East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership

East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership Initial teacher education inspection report Inspection dates Re-inspection 14–17 May 2018

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This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors, 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 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

Primary and Secondary QTS 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: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018

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Information about this ITE partnership

 East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership provides school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) in the primary and secondary phases. Since recruiting its first trainees from the academic year 2015/16, the partnership has grown to include 47 schools across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The West Bridgford School is the lead school.  The partnership provides both core training and training through School Direct. All trainees follow the same programme, which leads to qualified teacher status (QTS) and a post graduate certificate in education (PGCE) awarded by the University of Nottingham.  The provider is accredited to provide secondary training in the 11 to 16 age range. Training is offered in biology, chemistry, computing, drama, design and technology, English, geography, history, mathematics, modern foreign languages, music, physical education (PE), physics and religious education.

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Information about this ITE partnership

 There are currently 30 trainees in training: 21 secondary trainees and nine primary trainees. The partnership is growing. The number of expected trainees in 2018/19 is currently 44, 20 secondary trainees and 24 primary trainees.

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Information about the primary and secondary ITE inspection

 Inspectors observed the teaching of 13 trainees in seven schools. The lead inspector held telephone conversations with a range of newly qualified teachers and with senior leaders from the schools which have employed them.  Inspectors met with trainees to discuss their teaching and the quality of training they had received. They met with a range of school-based mentors and initial teacher training (ITT) coordinators. Their evidence folders were reviewed.  Inspectors spoke with two chief executive officers of multi-academy trusts and headteachers of schools within the partnership.  Inspectors spoke with a number of staff across the partnership, including senior leaders of the SCITT and subject leaders, including the subject leaders responsible for delivering the systematic synthetic phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) training programme.  They scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ action planning,

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Information about the primary and secondary ITE inspection

assessment information and the analysis of trainee completion and employment rates. They checked that the partnership was compliant with the ITT criteria for the award of QTS, including safeguarding arrangements. Inspectors took account of the 27 most recent responses to the online trainee questionnaire. ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018

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Inspection team

Jayne Ashman, Her Majesty’s Inspector Simon Hollingsworth, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Key strengths of the primary and secondary partnership

 Partnership leaders have ensured that successful improvements have happened since the previous inspection, and at the correct pace.  Leadership capacity has been substantially increased by the appointment of the assistant director, strategic planning and primary school partnership development. The provision for primary trainees has been significantly enhanced as a result of his work.  Recruitment and selection of trainees is strong. Leaders have adopted robust procedures to be able to successfully identify those trainees who have the capacity to train to teach and to remain within the profession.  Quality assurance procedures are increasingly robust. Leaders regularly review and evaluate the quality of the provision and suitably make amendments. Their assessment of trainees is accurate.  Trainees receive significant and high-quality experience of teaching within a special educational needs context.

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Key strengths of the primary and secondary partnership

 There is now a comprehensive systematic synthetic phonics training programme supported by specialist primary phonics leaders and academics.  Trainees value the weekly opportunities to receive high-quality training and appreciate the time this allows to hone their skills, reflect on best practice and learn with their peers.  Completion and employment rates are high. Trainees meet the local needs for high-quality teachers, particularly in subjects where nationally and regionally there are serious shortages.  Partner schools are hugely committed to the programme. There is a compellingly strong partnership ethos.  Mentors show commitment and enthusiasm. They are driven to ensure that trainees become successful within the profession. They understand and take seriously the importance of their roles.  Trainees praise highly the support, guidance and pastoral care they receive from course leaders and from tutors. Many credit this support as significant to them

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Key strengths of the primary and secondary partnership

continuing to train. ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018

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The partnership should:

 improve the quality of training for mentors across the partnership so that they can provide consistently detailed and precise feedback to trainees to accelerate their progress  strengthen the processes of subject knowledge tutors and how they are working with mentors to deepen the curriculum and subject knowledge of trainees and support the development of their classroom practice  sharpen the feedback given to trainees regarding the learning and progress of pupils and their ability to be able meet the needs of the pupils they teach, by making effective use of assessment information, especially in addressing the specific needs of the most able pupils  ensure that training further develops trainees’ understanding of how to plan lessons that challenge pupils appropriately and promote their positive attitudes to learning.

