Craftworks

Brogdale CIC Report following a monitoring visit to a ‘requires improvement’ provider

p.1

Name of lead inspector: Emma Barrett-Peel, Her Majesty’s Inspector

p.1

Type of provider: Independent specialist college

p.1

Address: The Stables Culnells Farm School Lane Iwade Kent ME9 8QJ Monitoring visit: Brogdale CIC, 7 October 2021

p.1

Context and focus of visit

Brogdale Community Interest Company (Brogdale CIC) was inspected in March 2019. At that time, inspectors judged the overall effectiveness of the provision to require improvement.

p.2

Context and focus of visit

The focus of this monitoring visit was to evaluate the progress that leaders and managers have made in addressing the main areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.

p.2

Context and focus of visit

Brogdale CIC is located in Kent. It provides education and training for young people who have not been in education for several years because of exclusions and/or complex mental health needs. It was registered as an independent specialist college in 2017.

p.2

Context and focus of visit

The college comprises six rural sites located in three towns in Kent: Faversham, Ashford and Sittingbourne. At the time of the visit, there were 58 students studying vocational qualifications from entry level to level 2. Students study a range of subjects, including horticulture, creative craft, food and cookery, farm animal care, and environmental and conservation skills.

p.2

Context and focus of visit

The impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has been taken into account in the findings and progress judgements below.

p.2

Significant progress

Leaders and managers have made swift and effective changes to check and improve the quality of teaching. They give teachers extremely clear and useful feedback that helps them improve their teaching. Managers use this feedback well during individual meetings with staff to set sensible targets. Teachers benefit from this support, improving their skills quickly. Leaders make sure that teaching assistants provide the right levels of support to students. Teaching assistants complete beneficial training and gain relevant and worthwhile qualifications to ensure they are well equipped to support students effectively. Staff benefit greatly from the support from a newly appointed experienced special educational needs coordinator who uses their expertise to help staff fully understand the needs of their students. Monitoring visit: Brogdale CIC, 7 October 2021 Leaders and managers have made rapid improvements to the quality of the

p.2

Significant progress

information they collect about students at the start of their courses. Staff use this information effectively to make sensible plans for individual students to help them develop the new knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to be successful on their course and in the future. Staff attend informative training to enable them to use the information they have to support students well. For example, staff receive training to help them to manage successfully extremely challenging behaviour. Useful medical training helps them to support students with severe medical conditions. Leaders and managers have put in place new and effective systems to share information about students between staff at all sites. Staff use this information well to make sure they understand the progress students make and any changes to the support they might need. Managers quickly identify trends or concerns about individual students and take swift action to intervene when they need to.

p.3

Significant progress

Staff create and use helpful resources to review, track and quicken students’ progress. For example, students use a pastoral star which staff created to review and score useful information to help both identify progress and gaps in all aspects of their training, including skills such as confidence and motivation.

p.3

Significant progress

Leaders and managers make effective use of their knowledge of local employment opportunities to support students to get work experience placements. Staff make sure that work placements for students are relevant to their career interests. For example, a student that wants to work in pest control has a placement with a local pest control company. Staff ensure all students are carefully matched to employers to make sure they benefit from useful and supportive work placements. In these work placements students develop relevant new skills and behaviours that prepare them well for work. These new skills help students apply successfully for part-time and full-time jobs to gain experience of employment. Five students this year have gone into full-time paid employment. Students who are not ready to move into employment gain important independence skills to help them as they move into adulthood. Leaders have good relationships with organisations that help young

p.3

Significant progress

people into assisted or independent living. Leaders and managers have made rapid and beneficial changes to how they provide careers advice to students. Students now access and benefit from ongoing support from careers staff throughout their course, which enables them to be clear about their next steps. External impartial specialist careers advisers support all students, including those with disabilities and learning difficulties. Leaders and managers have effectively made sure that all staff understand how to develop students’ English and mathematics skills, which they do well. Leaders have appointed well-qualified English and mathematics teachers to ensure all students Monitoring visit: Brogdale CIC, 7 October 2021 benefit from teachers with specialist expertise. Staff are more confident about developing students’ literacy and numeracy skills in lessons than at the time of the previous inspection. They make sure that students have sufficient opportunities to

p.3

Significant progress

develop these skills. For example, students working in the café develop their English and mathematics skills effectively by writing receipts, shopping for ingredients and writing menu cards. Monitoring visit: Brogdale CIC, 7 October 2021 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.

p.4

Significant progress

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 .

p.5

Significant progress

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

p.5

Significant progress

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.5

Significant progress

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

p.5