The Pimlico-London SCITT ITE Partnership

The Pimlico-London SCITT ITE Partnership Initial teacher education inspection report Inspection dates Stage 1: 13 June 2016 Stage 2: 7 November 2016

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This inspection was carried out by one Her Majesty’s Inspector and one Ofsted inspector in accordance with the ‘Initial teacher education inspection handbook’. This handbook sets out the statutory basis and framework for initial teacher education (ITE) inspections in England from September 2015.

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The inspection draws on evidence from each phase and separate route within the ITE partnership to make judgements against all parts of the evaluation schedule. Inspectors focused on the overall effectiveness of the ITE partnership in securing high-quality outcomes for trainees.

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Inspection judgements

Key to judgements: Grade 1 is outstanding; grade 2 is good; grade 3 is requires improvement; grade 4 is inadequate

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Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness How well does the partnership secure consistently high-quality outcomes for trainees? The outcomes for trainees 1 The quality of training across the partnership The quality of leadership and management across the partnership ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016

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Information about this ITE partnership

 The Pimlico-London SCITT opened in 2014. The partnership provides primary and secondary school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) for graduates. Trainees who successfully complete their training are recommended for qualified teacher status (QTS) and gain a postgraduate certificate of education from University College London Institute of Education.  The partnership offers a School Direct training route. Based at Pimlico Academy, it works in partnership with lead schools in the Future Academies multi-academy trust, as well as in conjunction with schools regionally and beyond the region.  At Stage 1 of the inspection, there were four primary trainees and 14 secondary trainees. In September 2016, three primary trainees and 24 secondary trainees began their training.  The partnership is also involved in the Researchers in Schools programme each year from 2015 to 2017. This aspect of the partnership’s work is the

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Information about this ITE partnership

subject of separate inspection arrangements and was not included in this inspection.

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Information about the primary and secondary ITE inspection

 Inspectors visited three schools at Stage 1 of the inspection, observing four primary trainees and five secondary trainees teach. They met with eight other secondary trainees to review their evidence in relation to the teachers’ standards. Inspectors also met with two former trainees who completed the course in the previous year 2014/15.  At Stage 2, inspectors visited five schools, observing six newly qualified teachers (NQTs) teach. They also reviewed transition documentation and targets for trainees at the start of their first year of teaching as NQTs. One of the schools was visited at both stages of the inspection. Inspectors also met three primary trainees who began their training in September 2016.  Inspectors held discussions with individual trainees and NQTs, mentors, headteachers, principals and induction mentors. They held discussions with members of the SCITT leadership team, including the head of ITT (initial

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Information about the primary and secondary ITE inspection

teacher training), and the primary and secondary course leaders. Inspectors also met with members of the strategic board. During Stage 1, inspectors observed two central training sessions.  Inspectors took into account 17 responses to the trainees’ online questionnaire completed between April and July 2016, the partnerships’ own NQT survey and the actions taken by the head of ITT and course ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 leaders to improve training and outcomes between the two stages of the inspection.  Inspectors examined a wide range of evidence, including information on recruitment and selection of trainees, training materials and tracking information showing trainees’ progress over time. Inspectors considered the partnership’s analysis of outcomes for trainees, self-evaluation document and improvement plan. Insectors also checked the partnership’s compliance with statutory requirements relating to primary and secondary Initial

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Information about the primary and secondary ITE inspection

Teacher Training (ITT), as well as safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Madeleine Gerard HMI (lead inspector) Amanda Gard OI (assistant lead inspector)

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are:

 The ambition and very strong collaborative work between all those involved in the training partnership which result in consistently high-quality training, excellent outcomes and outstanding teachers.  The exacting process of recruitment and successful selection of high-calibre trainees with strong potential to be highly effective teachers, which leads to consistently high training completion.

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are:

 The clear focus on inspirational teaching approaches that results in trainees planning engaging lessons which enthuse pupils and maximise pupils’ thinking and learning.  Leaders’ stringently careful and systematic checks on trainees’ development and their impact on pupils’ learning and progress. Trainers and mentors provide additional challenge, or personalised support where necessary, and ensure that all trainees exceed the teachers’ standards.  The wide range of experience and expertise that leaders, mentors, trainers and guest speakers bring to central and school-based training, which increase trainees’ understanding of recent and influential educational theory and research.  The exacting standards of personal and professional conduct expected of trainees which foster trainees’ exemplary behaviour and attitudes and make them fully aware of their responsibility to safeguard the well-being of pupils.