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Inspection judgements

1. Leaders have made sure that the response to the findings of the previous inspection has been rapid and effective. They have used their good knowledge, strong partnerships and the expertise of others to transform, in a short time, the quality of the provision. All current trainees that commented on the recent online survey said they were confident that the training programme will make them a good or better teacher and that they had been effectively trained.

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Inspection judgements

2. The leadership of the partnership is strong and has been further enhanced by the appointment of the assistant director, strategic planning. Leaders are uncompromising in their drive to continue the trajectory of improvement. They have high expectations to ensure that they meet the local need for high-quality teachers and have had considerable success in this. Trainees are held in very high regard by schools and this is reflected in the high employment rates, including in schools in the most challenging circumstances.

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Inspection judgements

3. There is productive collaboration across the partnership. Of particular note is the inclusion of all partners in strategic decisions and those made about recruitment. Stakeholders have a strong understanding of the partnership’s vision and future direction. They play a key role in determining which trainees are recruited to successfully help meet local needs, particularly in those subjects that are regionally and nationally difficult to recruit to. The vast majority of trainees secure teaching posts in the schools in which they train or in other schools within the partnership. ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018 4. Recruitment processes successfully identify those who exhibit the capacity to train to teach. Retention rates are strong. Trainees believe the processes to be rigorous and fair.

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Inspection judgements

5. Leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and the areas that trainees need to develop in order to exceed the minimum level of practice expected of teachers as defined in the teachers’ standards. Very quickly, leaders have established a good reputation locally. The partnership is growing, particularly within the primary phase.

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Inspection judgements

6. The provision has a particularly productive link with Brakenfield Special School. Trainees receive high-quality training that opens up to them the ‘world of special educational needs education’. This enhances their understanding and their skills, particularly when planning learning to meet pupils’ individual needs. A large proportion of trainees successfully seek employment within special school settings, including within the partnership.

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Inspection judgements

7. The quality of subject training is developing well. There are now weekly timetabled opportunities for trainees to undertake high-quality training, including from experts outside of the partnership and specialists from within. For example, primary trainees now receive a comprehensive, well-thought-out and extended training programme to enable them to become secure in teaching systematic, synthetic phonics. Specialist primary phonics leaders from within the partnership deliver this programme.

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Inspection judgements

8. Trainees value highly the quality of training they receive in behaviour management. This includes learning from specialists, including those who work with pupils who exhibit the most complex behaviours. This means that they are able to draw upon a range of effective strategies and are quick to grasp and to follow the behaviour policies of the schools in which they train. One history trainee had clearly used these strategies to good effect as she was observed skilfully managing the behaviour of a group of Year 10 pupils. She had earned their respect and subsequently had ensured a calm learning climate.

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Inspection judgements

9. A very small number of trainees occasionally lack the confidence to routinely apply some of the strategies they have learned to manage behaviour. These trainees benefit from additional guidance and further school visits and experiences.

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Inspection judgements

10. The weekly training builds well on the academic sessions provided by the University of Nottingham by enabling trainees to consider how they will apply findings of educational research in the classroom. Sessions are positioned well through the training to ensure that the content reflects the trainees’ stages of development as they work towards QTS. Additional reading time is thoughtfully allocated to help avoid coursework deadline ‘pressure points’ and to help trainees with their work–life balance. ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018 11. The quality of primary subject training has improved since the previous inspection. There is now a rigorous programme of additional ‘twilight’ training opportunities to develop trainees’ ability to teach across a range of subjects, including PE and science. This involves learning from the best practice within partner schools, including within the early years. Those primary trainees

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Inspection judgements

observed during the inspection were able to exhibit suitable levels of subject knowledge with confidence.

