Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust Limited

Further education and skills inspection report

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Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust Limited Community learning and skills

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement Apprenticeships Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings

This is a provider that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings

 The proportion of apprentices who achieve their qualifications within the planned time increased in 2017/18 but is still too low.  Apprentices’ attendance and punctuality at training sessions are poor and do not reflect the behaviours expected for employment.  Trustees do not have a good enough overview of the performance of the provider. They do not provide strong challenge to senior leaders on areas of underperformance, or on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  Leaders and managers do not support staff to maintain the quality of teaching and learning.  Staff do not use the information they have about apprentices’ prior educational experience or achievements consistently or effectively to plan and teach lessons that meet apprentices’ learning needs.  Staff do not carry out assessments frequently enough to enable apprentices to achieve their qualifications in the planned time.

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Summary of key findings

The provider has the following strengths

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Summary of key findings

 Leaders and managers have established a positive culture in which staff care for their apprentices and are committed to them having successful careers in plumbing, carpentry and childcare.  Leaders and managers have taken effective action to stem the decline in the proportion of apprentices who complete their training and achieve qualifications.  Leaders, managers and staff have high aspirations for apprentices and focus well on providing courses that link to individual career aspirations.  Apprentices develop skills that employers value and produce work which is of a good standard.  Staff have established good relationships with employers, who value the training. June 2019

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Information about the provider

 Waltham Forest Chamber of Commerce Training Trust (Training Trust) is based in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge and offers both framework and standards-based apprenticeships to a range of employers. The majority of their apprenticeships are taught by two subcontractors. Around 250 apprentices enrol on apprenticeship programmes with Training Trust each year, primarily at level 2 and 3 within the health and social care, construction and business administration sectors. Training Trust delivers apprenticeships in a wide variety of environments and their apprentices come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures.

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

 Leaders and managers should monitor the quality of teaching and learning at all sites. They should ensure that staff have actions to improve and that they closely monitor these to raise the standard of teaching, learning and assessment.  Use the information that staff have on apprentices’ prior experiences and skills to plan and teach activities that support apprentices to achieve. For the most able apprentices, staff should plan activities that challenge them to make more rapid progress.  Leaders and managers should ensure that apprentice assessments take place more frequently, in order for apprentices to achieve their qualification within their planned time.  Make sure that apprentices attend frequently and on time.  Trustees, leaders and managers should set and monitor targets on key areas of performance, including the progress of current apprentices, the proportion of apprentices who complete their qualification within their planned time, and the number of apprentices

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What does the provider need to do to improve further?

who achieve qualifications in English and mathematics.  Trustees should maintain an overview of the provision and ensure that they support and challenge leaders and managers on the achievement of agreed targets. June 2019

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, leaders and managers have not maintained the quality of provision. Performance in all areas inspected has declined. Leaders and managers have not addressed the areas for improvement, identified at the previous inspection, sufficiently. They have not maintained all of the strengths identified at the previous inspection.  Leaders and managers have a secure understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. However, strategies to address weaknesses and to develop the provision are not always clear. For example, leaders and managers know that the attendance of apprentices is not high enough, but they do not set out the strategies to address this clearly. As a result, leaders’ and managers’ actions to make improvements have not been rapid enough.  Leaders’ and managers’ actions to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are not effective enough. Managers accurately evaluate the quality of training

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

through observations, and tutors have action plans that highlight areas for improvement. However, managers do not follow up on these actions to ensure that tutors make improvements. Managers do not have a good enough overview of the quality of training at their subcontractors. Managers are overly reliant on subcontractors’ own evaluations of the quality of their provision.  Leaders and managers do not use data to analyse performance and respond to areas of concern well enough. They pay insufficient detail to apprentices’ progress, and to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Leaders and managers do not analyse data by curriculum areas to identify, and take action on, areas of underperformance.  Leaders and managers carry out appropriate checks on subcontractors to assess their suitability to deliver the training required. They ceased working with subcontractors when they identified concerns over their performance. Managers use a range of strategies,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

including audits and reviews, to ensure that subcontractors provide effective support to apprentices.  Leaders and managers have established a positive culture in which all staff care for their apprentices. They are committed to apprentices having successful careers in their chosen sectors.  Leaders and managers work effectively with employers. They have established positive working relationships with employers, many of which are long standing. They have adapted the curriculum well to respond to local employers’ needs. For example, they developed a new apprenticeship in security installation that directly responds to the needs of employers.  Apprentices benefit from effective careers advice and guidance provided by tutors, liaison officers and employers. As a result, most apprentices remain with their employers on completion of their apprenticeships. June 2019

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The governance of the provider