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are:

ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016  The strong emphasis throughout the training year on equipping trainees with a wide range of effective behaviour-management strategies. As a result, all trainees manage classes with great consistency and fairness.  The dedicated support leaders provide trainees when they start the next stage in their careers as NQTs ensures that the move from training to employment is extremely smooth.  The partnership’s exceptional capacity to improve. Through sharp self- evaluation, systematic consultation of trainees’ views, detailed improvement planning, demanding expectations and challenge from the partnership’s strategic board, leaders have secured trainees’ outstanding outcomes.

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The partnership should:

 develop innovative partnerships with additional schools to provide further high-quality placements for trainees to develop their teaching skills.

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Inspection judgements

1. The overall effectiveness of the Pimlico-London SCITT is outstanding. Over the short time that the SCITT has been operating, leaders, trainers, mentors and partnership schools have realised their vision to create a training course of exceptional quality. They have succeeded in producing excellent NQTs to fill the recruitment needs of partnership schools, and to help reduce teacher shortages more widely.

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Inspection judgements

2. The strategic board has ensured that the course is led by credible leaders and trainers who bring extensive and successful teaching and leadership experience and expertise. The head of ITT and course leaders have built a strong culture of coaching and mentoring. School-based mentoring is coherent, consistently of high quality and supports trainees’ excellent outcomes. Mentors are carefully selected from the partnership schools. Almost all mentors have achieved or are in the process of achieving the national standards award for school-based initial teacher training mentors. Trainees and NQTs said that mentors are very readily available to guide them.

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Inspection judgements

3. Leaders and the strategic board have prioritised the selection of well-qualified graduates who demonstrate a commitment to working with young people in schools. The partnership is successful in recruiting high-calibre trainees with strong subject knowledge, who are eager to benefit from all that the partnership has to offer. Although cohort numbers are small and not readily comparable with national norms, completion rates for trainees are consistently very high. All trainees have secured employment in schools. ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 4. The outstanding training programme is very well designed to build trainees’ teaching skills progressively over the course of the training year. Leaders rigorously check trainees’ evaluations of the quality of each training session in order to identify where any improvements are needed. They have been quick to respond to trainees’ suggestions by introducing enhancements to the

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Inspection judgements

programme. Separate sessions for specific primary and secondary training, as well as for practical and non-practical subjects, ensure that the training is tailored sharply to trainees’ phase and subject specialisms.

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Inspection judgements

5. Trainees are well aware of the range of pupils’ needs in their classes and learn how to support the learning of different groups, including disadvantaged pupils, the most able pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language. They work closely with staff in partnership schools, observing and learning from good and outstanding practice. All this ensures that trainees use a wide variety of successful teaching approaches and support pupils’ learning extremely well.

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Inspection judgements

6. Leaders and trainers systematically check the progress trainees make towards the teachers’ standards. They regularly undertake joint observations with mentors in order to make sure that evaluations are consistant and standardised. Trainers and mentors provide additional challenge, or extra guidance and support where needed, so that trainees make swift gains in developing teaching skills. As a result, all trainees exceed the minimum level of practice expected of teachers by the end of the training.

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Inspection judgements

7. There are no differences between the attainment of different groups of trainees because leaders and trainees ensure that equality and diversity are promoted strongly. Primary and secondary trainees demonstrate excellent practice in the majority of the standards for teaching. Trainees’ teaching is outstanding. The standards of their personal and professional conduct are unfalteringly high.

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Inspection judgements

8. Trainees take responsibility for their own professional development. They are extremely reflective. They review their own developing skills during weekly meetings with mentors and act willingly on the advice and guidance they receive in order to improve further.

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Inspection judgements

9. Trainees consistently plan engaging activities that motivate pupils to work hard and achieve well. They know how to select tasks that hold pupils’ interest and support them in building key knowledge. They are skilful in asking questions of varying levels of difficulty matched to the range of abilities in the classes they teach. Specific sessions on supporting the learning of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities ensure that trainees plan and support these pupils’ learning successfully. Assessment information and work in pupils’ books reflect the strong impact over time that trainees and NQTs have on pupils’ progress. ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 10. Primary trainees’ subject knowledge for teaching reading, writing and mathematics is strong. NQTs are confident in teaching phonics and use phonics to support pupils’ early reading. Since Stage 1, leaders have made changes to

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Inspection judgements

the design of the course so that trainees have even more opportunities to practise teaching phonics and develop familiarity with a variety of different phonics programmes. They now start teaching phonics early in the training year.

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Inspection judgements

11. Secondary trainees are equally aware of their responsibility to promote pupils’ literacy skills through the subjects they teach. They routinely challenge pupils to use specific subject vocabulary and key terms correctly in their written work and when answering questions.

