Shaftesbury Nash College

Livability Nash College Re-inspection monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Steven Stanley, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent specialist college Address: Livability Nash College Croydon Road Hayes Bromley BR2 7AG Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 2019

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Context and focus of visit

This is the first re-inspection monitoring visit to Livability Nash College following publication of the inspection report on 9 January 2019, which found the provider to be inadequate overall. The effectiveness of leadership and management, and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, outcomes for learners and provision for high needs were inadequate. Personal development, behaviour and welfare was judged to require improvement.

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Context and focus of visit

At the time of this monitoring visit, there were 64 students. Six students were following preparation for employment courses, 11 were following personal progress courses. Both these courses lead to externally accredited qualifications. The rest were following independence and health and well-being courses, which are internally validated.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Over recent years a high turnover in senior managers has led to a drift in the purpose and direction in the education and training of students. Leaders and governors had insufficient oversight of the education and training provision. Consequently, they did not see or remedy a decline in quality.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Since the inspection, a new senior management team is improving the oversight of the quality of education and training provision. Leaders have established enhanced governance arrangements. These arrangements emphasise the need for leaders and governors to focus on making rapid improvements in the quality of provision. Leaders and governors are also starting to engage well with staff, parents and students to get their views on where the gaps in quality are.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Senior leaders and governors do not yet have a clear enough oversight of teaching and learning over time. This hampers their ability to get a sense of whether the quality of teaching is improving or declining. They are taking prompt action to resolve this. Leaders have a clear idea of how well the lecturing team teaches. However, new systems they have put in place to oversee the performance of staff are in their infancy.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Leaders are involving staff in organisational changes. They are informing parents and students about changes to the curriculum. They are setting up ways for them to feed back on the quality of the service and contribute to the college’s future.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Senior leaders and governors recognise that they do not yet have readily available all the information they need to assess the performance of the education and training Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 2019 provision. It means that nobody has the tools to question or challenge the quality of teaching and outcomes of students. Senior leaders are consolidating all the information that exists onto a new electronic system to give an overview of quality. They have decided on the key indicators they want the system to report. The information will help them see any slippage in quality and measure improvements.

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oversight of the quality of education provision?

Leaders have a clear understanding of the size of the task ahead. Also, they are acutely aware of the weaknesses they need to resolve. They have set up a comprehensive post-inspection action plan. It covers the recommendations made in the previous inspection. However, it lacks precise targets in places.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that there is continuity in management and governance, to achieve better oversight of the quality of education and training provision over time.

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Priorities for improvement

 Firmly establish new systems for the oversight of teaching and learning.

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Priorities for improvement

 Put in place systems for gathering the views of staff, students, and parents to provide information for leaders on the quality of provision.

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Priorities for improvement

 Implement the agreed key indicators to give a clear overview of the quality of education and training provision.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that leaders and governors use essential information to monitor the effectiveness of education and training.

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Priorities for improvement

 Evaluate the impact of the actions to improve performance and record them accurately in the next self-assessment report to inform improvement.

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the progress that their students make in their learning?

Leaders recognise that students were not making sufficient progress because the courses they were following were not right for them. Too many students were pursuing courses where they did not achieve.

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the progress that their students make in their learning?

Leaders are now monitoring students’ participation and achievement at the college. However, the systems for monitoring the progress of students’ learning are not effective enough. They have not been useful for giving a clear overview of students’ progress in their learning. Leaders have identified quickly the key progress measures they need for the range of students at the college. They are putting in place a new electronic system to better capture what students are making, doing, and learning. They are developing lecturers’ skills to use the new electronic system. Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 2019

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Priorities for improvement

 Establish a clear set of indicators for measuring the progress in students’ learning. Ensure that managers assess the success of their students and the gaps in their learning effectively.

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Priorities for improvement

 Implement fully the electronic system for capturing the progress in learning that students make, to enable managers to check the quality of students’ work and learning.

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Priorities for improvement

 Continue to train staff to record students’ work and learning accurately. Check that the system produces useful information on students’ progress.

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individual learning needs of their students?

