LeSoCo

Lewisham Southwark College Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Rieks Drijver HMI

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Type of provider: General further education college

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Address:

Lewisham Way London SE4 1UT Monitoring visit: Lewisham Southwark College, 21 June 2017

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Context and focus of visit

The college was inspected by Ofsted in May 2016 and the overall effectiveness judged as requires improvement; safeguarding was judged to be effective. Since the inspection Ofsted has received a safeguarding-related complaint about the college, and has been notified by the local authority of the death of a young man in Peckham who was a student at the college. The two concerns are not connected. Both concerns relate to students at the Lewisham campus.

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Context and focus of visit

This monitoring visit has been commissioned to consider managers’ effectiveness in responding to safeguarding concerns, the effectiveness of managers’ liaison with external agencies, and how well students are trained to keep themselves safe.

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further staff and student training?

Managers respond effectively to safeguarding concerns when these are raised. Inspectors reviewed a sample of recent safeguarding incidents and in all cases these were documented well and demonstrated that senior leaders, managers and staff adhere closely to college procedures. The principal maintains a good oversight of the most concerning incidents, and local authority staff confirm that college staff work well with them in reporting and resolving concerns. Senior staff are aware of the risks and threats posed to their students, and have introduced highly effective measures to keep students safe from these. For example, college and security staff carry out weapons searches at random times throughout the year. Managers have considered carefully how best to train students to be safe. This includes detailed training through the tutorial programme and the use of a restorative justice approach to conflict resolution. Security arrangements at

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further staff and student training?

campuses are good; students and staff adhere well to the requirement to wear identity badges, and the use of security barriers ensures that unauthorised people are prevented from gaining access to the sites. Managers and staff use their good understanding of current safeguarding trends well to develop staff and student training. For example, in response to the rise in cyber bullying and the inappropriate use of social media, managers introduced training for students, particularly those who are more vulnerable. This has resulted in reduced incidents of cyber bullying. Managers have taken good actions to ensure that students are able and confident to report concerns. These include a very quick and easy way to report incidents of bullying via a link on the online student portal. Student services staff have developed a ‘positive citizenship’ lesson that all 16- to 18- year0olds have participated in. This allows students to consider the safety of

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further staff and student training?

Monitoring visit: Lewisham Southwark College, 21 June 2017 themselves and others in relation to, for example, sexual exploitation, radicalisation and bullying. Staff’s success at safeguarding students is reflected in the fact that they are helping school leaders in Lewisham to develop their own weapons policies.

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these threats and keep students safe?

Managers have a range of effective links with local agency representatives, and they use these very well to safeguard students. Staff from the youth offending team and college meet regularly and share information effectively to safeguard young people. They always meet prior to a young person known to the youth offending team joining the college. This ensures that college staff are aware of any safeguarding concerns and are alert to young people’s particular vulnerabilities, such as child sexual exploitation. The safer college police officer spends up to one and a half days per week at the Lewisham campus, but visits to Southwark campus are less frequent. Staff liaise well with other police representatives when necessary in order to resolve specific issues when they are notified of risks. College staff receive a weekly update from the safer college police officer about young people known to routinely carry knives, and staff and external agencies

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these threats and keep students safe?

cooperate well on specific incidents, such as in identifying young people involved in crime outside of the college. College staff attend quarterly meetings in Southwark that help them stay up to date with local crime trends such as theft of mobile phones by moped gangs. Students report that staff are effective at raising their awareness of these issues so that they can keep themselves safe in the community. Although managers’ links with outside agencies are effective, their participation in safeguarding groups outside of the college is not fully developed. For example, their attendance at Local Safeguarding Children Boards is sporadic. Senior leaders and managers respond quickly and decisively to safeguarding concerns when they arise. They have worked well with the local counter-terrorism unit following recent events in London, one of which took place close to the Southwark campus. They have been quick to strengthen security arrangements to

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these threats and keep students safe?

protect students and the campus, and to evacuate the campus safely and account for students in the case of an emergency.

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college?

Students receive very effective training to keep themselves safe. At the start of the year all students receive training on how to stay safe, which includes information about specific concerns within the local area, such as gangs and knife crime. Monitoring visit: Lewisham Southwark College, 21 June 2017 Inspectors spoke with students from different programmes, and of different ages, and all were able to recall the training that they had. Students say that college staff have struck a good balance by alerting them to issues that may affect them without overemphasising them; they say that the balance is right. Students say that there are few safety concerns for them in the college. They are aware of some of the challenges that exist in the local area, but say that staff manage student behaviour very well and that any issues that exist outside the college are not brought into it. One student summed this up by saying that they put their differences aside at

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college as ‘We’re all here to learn.’ Inspectors found that this view was widely held by students, and all those spoken with said that they feel safe at the college and feel well supported by college staff. This is corroborated through the findings of managers’ annual survey of students, in which a very high proportion of students say that they feel safe, and is summed up by a student who described the atmosphere at the college as ‘calm and civil’. Monitoring visit: Lewisham Southwark College, 21 June 2017 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

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provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too. To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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

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

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