HMP Brockhill

Contents

Background information ......................................................................................................... 3 Inspection judgements........................................................................................................... 3 Scope of the inspection.......................................................................................................... 3 Description of the provider...................................................................................................... 4 Summary of grades awarded .................................................................................................. 5 Overall judgement.................................................................................................................... 6 Effectiveness of provision ..................................................................................................... 6

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Contents

Capacity to improve............................................................................................................ 6 Key strengths ............................................................................................................................ 6 Key areas for improvement..................................................................................................... 7 Main findings............................................................................................................................ 8 Employability training........................................................................................................... 8 Achievement and standards ................................................................................................ 8 Quality of provision............................................................................................................ 8

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Contents

Literacy, numeracy and ESOL .............................................................................................. 9 Achievement and standards ................................................................................................ 9 Quality of provision............................................................................................................ 9 Personal development and social integration ...................................................................... 10 Achievement and standards .............................................................................................. 10 Quality of provision.......................................................................................................... 10 Leadership and management ............................................................................................... 11 Equality of opportunity..................................................................................................... 11

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Contents

What learners like.................................................................................................................. 14 What learners think could improve...................................................................................... 14

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Inspection judgements

Inspectors use a four-point scale to summarise their judgements about achievement and standards, the quality of provision, and leadership and management, which includes a grade for equality of opportunity .

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Key for inspection grades

Further information can be found on how inspection judgements are made on www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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Scope of the inspection

In deciding the scope of the inspection, inspectors take account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and comments from the local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or other funding body. Where appropriate, inspectors also consider the previous inspection report ( www.ofsted.gov.uk ), reports from the inspectorates’ quality monitoring or annual assessment visits, and data on learners and their achievements over the period since the previous inspection.

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Scope of the inspection

In addition to reporting on overall effectiveness of the organisation, its capacity to improve further, achievement and standards, quality of provision and leadership and management, this inspection focused on specialist provision in:

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Scope of the inspection

 Preparation for life and work programmes: - Employability training - Literacy, numeracy and ESOL - Personal development and social integration

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Description of the provider

1. HMP Brockhill (the prison) is a category C training prison for male adults. When it re- rolled from a women’s local prison in July 2006, it had no workshop provision. It is situated near Redditch, Worcestershire, adjacent to HMPs Blakenhurst and Hewell Grange. The prison and HMP Hewell Grange have the same senior management team, including the Head of Learning and Skills (HoLS). In April 2008 the three prisons will combine to form HMP Redditch.

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Description of the provider

2. The prison has an operational capacity of 170 and receives approximately 40 new inductions a month. All offenders are convicted and sentenced. Nearly 80% of the offenders stay at the prison six months or less. At the time of inspection, there were 164 offenders, of whom 26 were foreign nationals. The prison primarily holds men who will be resettled into the Worcestershire, Coventry and Birmingham areas; approximately 75% have a home address of within 50 miles of the prison. Fewer than 7% of the population speak English as an additional language. Most offenders are initially assessed as having literacy and numeracy skills between Entry 2 and Level 1.

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Description of the provider

3. Since it's introduction in August 2006, City College Manchester (CCM) has held the LSC offender learning and skills service (OLASS) contract for education, and some vocational, provision. Carter and Carter (CC) hold the OLASS information, advice and guidance contract. The new contracting arrangements had been negotiated before the re-roll and began as the population changed. At the time of the inspection the CCM education manager was on long term sick leave and a temporary manager had been appointed a few weeks before the inspection. The library is contracted to Worcestershire County Council.

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Description of the provider

4. CCM provision includes literacy, numeracy, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), ‘Storybook Dads’ creative writing, key skills awards, information and communications technology (ICT), art, I-media, assertiveness, budgeting and money management, customer care, hairdressing for men and catering. In addition, the prison has a separate arrangement with South Birmingham College (SBC) for brickwork vocational training. The prison manages the provision offered by the Physical Education (PE) staff and the horticulture staff. There are no behavioural change courses.

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Description of the provider

5. Approximately 67% of the population are involved in some form of accredited learning, although this varies from full-time to one session a week. There are 50 education and training workshop places at each session on week-days. Approximately 19 offenders receive outreach support visits from CCM staff. No offenders are studying on distance learning courses. There are 92 workplaces. These are mostly as orderlies, cleaners and wing servery workers and without accredited training. Offenders who have jobs in the gardens work towards horticulture qualifications. Some of the 24 offenders in the two workshops work towards key skills awards.

