Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT

Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT Initial teacher education inspection report Inspection dates Stage 1: 19 June 2017 Stage 2: 4 December 2017

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This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and an Ofsted Inspector (OI) 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 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 2 The quality of training across the partnership The quality of leadership and management across the partnership ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017

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Information about this ITE partnership

 Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT partnership provides school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) in the secondary phase. The partnership includes seven schools in Nottinghamshire. The SCITT is part of Nova Education Trust. Toot Hill School is the lead school. The schools in the partnership include those that Ofsted has judged to be good and outstanding.  The partnership recruited its first trainees in 2015/16.  The partnership provides training through School Direct and the core SCITT programme. All trainees follow a programme to gain qualified teacher status (QTS) and a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), awarded by the University of Nottingham.  At the time of stage 1 of the inspection, there were 33 trainees in total.  The partnership is an accredited 11 to 16 provider. At stage 1 of the inspection, the partnership was providing training in art and design, biology, chemistry, computing, drama, English, French, geography, German, history, mathematics,

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Information about this ITE partnership

physical education and physics. In addition, the provider currently offers places in dance.

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

 Over the two stages of the inspection, inspectors met with a wide sample of the trainees from the 2016/17 cohort. During stage 1, inspectors and the trainees’ mentors jointly observed 11 trainees teach. Inspectors observed mentors providing feedback to trainees. At stage 2, inspectors observed nine newly qualified teachers (NQTs) teach, including those employed beyond the partnership. Of the 33 trainees receiving training at stage 1 of the inspection, inspectors had observed 14 teach by the end of the inspection. Inspectors also observed part of the SCITT’s recruitment of trainees and met with mentors, ITT coordinators and lead subject tutors.  Inspectors met with headteachers, senior leaders, ITT coordinators and mentors in the four partnership schools that they visited during stage 1.  Inspectors met with senior staff in the six schools that they visited at stage 2, including three schools that are not in the partnership. An inspector spoke by

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Information about the secondary ITE inspection

telephone with NQTs at three schools that are not in the partnership.  At both stages of the inspection, inspectors met with senior leaders from the partnership and members of the strategic committee. Inspectors reviewed documentation, including the partnership’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, the partnership agreement and a report by an external moderator. The lead inspector spoke with the external moderator by telephone at stage 2 of the inspection. Inspectors also looked at the provider’s assessment information, ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 records relating to safeguarding children and the 31 responses to Ofsted’s online trainee survey for 2016/17.

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Inspection team

Zarina Connolly HMI (lead inspector, stage 1) Simon Hollingsworth HMI (lead inspector, stage 2) Emma Hollis-Brown OI (assistant lead inspector, stages 1 and 2)

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Key strengths of the secondary partnership

 The partnership is committed to resolving difficulties in the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers in local schools.  The good-quality leadership of the SCITT has secured good outcomes for almost all of the trainees who have completed the training programme in the first two years of operation.  The employment rate is high. In the last two years, almost all trainees have secured permanent employment, particularly in local schools.  There are strong communication links between the partner schools.  SCITT leaders regularly check the accuracy of the judgements that all staff involved in the programme make about the quality of trainees’ teaching.  Good-quality mentoring provides trainees with effective guidance to assist them to become effective classroom practitioners.  Good-quality training enables trainees to become effective in their subject knowledge and their classroom practice.

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Key strengths of the secondary partnership

 Trainees experience different educational settings, including a school abroad, to develop further their understanding of how to ensure that all pupils make good progress.  Leaders are committed to caring for their trainees’ well-being, particularly to ensure that trainees understand how to care for their own mental health and that of their pupils.  Leaders undertake effective follow-up work with their trainees once they have become NQTs. The trainees appreciate this support, which includes further training. ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017

