West Essex SCITT ITE Partnership

West Essex SCITT ITE Partnership Initial teacher education inspection report Inspection dates Stage 1: 18 June 2018 Stage 2: 14 November 2018

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This inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) at each stage, 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 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: West Essex SCITT November 2018

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Information about this primary partnership

 The West Essex SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training) is part of the Epping Forest Partnership of schools. The SCITT has been established for three years, with St John’s CofE Primary School Buckhurst Hill, Essex, being the lead school. The SCITT has 24 primary schools within the partnership.  From September 2018 the West Essex partnership offers a total of 33 places in the primary phase on both the School Direct salaried and unsalaried training routes.  Upon successful completion of the course, trainees are awarded qualified teacher status (QTS).

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

 The inspection was carried out by two HMI at both stages 1 and 2.  During stage 1 of the inspection, inspectors visited seven schools and visited seven trainees in total. During stage 2, inspectors visited five schools and observed teaching of seven newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who had completed their training in the summer of 2018.  Across both stage 1 and stage 2, inspectors met with trainees, teacher educators, school mentors, members of the partnership management committee, school leaders, course directors, course tutors and NQTs.  During both stages of the inspection, inspectors considered a wide range of documentary evidence provided by the partnership. The evidence included trainees’ files, development plans and data on trainees’ progress. Inspectors also reviewed the partnership’s self-evaluation, information on recruitment and selection, statutory safeguarding requirements, compliance with the initial teacher

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Information about the primary ITE inspection

training (ITT) criteria and evidence of how well trainees’ teaching meets the teachers’ standards. In addition, inspectors also looked at pupils’ work.  Inspectors took account of 49 responses to the most recent NQT surveys and to Ofsted’s online questionnaire.

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Inspection team

John Lucas HMI, assistant lead inspector

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Key strengths of the primary partnership

 There is a wholehearted commitment on the part of all stakeholders within the partnership to train the highest-quality teachers for local schools. ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018  The partnership’s high expectations of trainees are made plain at the time of interview and are consistently maintained throughout the duration of the course.  The pastoral care afforded to trainees is exceptional. Trainees’ needs are at the centre of the partnership’s work. This ensures that all trainees successfully complete the course and gain QTS.  Widely respected and knowledgeable tutors provide very effective support and challenge to trainees, mentors and school-based partnership mentors (teacher educators).  Leaders are reflective and draw upon the considerable expertise within the partnership to constantly improve training. Stakeholders play their full role in the ongoing improvements to the training programme.

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Key strengths of the primary partnership

 Highly effective recruitment, induction and training of mentors ensures they provide trainees with excellent support, advice and guidance.  Careful and accurate monitoring and assessment of trainees’ practice ensures that all trainees enter the profession as confident and highly appropriately skilled teachers.  Trainees and NQTs are skilled at developing purposeful working relationships with their colleagues.  Trainees and NQTs demonstrate exemplary professional conduct. They are highly reflective, resilient and seek every opportunity to improve their practice.

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The partnership should:

 provide trainees with greater experience and understanding of working with schools judged to be less than good.

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Inspection judgements

1. The partnership’s strong commitment to and drive for meeting the local teacher recruitment need is successful in securing high-quality training and developing resilient, self-motivated teachers. Extremely effective communication and high levels of collaboration between all stakeholders ensure that trainees’ individual training needs are at the heart of the partnership’s work. Consequently, NQTs are equipped with the knowledge and skills to be good and outstanding teachers.

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Inspection judgements

2. Partner schools play their full role in ensuring that recruitment and training of trainees are of a very high standard. Partnership leaders ensure that the trainees recruited have a thorough understanding of the level of commitment needed to become an exemplary teacher. As a result of this careful selection and recruitment, completion and employment rates are consistently high. ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018 3. Course leaders have developed a high-quality, flexible training programme that is responsive to trainees’ needs. Leaders carefully identify trainees’ starting points and make sure that they get precise support and the training that they need. Trainees value the personalised learning that helps them to meet their training and personal targets effectively and to become good or better teachers. This was confirmed when talking to trainees, who speak highly of their tutors, and the administrative team, who all contribute to the strength of

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Inspection judgements

4. Trainees value highly the weekly central training that gives them skills and knowledge that they can apply immediately in their classroom practice. Trainees enthusiastically told inspectors that they ‘can’t wait to try out new strategies the next day’. School-based partnership mentors leading the teacher education programmes in their schools comment on how quickly trainees’ teaching practice develops as a result of the high-quality central training.