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Summary of grades awarded

Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Capacity to improve Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Achievement and standards Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Employability Training Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2 Literacy, numeracy and ESOL Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3 Personal development and social integration Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Quality of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3 Employability Training Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3 Literacy, numeracy and ESOL Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3 Personal development and social integration Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Leadership and management Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

6. The overall effectiveness of the provision is adequate. Achievement and standards are good in employability training and satisfactory in literacy, numeracy and ESOL and in personal development and social integration. Overall achievement and standards are satisfactory. The quality of the provision is satisfactory. Leadership and management is satisfactory. The prison’s approach to equal opportunities and social integration is good.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

7. The prison’s overall capacity to improve is satisfactory. There is good management of change. Good improvements are being made to the provision to meet the needs of the male population. For example, there have been significant developments in the PE provision to provide equipment and activities relevant to the male offenders’ needs. The vocational provision has been adjusted and increased to provide accredited provision, much of which did not exist at the re-roll in 2006. Allocations to activities are managed well and the available provision is used to its maximum capacity. External links are being used effectively to aid continuous improvement. There are high success rates in brickwork, catering and horticulture. However, most awards are only offered at Level 1 and general employability skills are not formally recognised and recorded to aid resettlement activities. In some vocational areas, the facilities and limited space available

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

restrict offering full awards at Level 2 or higher. Work areas are not being used to offer qualifications relevant to employment. Employability skills, personal development and social integration skills, gained in a range of activities, are not formally recognised and recorded to support resettlement. Classrooms are small, which restricts numbers. Some subjects are not offered frequently enough for learners to have continuity of learning, especially at lower literacy levels and in ESOL.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

8. The self-assessment process is thorough and inclusive. It is the first self-assessment report since the re-roll. The overview summary self-assessment report has a user-friendly lay- out. Themes from all the learning and skills areas’ self-assessments are collated well to identify trends for the action plan. Judgements are clearly referenced to evidence and there are relevant action plans. The self-assessment process includes some aspirational statements relating to new initiatives due for implementation. The information, advice and guidance self-assessment report was particularly self-critical, useful and accurate. There is insufficient use of data to evaluate achievements. During inspection the self-assessment process was found to have used some inaccurate data in making judgements and the judgements did not focus sufficiently on the impact on the learner. The self-assessment report was found at inspection to be broadly accurate in judgements, although slightly

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Key strengths

 Good management of change  Good range of initiatives and promotion of inclusion  High success rates on vocational programmes  Good range of PE recreational and lifestyle activities

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Key areas for improvement

 Narrow range of learning and skills provision  Incomplete quality improvement arrangements  Insufficient individualisation in learning plans  Inadequate recognition and recording of learners’ development of personal, social and employability skills

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Employability training

Achievement and standards Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

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Employability training

9. Success rates on most vocational programmes are high. In the last year, learners on bricklaying and hospitality courses at NVQ Level 1 achieved 90% and 83% respectively. The industry recognised the Royal Society of Public Health food hygiene award pass rate is high. The National Profciency Tests Council (NPTC) Level 2 horticulture programme has a 100% pass rate. These learners also gain other useful horticulture awards relevant to the industry. NVQ Level 1 hairdressing has a satisfactory pass rate. For ICT achievements are satisfactory; of the 79 learners who completed, 18 achieved a certificate and 37 a diploma.

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Employability training

10. The standard of work in brickwork, catering and hairdressing is good. In brickwork learners’ portfolios are well presented and all learners use photographic evidence to illustrate their skills. Learners perform practical skills with confidence and use hand tools well. Catering learners have particularly good skills, especially in patisserie work, which are well above the level of the qualification they gain. Hairdressing learners produce interesting wall displays explaining essential knowledge points. They have photographic records of good quality barbering skills.

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Employability training

Quality of provision Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Employability training

11. Learners receive good individual coaching in the brickwork training workshop. Staff develop good working relationships with learners. Under the supervision of experienced staff learners carry out relevant and realistic bricklaying projects using a range of manual tools. Learners are enthusiastic and enjoy working on projects. They are well motivated and work effectively making good progress during workshop sessions. Assessment and internal verification on the vocational programmes are satisfactory.