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Inspection judgements

12. Trainees develop outstanding confidence and skill in managing pupils’ behaviour. Trainers and mentors plan regular sessions throughout the year that support trainees in understanding and using effective strategies. Trainees and NQTs use a wide range of approaches and ensure that lessons run smoothly so that pupils make strong progress. For example, they identify any off-task pupil behaviour quickly and deal with it before it escalates. Trainees’ and NQTs’ classrooms are calm and purposeful environments which support pupils’ progress very well.

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Inspection judgements

13. Trainees are sensitive to bullying issues and know how to deal with concerns, including issues regarding social media and prejudice-based bullying, in order to keep pupils safe. Through training led by school-based staff with specific safeguarding responsibilities, trainees understand the ‘Prevent’ duty and know how to identify pupils who may be at risk from extreme behaviour or views. They know exactly what schools expect them to do should any safeguarding concerns arise. The promotion of fundamental British values is very securely embedded in the training and, consequently, trainees confidently prepare pupils for life in modern Britain, including fostering tolerance, the rule of law and respect for differences.

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Inspection judgements

14. The training programme ensures that primary trainees have practical teaching experience in physical education, working alongside specialist sports teachers. Trainees also have opportunities to complete additional training, for example in partnership with the Football Association, and develop strong subject expertise and confidence.

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Inspection judgements

15. Trainees are accomplished at managing their time and workload. Leaders, trainers and mentors make a point of modelling how they might do so, drawing on recent research. This equips trainees and NQTs very well to play a full part in the wider life of schools and make a positive contribution. Trainees readily take on responsibility for organising clubs or leading assemblies. NQTs have quickly taken on leadership roles within subject departments in their first year of teaching, or provide support and guidance to other trainees. ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 16. Trainees and NQTs are hugely positive about the quality of training they have received, the teaching practice they have observed and the teaching skills they have developed. In the online survey, all trainees were confident that the training would make them a good or better teacher. Every trainee confirmed that their placement experiences have been of high quality, and that their

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Inspection judgements

mentors provided helpful feedback and clear targets to secure improvements.

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Inspection judgements

17. Trainees gain practical experience of working in contrasting schools. Teaching practice placements include schools in challenging socio-economic circumstances, independent schools, schools judged as requiring improvement and schools in distinctly different locations. As the partnership expands and trainee numbers increase, leaders have identified that a key priority is to build links with additional schools in order to widen the opportunities for trainees to develop their teaching skills.

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Inspection judgements

18. A wide variety of experts and high-profile speakers from beyond the partnership contribute to the training programme. As a result, trainees become highly reflective and confident in drawing on the latest research findings to develop their teaching skills.

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Inspection judgements

19. The partnership demonstrates outstanding capacity to improve further. Emerging areas for improvement identified at Stage 1 of the inspection have been quickly and robustly addressed and are now strong features of the programme. For example, training for newly appointed mentors commenced well before the start of the academic year. The frequency with which mentors meet with the central training team for training and to review and moderate the trainees’ performance has doubled. Leaders have also introduced a new online system for trainees to record evidence of their progress towards meeting the teachers’ standards. As a result, trainers, leaders and mentors can readily check the progress individual trainees make. Music training for primary trainees is now supported by working with specialist music teachers.

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Inspection judgements

20. The head of ITT and course leaders have been rigorous in checking that they follow all the information available for accredited initial teacher training providers. As a result, the partnership is fully compliant with the criteria for ITT and meets all its statutory requirements relating to safeguarding, the promotion of equality and diversity and eliminating discrimination. The partnership ensures that the additional ITT criteria, which apply to School Direct (salaried) trainees, are also met.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs’) teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

Ark Franklin Primary Academy, London ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 Churchill Gardens Primary Academy, London

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Annex: Partnership schools

Immanuel and St Andrew Primary School, London

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Annex: Partnership schools

St Augustine’s Primary School, London ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016

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ITE partnership details

Unique reference number Inspection number Inspection dates Stage 1 Stage 2 Lead inspector Type of ITE partnership Phases provided Date of previous inspection Previous inspection report

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ITE partnership details

Provider address 13 June 2016 7 November 2016 Madeleine Gerard HMI SCITT Primary and secondary Not previously inspected https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/user

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ITE partnership details

Pimlico Academy Lupus Street London SW1V 3AT ITE inspection report: The Pimlico London SCITT November 2016 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

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ITE partnership details

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ITE partnership details

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ITE partnership details

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