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Inspection judgements

5. This small but growing partnership prides itself on knowing all trainees extremely well. The pastoral care available to trainees is excellent. Trainees speak passionately and appreciatively of the support they receive, particularly when they have found aspects of the course challenging. Without exception, trainees report that, ‘help is only an email away’, and that the central team provides support immediately.

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Inspection judgements

6. Tutors make highly effective use of regular, accurate assessments of trainees and are persistent and, where needed, tenacious in offering well-judged support and challenge to trainees. This is a significant factor in the strong progress trainees make towards meeting the teachers’ standards.

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Inspection judgements

7. Trainees enter the profession as confident and appropriately skilled teachers who typically adapt very well to their first teaching posts. In addition, all members of the partnership feel that their suggestions for improvement are acted upon and that their contributions are valued. Accurate monitoring, assessment and quality assurance of trainees’ practice ensure that all trainees gain QTS and complete the course successfully.

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Inspection judgements

8. Teacher educators are wholeheartedly committed to their roles and make skilful use of their considerable expertise and knowledge to provide high-quality mentoring to trainees. This is reinforced by a culture of mutual respect. Frequent communication between trainees, teacher educators and tutors ensure that trainees’ needs are quickly identified. Trainees report that support is put into place swiftly.

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Inspection judgements

9. Leaders ensure that the development of pupils’ speaking and listening skills are given a high priority in the partnership’s training programme. Expert training ensures that trainees have a detailed understanding of the importance of teaching phonics well. Trainees and NQTs consistently provide a language-rich ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018 environment for pupils in their day-to-day learning. They develop the knowledge and skills to teach phonics well. Inspectors noted NQTs’ careful modelling of phonic sounds and pronunciation in a high proportion of lessons.

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Inspection judgements

10. Trainees and NQTs expertly manage pupil behaviour in the classroom. They make skilful use of the training they receive and become proficient at promoting positive behaviour. Trainees appreciate the opportunities to build on their skills further by experiencing teaching across different age groups within their schools and in their contrasting placements. This teachers’ standard is exceeded by the majority of trainees from early in the training course.

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Inspection judgements

11. Teacher educators’ precise knowledge of trainees’ progress enables them to set appropriate targets that move trainees’ learning on quickly. Trainees are eager contributors to regular discussions about their teaching practice and make good progress towards their targets. Course leaders thoroughly check the accuracy of judgements made about trainees’ progress. External partners further validate leaders’ judgements.

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Inspection judgements

12. Trainees and NQTs say that the training programme teaches them the strategies to be lifelong learners. Leaders have successfully equipped trainees and NQTs to be confident, self-motivated professionals. Trainees complete case studies and action research projects which are closely aligned to their classroom practice to successfully build on their existing knowledge. Trainees are effectively guided by tutors who help them find the resources they need to further develop their subject knowledge.

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Inspection judgements

13. The quality of trainees’ and NQTs’ teaching quickly develops and is consistently good and often outstanding. They deliver well-structured sequences of lessons that successfully build on pupils’ prior learning across a range of subject areas. NQTs model strategies that help pupils to become effective learners, such as providing prompts to help pupils to write independently and guidance on how to check their work for errors. Trainees and NQTs take time to explain tasks carefully and give clear criteria for pupils to check their progress. As a result, pupils have a good understanding of what is expected of them.