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Employability training

12. Good attention is given to health and safety. In ICT information is given on adjustment of computer chairs, frequency of breaks and avoiding eye strain. New brickwork learners are required to complete a health and safety at work programme before starting their course. Hairdressing learners complete health, hygiene and safety essential knowledge work before attending to clients. Before going to the PE department, all offenders are given formal health checks by medical staff in which individual recommendations are given for PE activities.

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Employability training

13. Some vocational classroom and workshop learning environments are poor. The gym classroom has no door between it and the changing facilities. This is noisy and disruptive for learners. The bricklaying workshop is cramped, making it difficult for learners to work unhindered during their practical projects. An ICT classroom has constant interruptions as learners from an adjoining classroom use it as a thoroughfare to the exit. 14. Individual progression and training opportunities are limited as most vocational programmes are at Level 1 or Entry level. Although these qualifications provide learners with the opportunity to gain good low level skills, these have little value for employment and generic employability skills are not formally recognised and recorded. There only Level 2 provision is in horticulture. Vocational qualifications are not offered in the prison workshops, although outreach support for literacy and numeracy development is provided

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Employability training

15. Brickwork learners’ individual learning plans record detailed and thorough preferred learning style assessment, including easy-to-understand outcomes in pictures and words. The group-focused short term targets are revised at learners’ first review to relate to individual learners’ progress and needs. While horticulture learners do not have individual learning plans, individual progress is discussed regularly by learners and staff. The ICT programmes use an electronic individual learning plan system to record learners’ progress each session. It supports decisions on timely assessment of learners’ work and clear feedback is given during sessions.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

Achievement and standards Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

16. Achievement of literacy and numeracy qualifications at Levels 1 and 2 is good. In 2006/07, 80 of the 101 learners successfully passed the tests; 79% at Level 1 and 80% at Level 2. Achievement of the numeracy Level 1 qualification is particularly good at 90%. At Level 2 it is 74% and at Entry level, 68%. Some learners quickly develop confidence in carrying out tasks, in particular in doing calculations and by developing good reading skills.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

17. Too few learners gain qualifications at either Entry level in ESOL (31%) or literacy (41%). Their skills development is too slow; with learners often only attending one or two sessions a week. Classes are small and punctuality and attendance is satisfactory, although some learners have visits or appointments and do not stay for the duration of each session.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

Quality of provision Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

18. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Teachers use a good range of activities in well structured sessions. Many learners are motivated to improve their skills and participate well in group activities or discussion. They receive useful individual support and clear explanations when working on tasks. However, teachers over-prompt or correct learners’ work too readily, with insufficient focus on helping learners develop their own strategies for skills, such as spelling or adding fractions. Although some learners in ESOL work on English language skills to help them communicate more effectively while in prison, many learning activities are not set in contexts that are sufficiently meaningful to learners, such as a personal interest, employment aim or training programme.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

19. Teachers make good use of technological learning resources. Learners enjoy using the interactive whiteboards and laptop computers and are keen to try out different methods and equipment. The recently introduced electronic diagnostic assessments provide instant detailed feedback on learners’ performance. CCM provides a wide range of carefully selected published learning resources, including dictionaries with very clear explanations and examples. Teachers supplement these well with their own resources and exercises.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

20. Outreach provision very effectively promotes learning to offenders not attending classes. It is managed well and includes learners in workshops, the gym and residential wings. Numbers participating rose from six to twenty one in the first two months. Teachers successfully adopt a flexible approach, responding well to learners’ different circumstances. A weekly skills workshop provides a useful introduction to classroom study. Teachers work well with prison staff and quickly develop good working relationships of mutual trust and respect with learners. Teachers’ record-keeping is particularly effective, including a detailed log of contacts and outcomes of each learner intervention. However, referral to advice and guidance to help learners identify targets for their time at the prison is not systematically provided.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

21. The development of individual learning plans is slow. CCM recently revised the individual learning plan process, but it is not used effectively as a tool to plan learning. The initial assessments in literacy and numeracy assess some learners as being below their actual ability level and before teachers realise this, these learners are given work that is insufficiently challenging. Target-setting in the individual learning plans is weak with many learners having similar, short-term targets that are primarily a list of activities to be completed. Information on learners’ prior learning, work history, interests and development needs is scant in most plans. There is insufficient sharing of relevant information across the prison for cohesive setting of targets and planning learning activities.

