West Sussex County Council

West Sussex County Council Final re-inspection monitoring visit report

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Address: Skills West Sussex County Council Second Floor, 215, East Wing County Hall Chichester Sussex PO19 1RF Monitoring visit: West Sussex County Council, 23–24 November 2016

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Context and focus of visit

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) continues to subcontract adult learning to Aspire. This is the third and final follow-up re-inspection monitoring visit to WSCC following publication of the inspection report on 16 December 2015 which found the provider to be inadequate overall.

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Reasonable progress

WSCC and Aspire managers have maintained a constant and relentless activity to improve safeguarding arrangements, including consolidating awareness of ‘Prevent’ among staff and learners. Senior managers have made good progress in many aspects, for example in providing staff training in ‘Prevent’ and in increasing learners’ awareness of extremism and radicalisation. The Aspire safeguarding manager has undertaken safeguarding enquiry officer training. This, alongside the close liaison with the WSCC adult safeguarding team, ensures that safeguarding continues to be a high priority and well coordinated across the county and boroughs.

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Reasonable progress

The oversight of safeguarding continues to be effective. Managers rigorously monitor incidents and concerns through the Aspire board and WSCC contract meetings. WSCC managers ensure that every member of staff involved in regulated activity, including new recruits, has had a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

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Reasonable progress

All teaching staff have undertaken training which covers the key requirements of the ‘Prevent’ duty. The large majority of staff have also received further training to help them raise learners’ awareness of the dangers of extremism and radicalisation and the importance of tolerance as part of a broader understanding of British values. WSCC managers have instructed Aspire to complete this training for all teaching staff by the end of February 2017.

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Reasonable progress

WSCC senior managers have a ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment action plan which includes reference to Aspire and the requirement for their staff to be appropriately trained. However, it does not include a risk assessment action plan which specifically covers the community learning programmes or reflects the different risks associated with different areas of the county.

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Reasonable progress

Managers and tutors ensure that learners are aware of how to keep themselves safe while online, and tutors supervise access to the internet when it forms part of classroom learning activities. Staff have produced clear guidelines which state the Monitoring visit: West Sussex County Council, 23–24 November 2016 learners’ responsibilities for ensuring that they do not access inappropriate social media and websites. These guidelines are published on noticeboards in classrooms. Learners interviewed during the visit had a good understanding of their responsibilities.

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Significant progress

Managers have made significant progress in improving the process for identifying and recording safeguarding issues. Staff ensure that records are clear and describe when actions have been taken and completed. Staff make appropriate reference to personal details to ensure that confidentiality is maintained. Incidents are now recorded in sufficient detail and records confirm that appropriate action was taken. Managers’ relationships with county council safeguarding teams and external support and referral agencies continue to be strong and very effective.

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Significant progress

Aspire managers also maintain a central record of formal complaints which has clear detail on the actions taken. WSCC managers review these complaints records during frequent audits to identify any broad issues or concerns across sites. Teaching staff keep records of lower-level comments, complaints and concerns across sites, but managers do not keep a central record. As a result, managers are unable to monitor any trends in learners’ concerns.

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Significant progress

WSCC managers, working in close partnership with the Aspire team, have ensured that all venues have been risk-assessed and that they are safe and accessible for learners. As a result of this work, 25 venues are no longer used and a further 34 venues have clear action plans which identify improvements that are required. These plans are well documented and venues are appropriately prioritised. Senior managers track and monitor progress in making the necessary improvements and manage any interim risks well.

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Significant progress

Venues visited by inspectors were well managed and it was apparent that managers had improved security for access to sites and buildings. On one site, managers had made substantial changes and moved classes to different buildings to provide a more secure environment. At one centre, access for learners with wheelchairs and those with restricted mobility was difficult. Managers had provided learners with personal alarms to attract support to open heavy doors. Plans were well advanced to remedy deficiencies. However, it was too early to verify the full impact of implementing these plans. Monitoring visit: West Sussex County Council, 23–24 November 2016

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Significant progress

WSCC and Aspire senior managers have continued to work relentlessly to develop further the strong working relationships and drive improvement. WSCC continues to attend Aspire’s board of trustees meetings. A member of the board oversees safeguarding and ensures that it remains a high priority. The county council economic and community engagement teams provide WSCC and Aspire senior managers with an excellent range of support. Managers responded quickly to requests from the Home Office to provide English for speakers of other languages classes for refugees. Tutors are delivering classes successfully in Crawley.

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Significant progress

The management and oversight of contract performance is far more rigorous and thorough. Performance targets are clear and provide an accurate picture of the provision across all sites in the county. WSCC managers look in depth at participation and achievement on all courses at contract management meetings and ensure that actions to improve areas of concern are monitored regularly. While the management information from Aspire is clear and extremely useful, work is progressing well on converting to a better and more responsive system to enable data to be analysed more effectively.

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Significant progress

WSCC and Aspire staff share observations of teaching and learning and provide training and support where appropriate. Plans are in place to ensure that all teaching staff are observed over the next few months. Inspectors observed learning sessions in a number of venues during the visit and observed well-planned sessions with a good range of activities. Sessions included reinforcement of British values and the impact of extremism and radicalisation, using events such as Remembrance Day. Learners were punctual and enjoying the sessions.

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Significant progress

WSCC managers recognise that they need to urgently review the provision for the small number of 16- to 18-year-old learners to ensure that it meets funding body requirements and learners’ needs. WSCC managers have suspended enrolments until this review has been completed.

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Significant progress

Managers continue to use self-assessment and improvement plans effectively to set challenging targets to address weaknesses identified at the previous inspection and monitoring visits. Improvements had been made to attendance, punctuality and achievements in some areas, although managers recognise that improvements in English and mathematics require further work.

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Reasonable progress

Aspire has made reasonable progress in improving achievements in some areas since the previous visit. Retention for 2015/16 in English and mathematics at GCSE level Monitoring visit: West Sussex County Council, 23–24 November 2016 improved and was good. However, WSCC and Aspire managers recognise the need to improve further the proportion of learners achieving A* to C grades in English and mathematics.

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Reasonable progress

Learners’ achievements of full functional skills qualifications in English and mathematics continue to improve and are now high. Achievements of the small number of learners aged 16–18 have improved significantly and are high.

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Reasonable progress

Learners’ ESOL achievements remain at a similar level to 2014/15, but are still too low. Changes in delivery patterns and funding have contributed to achievements remaining at around 70%. WSCC and Aspire managers are fully aware of the areas that require improvement and have implemented robust plans to improve the provision. However, it is too early to measure the full impact of these actions. Monitoring visit: West Sussex County Council, 23–24 November 2016 the guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . Learner View 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. To find out more go to

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Reasonable progress

Employer View Employer View is a 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. To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Reasonable progress

regulates and inspects to 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 children looked after, 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

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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