Elite Training, Assessing and Development CIC

Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Alastair Mollon, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address: St George’s Community Centre Bothwell Road Manchester M40 7NY Monitoring visit: Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, 5-6 June 2019

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Context and focus of visit

From March 2019, Ofsted undertook to carry out monitoring visits to all newly directly funded providers of adult learning provision which began to be funded from August 2017 or after by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This monitoring visit was undertaken as part of those arrangements and as outlined in the ‘Further education and skills inspection handbook’, especially the sections entitled ‘Monitoring visits to providers that are newly directly funded to deliver adult learning provision’ and ‘Monitoring visits’. The focus of these visits is on the themes set out below.

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Context and focus of visit

Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic (Elite) received its first publicly funded contract for adult education in November 2017. Elite was set up as a non-profit organisation in September 2012 to meet the employment needs of adults in the community in the north west of England. Elite delivers qualifications in functional skills from entry level to level 2 and vocational programmes, the majority in supporting teaching and learning and electrical installations, at level 2. Currently, there are 97 learners on adult learning programmes.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have used successfully Elite’s established commercial delivery of teacher training, English and mathematics programmes to design an adult learning programme that meets learners’ needs. The focus of the curriculum is to enable the most disadvantaged adults to develop the personal confidence and skills they need to meet their learning goals, enter the labour market or access further and higher education.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have developed effective working relationships with partner organisations and local community centres in Manchester. They ensure that courses are accessible to learners across several centres in Manchester and in one venue in Waltham Forest. Leaders respond swiftly to shifting demands in the local labour market. For example, they set up a course in supporting teaching and learning in a local school to enable unemployed parents to develop the skills they need for new jobs as teaching assistants.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders know their provision well. They have identified accurately most areas that they need to improve. Performance during the early part of the new adult learning contract was poor. Very few learners achieved their qualifications, particularly in peer mentoring, volunteering, social networking, IT users and electrical installations. Monitoring visit: Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, 5-6 June 2019 Leaders intervened swiftly to devise a more focused curriculum, which resulted in improving results for learners.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders effectively hold staff to account for their performance. For example, they used effective performance management to remove staff and cease ineffective provision in volunteering, peer mentoring and social networking. They implemented more rigorous recruitment criteria in electrical installations and improved the quality of provision. As a result, the large majority of learners now achieve their qualifications, develop useful skills for employment and meet their personal goals.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders do not collect or analyse data on learners’ destinations well enough. Leaders recognise rightly that the system they use is insufficiently developed to enable them to evaluate the full impact and usefulness of their provision for learners.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have tried unsuccessfully to recruit external experts to a board of trustees and recognise that they lack external scrutiny and challenge. As a result, they continue to seek external governance support.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors plan and deliver activities that help learners to develop the skills and behaviours they need to achieve their learning goals. As a result, learners enjoy their courses. They are highly motivated to achieve their qualifications. They have clear career ambitions, for example progressing onto nursing and social care courses at university, achieving promotion at work or becoming a youth worker. Despite personal and emotional barriers, learners are determined to achieve and succeed.

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Reasonable progress

Tutors know their learners well and provide them with effective support, including those learners with additional learning needs. For example, they deliver extra sessions to help learners make progress and achieve their qualification by the expected completion date. Tutors provide support to learners who wish to complete job applications, university applications and/or personal statements. They translate correspondence for learners who speak English as an additional language.

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Reasonable progress

Learners on English and mathematics courses produce work of a good standard and at an appropriate level. They take pride in the presentation of their work. Tutors prepare learners effectively for their English and mathematics examinations. As a result, the large majority of learners pass their examinations.

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Reasonable progress

Managers have ensured that teaching staff have the relevant qualifications and experience to teach their subjects. They ensure that tutors receive regular and appropriate training that helps them improve the quality of their teaching and Monitoring visit: Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, 5-6 June 2019 assessment. For example, English tutors receive training on different techniques to help learners answer functional skills English examination questions. As a result, the large majority of learners make good progress.

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Reasonable progress

In a few instances, tutors do not routinely check on learning or provide helpful feedback to learners. Feedback is cursory and does not provide learners with specific, useful information. Consequently, a few learners do not know what they need to do to improve their work.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers recognise that they do not obtain information on learners’ starting points for subjects other than mathematics and English. As a result, tutors do not plan learning to meet the needs of learners of all abilities. Leaders have put in place processes to address this, but it is too soon to see the impact.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders make safeguarding a high priority. The designated safeguarding officer and both directors have completed appropriate training to undertake the role. Staff know what to do should they have any concerns in relation to the safeguarding or radicalisation of learners. The provider has not yet had any serious safeguarding concerns and, therefore, their policies and processes are yet to be tested in practice.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders ensure that all staff appointments follow safer recruitment procedures. They check the appropriateness of all applicants thoroughly and ensure that they are suitable to work in education and training. Staff complete mandatory safeguarding, ‘Channel’ and ‘Prevent’ duty training and annual equality and diversity training.

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Reasonable progress

Learners feel safe and are safe. They benefit from an effective induction that ensures they know how to keep themselves safe and how to report any concerns they may have. Learners understand how to keep themselves safe online. For example, they can explain articulately how to ‘block’ people, report them on social media and screenshot any causes for concern. Learners know how to be vigilant of family’s and friends’ use of the internet and report any issues they may have. Leaders use effective systems that monitor and protect learners who use online facilities in the Waltham Forest centre.

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Reasonable progress

Although learners have a general awareness of the dangers of radicalisation and extremism, they are not able to explain how this is relevant to their everyday lives. Monitoring visit: Elite Training, Assessing and Development Cic, 5-6 June 2019 the 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 . 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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Reasonable progress

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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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 . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to

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Reasonable progress

the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Reasonable progress

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

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