 Governance arrangements require improvement. Trustees meet frequently to review the performance of the trust. However, they do not receive sufficiently detailed performance information to enable them to provide challenge to senior leaders. Consequently, they lack knowledge about the areas of underperformance or the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  Trustees are supportive of the vision and mission of the organisation. They understand the importance of apprenticeships in meeting the needs of local employers.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Staff understand well their responsibilities for safeguarding apprentices, including with regard to the ‘Prevent’ duty. When apprentices raise concerns, staff take prompt action, provide good support and maintain comprehensive records of incidents.  Leaders, managers and liaison officers ensure that apprentices develop a good understanding of health and safety. As a result, they work safely and, when necessary, wear appropriate protective clothing.  Leaders and managers have ensured that apprentices have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including from the risks posed by extremism and radicalisation. Apprentices and staff have received training on the risks posed by gangs, drug trafficking, knife crime and mental health. Apprentices are well prepared for living and working in modern Britain. Apprentices have a good understanding of how to stay safe when online.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Staff do not use effective teaching and assessment strategies to enable apprentices to achieve their qualifications within the planned timescales. Staff’s assessment of apprentices, both at the provider and in the workplace, is too infrequent. As a result, too many apprentices make slow progress towards the achievement of their learning goals.  Liaison officers carry out frequent reviews of apprentices’ progress. However, reviews often do not involve apprentices’ supervisors. In their feedback to apprentices, liaison officers provide little guidance to help them make progress. Consequently, apprentices do not have the opportunities to develop the range of skills they need to achieve their qualifications within the planned time frames.  Staff do not use information on the skills that apprentices have at the start of their courses, to plan learning that meets individual apprentices’ needs. As a result, the most

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

able apprentices do not receive more challenging work.  Liaison officers set targets for apprentices that focus too narrowly on tasks that apprentices need to complete. They do not set targets for apprentices that help them to understand the skills or techniques they need to develop and practise in order to achieve their qualifications. Consequently, apprentices do not always know what steps they need to take to make the progress of which they are capable.  The development of apprentices’ English skills requires improvement. Staff do not place June 2019 sufficient emphasis on apprentices’ written English skills. For example, staff fail to identify common spelling errors on apprentices’ written work. As a result, apprentices repeat the same mistakes.  Apprentices enjoy their learning and develop good practical skills that employers value. For example, apprentices develop their use of hand tools in a safe way and bench joiners

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

produce work to a good standard. Plumbing apprentices increase their skills in replacing radiators, decommissioning old equipment and installing various elements of heating systems.  Assessors and liaison officers in childcare encourage apprentices effectively to relate theory to everyday practice. They consider the safety and well-being of children in nurseries. For example, apprentices apply what they have learned about food allergies when considering what a child can have for a snack.  Apprentices develop their mathematical skills well. Apprentices in stonemasonry use geometry effectively to calculate angles and curves in stone. Plumbers confidently calculate efficiency gains using alternative energy sources.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

 Apprentices’ attendance and punctuality at off-the-job training sessions are poor and need improving. Leaders’ and managers’ target for attendance is too low. They do not have a strategy to improve apprentices’ attendance.  Apprentices do not have access to a sufficient range of support to meet their individual learning needs. Apprentices who have an education, health and care plan often have delays in obtaining the support they need. Apprentices at subcontracted provision receive appropriate levels of support from dedicated specialist tutors.  Apprentices receive information on a range of health and well-being issues. However, the information is not specific to their occupational areas. As a result, apprentices do not have a clear enough understanding of how this information relates to their own jobs.  Apprentices develop good skills during their apprenticeships. Plumbing apprentices work independently or under minimal supervision, while childcare apprentices become more

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

confident when talking to parents and carers about their children’s day at nursery.  Apprentices complete a range of additional training. Childcare apprentices undertake first aid and ‘EpiPen’ training and all apprentices complete manual handling training. Apprentices on electrical courses complete the 18th edition wiring regulations. As a result, apprentices gain skills which will support them well in their workplaces.  Apprentices have high aspirations and are aware of the training and job opportunities available to them after completing their apprenticeships.

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

 The proportion of apprentices on different courses who achieve is too variable. Achievements are not consistently on an upward trend. In 2017/18, the proportion of security installation apprentices who gained their qualifications was very low. Leaders’ and managers’ actions to improve the quality of provision are not having a sustained impact. June 2019  The proportion of apprentices who achieve their qualifications in the specified time frame has increased, but is too low.  Leaders and managers have been slow in tackling the gap in achievement between male and female apprentices. The small number of apprentices who have a declared learning difficulty or disability achieve better than those without. Too many apprentices make slow progress. Leaders and managers are not aware, in sufficient detail, of the progress that apprentices make. As a result, the proportion who are on track to achieve within their

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Outcomes for learners Requires improvement

specified time frames is too low.  Leaders and managers have taken effective action to address the decline in the proportion of apprentices who complete their training and achieve qualifications. As a result, the proportion of apprentices who achieve their qualification, although not within the planned time, has increased since 2017/18 and is high.  The vast majority of apprentices who achieve their qualification stay with the same employers. Those who do not, gain employment within the same occupational areas.  Of the small number of apprentices who require functional skills English and mathematics qualifications, the proportion who achieve is high. June 2019

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Provider details

Type of provider Community learning and skills

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Provider details

Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year Principal/CEO Mark Durham

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or above Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

- - - - - - - - Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age Intermediate Advanced Higher

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 62 57 23 92 - - Number of traineeships 16–19 19+ Total - - - Number of learners aged 14 to -

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

Number of learners for which the provider receives high- needs funding -

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Provider information at the time of the inspection

At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors: Building Craft College Choice Training June 2019

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the chief executive, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider's most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

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Inspection team

Steve Lambert, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

David Baber Ofsted Inspector June 2019 guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Learner View Learner View is a website where learners can tell Ofsted what they think about their college or provider. They can also see what other learners think about them too. To find out more go to www.learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Employer View Employer View is a website where employers can tell Ofsted what they think about their employees' college or provider. They can also see what other employers think about them too. To find out more go to www.employerview.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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