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Literacy, numeracy and ESOL

22. Arrangements for identifying learners’ additional support needs are inadequate. There are insufficient opportunities for learners to discuss ways to overcome previous barriers to learning or to help them identify the most appropriate approaches to learning. This is a significant gap in the provision for supporting learners, who may have tendencies towards dyslexia or other learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Personal development and social integration

Achievement and standards Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Personal development and social integration

23. In the last 12 months there has been 100% achievement on nutrition courses. Achievement of awards on the preparation for employment, assertiveness and budgeting programmes are satisfactory.

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Personal development and social integration

24. Achievement of art qualifications (21%) is poor. Following delays in arrangements, a number of completed art portfolios are awaiting award body external verification systems.

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Personal development and social integration

Quality of provision Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Personal development and social integration

25. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Learners are encouraged to participate in class with challenging exercises and teachers establish good rapport and promote an appropriate working environment. Teachers use individual coaching well in developing the learners’ knowledge and understanding. However, in many sessions learners are not encouraged to extend themselves and are over supported by tutors.

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Personal development and social integration

26. Learners on the Restart programme receive good support from teachers and peer learning assistants. Restart, which forms part of the prison induction, is designed to encourage confidence for participation in classes. Individual learning plans are starting to use learners’ experiences and learning interests. 27. A good range of PE recreational and lifestyle programmes meet the varied needs of the population. Sessions include gym induction, beginners’ gym, over-35’s programme, circuit training, physiotherapy treatment, exercise referrals, general fitness classes and a power-lifting club. All offenders attend the health care centre for a formal health check at which recommendations on suitable PE activities are made. The well managed, unaccredited healthy living programme is good. Initial PE assessment results are compared at various stages in the programme to record progress and improving fitness of

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Personal development and social integration

28. Learners interested in self-employment have recently had an introductory session by an external organisation. There was good involvement by offenders, many of whom had clear ideas about their plans for resettlement. This work has built on contacts made at HMP Hewell Grange.

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Personal development and social integration

29. Learning plans are insufficiently individualised, short term targets are copied from course criteria, and review comments are often a list of activities completed by the learner. The targets are insufficiently clear for learners to identify how to make progress and achieve their goals. A number of different styles of learning plan are used throughout the prison with varying degrees of success.

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Personal development and social integration

30. Learners’ personal and social skills’ development are not recognised, recorded or used to support resettlement goals. There is insufficient sharing of relevant information across the prison for cohesive setting of individuals’ targets and planning learning activities.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

31. There is good management of change and the prison is in a period of constant change. The re-roll in 2006, after two years of uncertainty, coincided with OLASS arrangements. The significance of the achievement by management is that the previous population, as a female local prison, needed a very different, therapeutic and medical provision, with much reduced learning and skills on offer. The prison is now a training prison for male offenders and, as such, requires a lot of learning and skills provision to prepare for resettlement. OLASS arrangements had been made for the previous regime and very quickly had to provide a different and much increased vocational offer. The prison has been very successfully in providing 65% involvement in learning and skills and 87% involvement in education, training and work.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

32. The prison has made many good changes to meet the needs of the male population. There is good team-work with internal and external partners. The introduction of a bricks vocational workshop by a local college is supported by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). To maximise upon the use of the very limited space available, much re-location of facilities has taken place. A larger multi-faith room, library and three workshops have been created. Prison Radio has introduced training for the offenders in a sound-proofed portacabin. A good initiative between prison and CCM staff has taken place in one workshop to introduce individual learning plans.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

33. The prison has recognised that the learning and skills provision offered to learners is narrow and is reviewing the provision following a recent needs analysis survey. Learners’ prior work and vocational achievements are being insufficiently used to inform decisions. Most of the prison's vocational qualifications are Level 1, which is too low for skilled employment in the vocational areas. Provision is not available for Level 2 or higher qualifications, or units towards these, except in horticulture. Links with external providers for continuation of training after leaving the prison are embryonic. Entry level literacy and ESOL provision loses the momentum of learning, as there are too few classes, insufficient support between classes and too few easy readers and other resources in the library.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