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Inspection judgements

12. Good-quality training ensures that trainees’ planning for pupils’ learning is thorough. The provider sets high expectations of the trainees’ professionalism, while also providing lesson planning resources to support them. Trainees understand well their responsibilities to contribute to the development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills. For example, most trainees promote the importance of using the correct technical and subject-specific language and the importance of spelling correctly.

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Inspection judgements

13. Trainees have a sound understanding of assessment and the ways in which pupils’ progress can be checked within lessons. The most effective trainees are able to use this knowledge to amend the learning. For example, one primary trainee rightly recognised how a task she was asking of pupils was too challenging because she asked the pupils to set the tasks off for themselves. She adapted the task, providing the stimulus herself to the pupils. This ensured that the task did not lose its impact on pupils’ learning. However, while weaker trainees check pupils learning, they do not then amend the teaching to address any gaps or provide additional challenge.

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Inspection judgements

14. Trainees are knowledgeable and committed to promoting good achievement for pupils from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Trainees are generally skilled in providing resources which ensure equality of access. However, some trainees do not plan sufficiently effectively to address the needs of the most able.

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Inspection judgements

15. Trainees receive a range of high-quality training within their placement schools and centrally. They have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and are well-informed about the procedures they must follow if they have any concerns, including those linked to the ‘Prevent’ duty and to sexual exploitation. PE trainees showed particular skill in ensuring pupils’ health and safety while teaching both the shot-put and the discus.

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Inspection judgements

16. Trainees benefit from opportunities to teach in a range of contrasting schools, including those judged at the most recent Ofsted inspection as outstanding, requiring improvement and those in challenging circumstances. Leaders chart trainees’ school experiences carefully to ensure that they have opportunities to teach pupils from different backgrounds or in schools that have different socio- economic challenges. Previously, in this small partnership, planning to ensure ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018 that trainees gained a varied experience of schools was a challenge. Now that the partnership is growing, a much more varied range of schools is available in order to enhance the training experience.

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Inspection judgements

17. Mentors across the partnership are committed to ensuring that trainees receive a positive training experience. Trainees are extraordinarily positive about the role their mentors play. They particularly appreciate the opportunities to observe mentors modelling aspects of teaching pedagogy in the classroom. The positive professional relationships built between the trainee and the mentor are evident and are influential in trainees’ successful completion of the training.

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Inspection judgements

18. Leaders recognise that the potential of subject training, particularly for secondary trainees, has not been fully exploited. Trainees often have an allocated subject knowledge tutor and a school-based mentor. Currently, there are insufficient opportunities for these colleagues to share information and learn from each other’s perspectives of the impact of training. When opportunities are found, or when the subject knowledge tutor and the school mentor are one in the same person, the trainees’ progress is accelerated. Inspectors observed excellent examples of this mentoring practice in secondary PE training.

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Inspection judgements

19. Mentors are skilled in providing guidance and support; however, at times their feedback is not sharp enough. Further training is required to enable mentors to provide feedback and to set targets that are sufficiently precise so that trainees can effectively amend their practice and progress rapidly.

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Inspection judgements

20. Trainees’ understanding of how to plan challenging tasks to ensure that pupils engage well in their learning is not fully secure. When pupils are not sufficiently challenged they tend to drift off-task. These pupils are not badly behaved. They are not fully challenged. Both primary and secondary trainees were observed requiring further help to address this issue in their classroom.

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Inspection judgements

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

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Annex: Partnership schools

The following schools were visited to observe trainees’ teaching:

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Annex: Partnership schools

Keyworth Primary and Nursery school, Keyworth ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018 Ripley Academy, Ripley

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Annex: Partnership schools

The West Bridgford School, Nottingham ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018

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ITE partnership details

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

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ITE partnership details

Provider address 14–17 May 2018 Jayne Ashman, Her Majesty’s Inspector SCITT Primary and secondary 3 July 2017 11 December 2017 https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/user

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ITE partnership details

East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership The West Bridgford School Loughborough Road West Bridgford Nottinghamshire NG27FA ITE inspection report: East Midlands Teacher Training Partnership May 2018 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 .

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ITE partnership details

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ITE partnership details

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ITE partnership details

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

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