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The partnership should:

 ensure that all trainees complete the programme as teachers whose teaching is at least good through leaders’ sharp use of checks on trainees’ attainment to:  identify quickly when trainees are not making rapid enough progress in developing their classroom practice  provide these trainees with timely and effective support to make sure that they make the necessary rapid progress  strengthen trainees’ ability to plan and deliver lessons that provide sufficient challenge for pupils of all abilities, including low-prior-attaining pupils and the most able, so that all pupils make at least good progress  ensure that leaders regularly check the quality of the targets that trainees receive, both during and at the end of the training programme, so that the targets:  enable all trainees to make sure that their teaching is at least consistently good by the end of the training programme  provide trainees with a clear understanding of their next steps in their first

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Inspection judgements

1. The proportion of trainees who complete the training programme is above national levels. The attainment of these trainees is good, as most complete the programme as teachers whose teaching is at least good.

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Inspection judgements

2. Almost all trainees secure permanent teaching positions at the end of the training programme. A very large majority secure positions within the partner schools, including those schools that are part of the academy trust of which the SCITT is a member. This shows the high regard in which the partner schools hold the training programme, and the increasingly important role that the SCITT plays in resolving recruitment issues in the local area.

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Inspection judgements

3. There is no discernible difference in the attainment of trainees from the different training routes. All trainees follow the same training programme and receive the same level of support.

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Inspection judgements

4. The leadership of the SCITT is good. SCITT leaders have high expectations of all those who are involved in the programme and take quick action to resolve any aspects of the programme that are not of a high-enough quality. Leaders have responded well to the areas for improvement that inspectors identified at the end of stage 1 of the inspection. Members of the strategic committee have rightly increased the number of SCITT leaders and the time that they have to ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 fulfil their roles, to ensure that there is strong capacity to secure further improvements to the provision.

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Inspection judgements

5. Members of the strategic committee have established a clear vision for the SCITT to ensure successful recruitment and retention of highly effective teachers in schools in Nottinghamshire. All members of the partnership fully subscribe to this vision. The strategic committee has carefully considered the teaching shortages in the local area, and has made sure that the training programme serves these needs well.

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Inspection judgements

6. Collaboration across the partnership is very strong. SCITT leaders provide timely training to subject lead tutors and mentors, while the SCITT director regularly meets with the headteachers of the partner schools. These strong communication links ensure that all staff who are involved in the training programme have a precise understanding of the requirements and expectations of the training programme.

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Inspection judgements

7. Robust recruitment procedures ensure that SCITT leaders, in collaboration with the partner schools, recruit suitably committed trainees to the programme. These procedures enable SCITT leaders to match trainees well to schools for their training. This contributes effectively to the very high completion rates.

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Inspection judgements

8. SCITT leaders regularly monitor the attainment of the trainees. This ensures that they have a comprehensive understanding of the level of trainees’ attainment against the different teachers’ standards. However, SCITT leaders do not always use this information quickly or sharply enough to identify when trainees’ classroom practice is not as strong as it should be. As a result, some trainees do not receive timely enough support to ensure that their classroom practice is consistently good by the end of the programme.

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Inspection judgements

9. Trainees complete their training in contrasting schools, including in schools that are in socially disadvantaged areas and areas of high mobility. As a result, trainees understand well the needs of different groups of pupils, particularly of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language. This is an intrinsic part of the programme’s commitment to promoting trainees’ understanding of equality and diversity, and of how to overcome the barriers to learning that some pupils face.

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Inspection judgements

10. Highly effective subject training ensures that trainees are secure in their subject knowledge. They know how to use this knowledge well to plan lessons. In a Year 7 English lesson, the teacher set well-considered tasks to ensure that the pupils had a secure understanding of different creative writing techniques, including the use of complex punctuation, pathetic fallacies and synonyms. Trainees speak highly of the subject training, particularly of the opportunities that they receive to share best practice with lead subject practitioners. ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 11. Trainees receive regular core training to develop their classroom practice, exploring different strategies to ensure that pupils make good progress, including in their communication and numeracy skills. This training includes ‘away days’, when trainees visit partner schools to be able to learn from best

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Inspection judgements

classroom practice. The best trainees use this training well to consider effective strategies that they can adopt to ensure that pupils engage well with their learning and make good progress. In a Year 8 mathematics lesson, the teacher used highly imaginative strategies to secure pupils’ confidence in factorising. Pupils made good progress as a result.