Leaders have acted quickly to improve the curriculum for students. They are enabling lecturers and therapists to share practice and better support students with complex needs. Leaders are also introducing new enrichment activities. The revised curriculum is better suited to students’ needs; previously, it was focused too much on qualifications.

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individual learning needs of their students?

Leaders are improving how they collate and use the information on what students already know and can do. It is helping staff to understand their needs and plan their learning. Leaders recognise that historical assessments of students’ capabilities were not helpful; they did not establish valid starting points from which to measure progress. As a result, it is not possible currently to gain a clear idea of progress over time for students who joined earlier in the academic year. Leaders are implementing measures to improve this, but it is too early to see their impact.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that lecturers establish clear starting points for students, to enable them to measure their progress over time.

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Priorities for improvement

 Review the curriculum regularly to ensure that it continues to meet the individual needs of students.

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teaching, learning & assessment?

Leaders have identified improvements they need to make in the quality of teaching, learning, and assessment. They are using their expertise and experience to develop and train the workforce to improve teaching. They have introduced lecturers to the new standards of teaching they expect them to meet. Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 2019 Lecturers are more accountable for the success of their students. They feel that training and mentoring is helping them improve salient deficits in their teaching. They value the expertise and support of lecturers from an outstanding partner college.

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teaching, learning & assessment?

Students learn in a safe environment; staff are patient and care for them. As a result, students take part well in activities and focus assiduously on tasks. Lecturers help students develop their social skills well. Students work closely as a team with their peers to share learning and ideas. Staff are particularly competent in defusing challenging behaviour and keeping learners from harm.

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teaching, learning & assessment?

Leaders recognise that they have yet to resolve the weaknesses fully in teaching identified at the previous inspection. Too often, lecturers do not challenge students sufficiently to push themselves further in their learning. Students do not develop the level of communication and independence of which they are capable. Lecturers are insufficiently adept at communicating with students through signing and technology. While students have individual targets, they are not understood by them. The language that lecturers use to help develop students’ skills is not understandable to them. Students are not able to recall targets. The improvement in how lecturers develop students’ English and mathematics across subjects is at an early stage.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that leaders continue their training and development plan to support all staff. Make sure the training signposts clearly how to make improvements in teaching.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure better communication with students by improving how lecturers use signing and technology.

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Priorities for improvement

 Continue the start made in getting lecturers and therapists to work together to enhance learning.

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Priorities for improvement

 Implement precise targets for all students linked to their education, health, and care plans, to provide better information for measuring progress.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that students can recall their targets.

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Priorities for improvement

 Maintain support from partners and ensure that this brings about rapid improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.

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opportunities for all eligible students?

Leaders have established productive work experience partnerships with local organisations. As a result, a fifth of students now takes part in a range of external work placements that link well to their aspirations. An established local disability Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 2019 organisation supports the college well in this regard and provides students with impartial careers guidance. A small number of students have secured supported employment internships from September.

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opportunities for all eligible students?

Leaders are in the early stages of planning opportunities for students to develop their work-related skills within the college. For example, students now create fruit pots to sell, and take responsibility for a range of daily tasks in the commercial college kitchen. They also produce goods to sell at a local market.

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opportunities for all eligible students?

Staff do not develop students’ skills for seeking work well enough. For example, students do not learn how to produce credible CVs, or how to represent themselves well at an interview. They do not learn how to compete for a job. Students do not learn critical life skills, such as how to deal with disappointment if they do not get a job.

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Priorities for improvement

 Increase the opportunities for students to gain work experience within the college.

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Priorities for improvement

 Increase the number of supported employment internships.

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Priorities for improvement

 Introduce opportunities for students to develop preparation for employment skills, for example how to make a credible CV and improve their interview skills.

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Priorities for improvement

 Ensure that students learn skills for seeking work.

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Priorities for improvement

 Increase the number of students who gain paid or voluntary employment when they leave college. Monitoring visit: Livability Nash College 15-16 May 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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Priorities for improvement

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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Priorities for improvement

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Priorities for improvement

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Priorities for improvement

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Priorities for improvement

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