34. The sharing of information to manage and plan learning and skills is insufficient across the prison. The prison is not focusing learners sufficiently well from the moment they arrive on using their time effectively for successful progression to education, training and employment in ‘open conditions’. Much information about their personal, social and employability skills and resettlement aspirations is held by various departments, including particularly detailed information in the offender management unit. Except at allocations’ boards, the information is not shared sufficiently well to plan learners’ targets cohesively and make decisions about priorities for participation in activities . At induction the promotion of learning and skills across the prison is fragmented and compartmentalised. The induction Restart programme only focuses on OLASS provision. The information, advice and guidance processes are insufficiently established and do not receive valuable

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

relevant information from prison areas. However, they do receive learners’ literacy and numeracy test scores from other prisons, if taken in the previous six months to arrival.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

35. The development of some aspects of quality improvement arrangements has been slow. There is a quality calendar and a quality improvement strategy, which includes a range of related policies but not all aspects of these are fully implemented. Not all parts of the learner journey are quality assured. Although some observations of sessions do take place, subsequent actions to support staff improvements are not fully in place. The use of data to evaluate achievement is not established. The LSC are to support ICT data system developments from April 2008. The CCM data in the self-assessment report was found at inspection to be inaccurate for some subjects. The collation of the recent prison-wide self- assessment report has identified areas of good practice in self-critical and accurate analysis, such as in the information, advice and guidance provision by CC. For example, they had identified the limitations of the literacy and numeracy initial assessments being

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

used and action is taking place to make improvements. Some heating has been provided for the PE areas, but the changing facilities and lack of doors remains a problem.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

36. The prison has a good range of initiatives promoting inclusion. PE staff have significantly improved their facilities to meet the needs of the male population. The doubled use to 60% is a good indicator of the good mix of provision for all ages, interests and fitness levels. Restart catering sessions promote social skills and respect for others. Religious and cultural considerations are discussed by learners new to the prison, promoting diversity. The catering learners have good patisserie skills and produce snacks, cakes and biscuits for family days, promoting good ambiance for fathers with their young children and teenagers. Outreach work on wings, in workshops and the gym is very effectively in encouraging reluctant offenders to engage in learning. Good links have been made between the prison and established Hewell Grange agencies and employer connections to support employment on release including self-employment information and guidance.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

These include bi-annual job-fayres with employers visiting the prison to meet offenders. ‘Adults’ Directions’ software has been recently installed to aid learners in making future career choices.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

37. Allocation to activities is managed well and is equitable. There is a clear system, good systematic planning and good recording and communication to learners and residential wing staff. Learners have their own individual weekly timetables to encourage them to become more autonomous and to manage their own time. The allocations board uses detailed offender management files together with input from education, security and healthcare staff to inform prompt decisions. Activity places are used effectively. Participation is monitored efficiently and action has been taken to investigate activity areas that have ethnicity numbers which do not reflect the population. Waiting lists are used well. Pay is equitable for learning and skills and most work. Part-time work and attendance at classes is well organised.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

38. An equal opportunities policy is part of the learning and skills quality improvement strategy. The prison is aware that allocation to and dismissal from activities are potential areas for discrimination and monitors these closely. The Disability Discrimination Act policy and self-assessment report recognise that the prison does not have a trained dyslexia specialist nor interactive materials to support learners with dyslexic indicators. This is planned to be remedied in April 2008 with the new, clustered prison arrangements.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

39. Access to the library is more structured since its recent move; the change of library location was to re-focus it as a learning centre, rather than an informal meeting place. Current use is reduced and opening hours are too few although, proportional to visits, book loan has increased. Stock has changed to meet male learners’ needs and further improvements are due. For example, there are too few books for learners with low literacy levels and speakers of English as an additional language. Recent initiatives to increase use include; induction sessions in the library, the parenting forum and promotional leaflets. Pre-release information, advice and guidance sessions using the library are due to start shortly. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

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What learners like :

 ‘Being able to catch-up on the skills I missed at school’  ‘Brilliant IT learning materials here, that have helped me here to at last to achieve a qualification’  ‘Here, I’ve managed to get a qualification’  ‘Friendly helpful staff who take there time to talk to you’  ‘Using that fancy whiteboard thing’  ‘It’s good being allowed to feed-in concerns and discuss solutions at the gym team meetings’

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What learners think could improve :

 Access to the library  ‘There’s not enough to do here’  ‘Heating in the gym – it’s freezing’  ‘The induction, we’ve done it before’  ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do next’  ‘I lose sight of what I’m doing – as I can’t come to the class very often’

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