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Inspection judgements

14. Trainees and NQTs have a detailed understanding of the needs of pupils in their classes. They plan well for all pupil groups, including those pupils who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Trainees and NQTs make very effective use of the training they receive, including the time spent at a special school. They apply the strategies that they have learned to ensure pupils who have SEND make at least good progress. For example, NQTs make well-judged use of visual prompts, establish clear routines and work closely with parents to ensure that vulnerable pupils make good progress. ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018 15. Weekly subject-specific training equips trainees with the skills to develop excellent subject knowledge and pedagogical skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Trainees and NQTs teach these skills extremely well across

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Inspection judgements

subjects such as geography, history and science. Inspectors’ observations of lessons, discussions with teacher educators, tutors and trainees, scrutiny of trainees’ progress records and the progress made by pupils confirm that this is the case.

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Inspection judgements

16. Leaders make sure that, through a combination of central training, school staff expertise and trainees’ own studies, trainees are confident at teaching foundation subjects. In addition to the weekly training, partner schools provide expertise to support trainees to teach all subjects, particularly physical education (PE). Expert teachers work alongside trainees to help them build confidence and develop their skills to teach a range of sports and teach pupils about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

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Inspection judgements

17. The high-quality, contrasting settings prepare trainees well for their teaching careers. Trainees develop an understanding of the barriers to learning for those who are disadvantaged. NQTs demonstrate how they adapt their curriculum and work with external agencies to support disadvantaged pupils. Course leaders have ensured that some trainees are experiencing teaching and learning in schools that are in more challenging contexts, including those that require improvement. Through the expansion of the partnership, there are more opportunities planned for trainees to work within more schools in challenging socio-economic circumstances.

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Inspection judgements

18. Leaders have ensured that trainees develop effective practices for assessing pupils’ progress. They do this early in the training programme. Trainees use a wide range of evidence, known as ‘evidence bundles’, that includes reviewing a range of pupils’ work to assess learning. Trainees and NQTs check pupils’ knowledge and understanding well in lessons. They use this information to plan effectively for different abilities based on their progress.

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Inspection judgements

19. Trainees teach mathematics very well. In lessons observed, children in the early years were taught to recognise symmetry and were enthusiastically drawing matching patterns on butterfly wings to show that they recognised symmetry. In another example, a trainee very effectively addressed pupils’ misconceptions in a lesson on time using the 12-hour and 24-hour clocks. All trainees that inspectors spoke to demonstrated that they recognise the importance of building on pupils’ number recall skills, such as times tables and number bonds, so that pupils can apply them well to more complex problem-solving tasks.

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Inspection judgements

20. The partnership is fully compliant with the criteria for ITT. The partnership meets all its statutory requirements in relation to the promotion of equality and diversity, the elimination of discrimination and safeguarding pupils. Trainees and NQTs develop a thorough understanding of their responsibilities for ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018 keeping themselves and pupils in their care safe. Partnership training is thorough and covers all aspects, as documented in the Department for Education guidance. This is reinforced through the diligence of school-based partnership staff.

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Inspection judgements

21. Course leaders constantly seek to improve the quality of provision. In doing so, they take account of the views of all stakeholders to identify priorities that will improve provision. They listen carefully to trainees, teacher educators and school leaders and respond appropriately by adapting where necessary. For example, as a result of requests from trainees, leaders prioritised training of behaviour management so that it is taught earlier in the programme.

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Inspection judgements

22. Leaders have worked well in addressing the suggested areas for improvement given at the end of stage 1. They have adapted the training programme so that trainees have additional training and more experience in schools with pupils who speak English as an additional language. Leaders have also developed a system to give them a more accurate overview of trainees’ subject knowledge needs. More trainees, through placements, are experiencing teaching and learning in schools that are in challenging socio-economic circumstances and schools that are required to improve. Leaders have firms plans in place to expand opportunities for trainees to work in a more diverse range of schools.

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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

Swing Gate Infant School and Nursery, Hertfordshire ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 2018

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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 10040527-2 18–20 June 2018 12–14 November 2018 Cindy Impey HMI SCITT Primary N/A Not previously inspected

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ITE partnership details

St John's C of E Primary School, High Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, IG9 5RX ITE inspection report: West Essex SCITT November 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 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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