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Inspection judgements

12. Trainees who find it difficult to put into practice what they learn from their core training receive further support. However, SCITT leaders have not always ensured that trainees receive this support in a timely manner. When this is the case, trainees do not make the rapid progress necessary to develop their classroom practice such that they complete the programme as teachers whose teaching is consistently good.

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Inspection judgements

13. The contribution of the University of Nottingham to the training programme is a particular strength. The university-led training days allow trainees to develop a secure understanding of the educational theory behind the classroom practice. Trainees appreciate the opportunity to access the latest educational research, and understand how this helps them to develop their classroom practice.

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Inspection judgements

14. Trainees receive effective opportunities to experience different school settings. These include schools for pupils who have complex learning needs and pupils who experience behavioural difficulties. These opportunities enable trainees to learn to cater for these pupils’ individual needs. Such experiences have helped to shape the career intentions of some trainees who have gone on to seek employment in such schools. Trainees also visit a school in Finland to consider education on an international level. All trainees recognise the value of this visit in broadening their understanding of effective classroom practice.

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Inspection judgements

15. Training on meeting the needs of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is comprehensive, including training from lead practitioners from partner schools. Most trainees are secure in planning lessons that meet the needs of these pupils.

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Inspection judgements

16. Trainees receive well-matched training on strategies to assess pupils’ understanding and to plan teaching that meets the needs of pupils of all abilities. However, leaders have not ensured that all trainees can plan work that is sufficiently challenging for low-prior-attaining pupils and the most able, to ensure that they make good progress.

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Inspection judgements

17. Trainees receive comprehensive training on behaviour management. Trainees know a range of techniques that they can use to ensure that pupils behave well ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 and adopt positive attitudes to their learning. Most trainees are able to apply these techniques effectively.

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Inspection judgements

18. All trainees speak highly of the support that they receive from their mentors. They particularly appreciate the weekly meetings that mentors hold with them to discuss their classroom practice and to set targets for the following week. However, leaders have not ensured that the targets that mentors set during the programme are consistently sharp enough to provide all trainees, including those whose classroom practice is not as strong, with detailed guidance on what they need to improve.

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Inspection judgements

19. SCITT leaders are highly sensitive to the well-being of their trainees. They are committed to ensuring that trainees understand how to care for their own mental health, as well as the mental health of their pupils. SCITT leaders respond quickly to any personal difficulties that trainees experience while on the programme. They also check on the well-being and progress of their trainees once they have started teaching in their employing school. Trainees are highly appreciative of such support.

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Inspection judgements

20. SCITT leaders provide employing schools with comprehensive information about the trainees. This documentation includes detailed information about the trainees’ performance against the teachers’ standards, and targets designed to help trainees to develop their classroom practice further. Inconsistency in the quality of these targets, however, means that not all trainees receive sufficiently detailed guidance to ensure that they can develop their classroom practice to the highest level in their employing school.

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Inspection judgements

21. Trainees receive effective training on how to keep pupils safe, including ensuring that pupils are safe online and are not vulnerable to radicalisation. Trainees visit partner schools to explore effective safeguarding practice. They also learn about the different types of abuse and the actions that they must take when they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare.

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Inspection judgements

22. The provider complies fully with the statutory criteria that all providers of initial teacher training must meet.

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe trainees’ and NQTs’ teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

Meden School, Warsop ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 Nottingham University Samworth Academy, Nottingham

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Annex: Partnership schools

South Nottinghamshire Academy, Radcliffe on Trent

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Annex: Partnership schools

Toot Hill School, Bingham ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017

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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 19–21 June 2017 4–6 December 2017 Simon Hollingsworth HMI SCITT Secondary Not previously inspected N/A

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ITE partnership details

Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT Toot Hill School The Banks Bingham NG13 8BL ITE inspection report: Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT December 2017 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 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

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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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