ behaviour. In too many lessons, poor attendance and poor punctuality affect tutors’ ability to plan learning effectively.  Teaching to develop learners’ mathematical and English skills requires further development. Learners do not improve their standard of English or mathematics sufficiently well. Tutors do not routinely draw attention to learners’ spelling and grammatical errors or provide them with strategies to help ensure that they do not repeat the same mistakes.  In better sessions, tutors plan well and keep learners motivated and on task. For example, in an English lesson, a tutor used music and a film clip very effectively to help learners understand how to use descriptive language to write in a way that provokes a response from the reader. Learners produced good work that they

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requires improvement

displayed on classroom walls, using posters to promote the use of this descriptive language.  Tutors routinely provide useful feedback to learners so that they know what they have done well and what they need to do to improve their learning. However, tutors do not record this feedback sufficiently well to enable learners to have a documented reference should they wish to refer back to it. Consequently, not all learners benefit sufficiently from this.  Staff make good use of high-quality work placements to help learners develop their personal, employability and vocational skills. Learners on work placements benefit from good on-the-job training and supervision, as well as constructive feedback from their employers, who work well with the provider’s staff to support learners’ progression into employment.  Staff promote a very inclusive ethos that gives disadvantaged young people the opportunity to have a more positive future. The centre provides a welcoming

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requires improvement

environment to learners from a wide range of backgrounds. However, the integration of diversity within the curriculum is not yet fully developed and tutors do not plan sufficiently well to promote relevant topics in lessons and to explore learners’ understanding.

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requires improvement

 The majority of learners attend high-quality work placements in an environment of their choice and make good progress in developing job-related skills such as computer work, stocking shelves, customer service and teamwork. Learners take pride in the work they do in the workplace. Learners improve their English and mathematical skills effectively while on placement. For example, working with colleagues and customers helps to improve learners’ speaking, listening and general communication skills, and activities such as stock handling improve their numeracy skills. They gain in confidence and are motivated to progress into employment.  The standard of learners’ work on placement is good, as are their behaviour and attendance. Employers value the contribution that learners make to their business. However, in a significant minority of lessons, learners’ behaviour is poor and this inhibits learning and progress for all learners. Although staff challenge bad language

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requires improvement

and behaviour, this is not always effective and a minority of learners continue to cause low-level disruption. Staff do not ensure that all learners have a sufficient understanding of the boundaries and standards of acceptable behaviour. Attendance rates at lessons are too low, inhibiting learners’ learning and progress.  Initial information, advice and guidance for learners are effective. The variety of work placements that they undertake supports their progression into employment. During placements, learners receive good advice and guidance about employment from both employers and placement officers. Staff from an independent specialist careers guidance service attend the training centre twice a week and provide good advice to learners on their next steps.  Learners feel safe at the providers’ premises and at their work placement and know whom to contact if they have any concerns. Induction provides an effective insight into

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requires improvement

keeping safe, including safe use of the internet. However, staff do not sufficiently reinforce this understanding throughout the study programme.  All learners who attend the training centre receive a free lunch and benefit from a varied range of healthy food options.

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Outcomes for learners require improvement

 Not enough learners make sufficient progress towards achieving qualifications in English, mathematics and vocational learning programmes. Although improving, too few learners achieve English and mathematics functional skills qualifications. Learners’ achievement of vocational learning aims is too low. This is mostly due to either poor attendance or leaving their course early, although in many cases learners leave early because they have gained employment.  Learners make good progress in developing personal and employability skills from their starting points. Most learners are a long way from being ready for employment when they start their programme, and a majority progress into employment.  Too few learners progress to higher level functional skills while on their study programme and too few progress to further learning, including onto apprenticeships.  Managers routinely collect data to monitor achievement and any gaps between

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Outcomes for learners require improvement

different groups of learners. These data show that female learners achieve their main learning aim less well than male learners do.

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Provider details

Type of provider Independent learning provider

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Provider details

Age range of learners 16–18 Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year Managing director Ms Terri Meacock Website address www.haydontraining.co.uk

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 and above

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age Intermediate Advanced Higher 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 16-18 19+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 Number of traineeships 16-19 19+ Total 0 0 71 Number of learners aged 14–16 0

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Funding received from Education Funding Agency (EFA) At the time of the inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors:  N/A

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Inspection team

Gary Adkins, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Carolyn Brownsea Ofsted Inspector Ian Goodwin Ofsted Inspector Priscilla McGuire Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

The above team was assisted by the study programme manager and contracts manager as nominees. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. 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

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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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