e-Qualitas

e-Qualitas Education Placement Group/e-Qualitas, 4th Floor, Hend House, 233 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8EE

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Inspection dates 31 January to 3 February 2022

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Inspection judgements

Early years ITT Primary age- phase Secondary age- phase

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Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness Good Inadequate Inadequate

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Inspection judgements

The quality of education and training Good Inadequate Inadequate

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Inspection judgements

Leadership and management Good Inadequate Inadequate

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Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection N/A Good Good

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

Trainees in the early years phase feel well supported and prepared to undertake their teaching roles. The ambitious curriculum successfully develops their knowledge and readiness to teach.

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

However, in the primary and secondary phases, trainees’ experiences are too variable. Programme leaders do not routinely check the quality or effectiveness of the support that partnership mentors and school-based mentors give trainees. Many trainees are not supported well enough. Trainees often feel overwhelmed by their workload. Some do not feel that the partnership takes suitable steps to consider and manage their workload or support their well-being.

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

In the primary phase, leaders do not ensure that trainees develop the knowledge they need to teach all national curriculum subjects. Trainees learn how to teach early reading. However, they receive insufficient guidance on how to assess pupils’ phonics knowledge or how to select suitable reading books.

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

In the secondary phase, communication between the centrally delivered curriculum and the support and guidance provided in school placements is not effective. This prevents trainees from developing and applying the knowledge they need to teach their subject well. The curriculum develops primary and secondary trainees’ understanding of general classroom practice, including behaviour management. Trainees also learn the basics of safeguarding and how to plan for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ The provider has 416 trainees spread over three phases: early years, and primary and secondary phases. ◼ There are 105 trainees in the early years phase, 127 in the primary phase and 184 in the secondary phase. ◼ All trainees in the early years phase are employment-based graduates. ◼ Trainees in the primary and secondary phases are on one of the following training routes: School Direct (salaried and fee paid;, level 6 teacher apprenticeship; or Post Graduate Certificate in Education. The primary and secondary phases also offer the assessment-only route to suitable candidates. ◼ The provider has 249 partnership schools in the primary and secondary phases and 112 partner settings and schools in the early years phase. The majority of partnership schools inspected by Ofsted are judged to be good or better.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by 10 of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI). ◼ Inspectors met with the chief executive officer, the programme leader, two deputy programme leaders, the curriculum management board, the management board, partnership lead tutors and tutors as well as school-based mentors. ◼ In all phases, inspectors spoke with headteachers and other leaders from schools and settings. ◼ Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including those related to leaders’ improvement planning and curriculum organisation. ◼ Inspectors reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for trainees and staff. ◼ Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some visits, meetings and discussions were carried out remotely. This included visits to schools. In the early years phase, inspectors visited 12 settings and spoke with 28 trainees. In the primary phase, inspectors visited 12 schools and met or spoke with 49 trainees. In the secondary phase, inspectors visited

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Information about this inspection

11 schools and spoke with 23 trainees and 13 early career teachers. The total number of settings or schools visited or communicated with during this inspection, either on site or remotely, was 35. The 52 responses to the trainee survey were considered. ◼ In the early years phase, focused reviews were conducted in: early reading; early mathematics; communication and language; personal, social and emotional development (PSED); understanding the world; physical development; and expressive arts and design. ◼ In the primary phase, focused reviews were conducted in: early reading; English; history; mathematics; and science. ◼ In the secondary phase, focused reviews were undertaken in English; art; mathematics; science (physics); and religious education. Early years phase report

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better?

The early years curriculum is designed, led and implemented by an external provider that has expertise and experience in this phase. A partnership agreement is in place to formalise this arrangement. Programme leaders from both parties meet regularly to oversee and evaluate the quality of the programme. Together, they make sure that the curriculum prepares trainees well for their future teaching careers.

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better?

Programme leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum, with clear aims and expectations from the outset. They make sure that each part of the curriculum fits together, whether it is delivered online, in placement settings or through in-person training. Partnership leaders, tutors and school-based mentors adapt the training programme so that it is tailored to trainees’ starting points and previous experiences. This approach supports trainees well. They are clear about what they need to learn and practise in order to teach in the early years phase.

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better?

The centrally delivered training programme is sequenced well. Programme leaders make sure that trainees apply what they have learned, for instance about teaching systematic synthetic phonics. Trainees receive the guidance they need to teach early reading and phonics confidently.

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better?

Trainees develop a secure understanding of how children learn about others and the world around them. Through the curriculum, trainees are taught how to plan sequences of learning, for instance in PSED. Trainees practise selecting books, resources and activities in order to support children to understand and remember important knowledge. One example of this is in mathematics, where trainees use outdoor games such as archery to reinforce early mathematical knowledge.

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better?

Programme leaders assess trainees’ progress through the curriculum effectively. They provide well-planned additional support if a trainee is at risk of falling behind. Trainees value the experiences and support that they receive, both from the partnership and in their placement schools.

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better?

Programme leaders check that guidance from partnership tutors is helpful in developing trainees’ practice. The partnership’s quality assurance arrangements enable programme leaders to check that all statutory requirements are met, including those related to recruitment and the award of early years teacher status.

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better?

Programme leaders, partnership tutors and school-based mentors are knowledgeable about t he early years phase. However, beyond the initial training, opportunities for school-based mentors to develop their expertise are limited. Sometimes, support from school-based mentors is not well targeted. As a result, this support does not contribute effectively t o trainees’ overall development and readiness to teach. Some school-based mentors have not received appropriate ongoing training and information on how they can fulfil their roles. Programme leaders have already identified this as a priority for improvement. New training materials have already been developed. Nevertheless, this work remains at an early stage.

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phase?

◼ Leaders’ work to strengthen the quality of school-based mentoring is at an early stage. Sometimes, mentors’ support for trainees is not of the high quality that leaders expect. Leaders should provide mentors with further guidance and training and ensure that all mentors feel well equipped to support trainees’ development. This includes checking that mentors have ready access to all relevant partnership training materials and resources.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the Department for Education (DfE) statutory compliance criteria. Primary phase report

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better?

The quality of education and training provided varies too much from trainee to trainee. The curriculum is not planned to enable all trainees to develop their knowledge in a logical, coherent way. This is because programme leaders have not established which aspects of the curriculum should be delivered during trainees’ school-based placements.

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better?

Programme leaders rely too much on the partnership schools taking responsibility for trainees’ development of some essential knowledge and understanding. Programme leaders often leave it to partnership schools to identify and fill any gaps in trainees’ understanding. This is because the partnership’s ongoing assessment of trainees is weak. Some trainees receive a poor-quality experience and are not helped effectively to prepare for their future teaching careers.

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better?

Leaders’ overall intention, to provide a high-quality and coherent programme, is not achieved consistently. This is because there are significant weaknesses in the curriculum. For example, although the training to teach foundation subjects provides a helpful introduction, it lacks subject-specific detail about what to teach. Consequently, some trainees have too little knowledge about the subject content of some national curriculum subjects and do not know how to plan a sequence of lessons. This is made worse by the complexity of the partnership’s online system through which trainees access and complete training. Many trainees reported that they found this system ‘overwhelming’.

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better?

The curriculum to develop trainees’ expertise in teaching phonics also has weaknesses. It does not give all trainees enough specific detail to help them to become confident in helping pupils to apply their phonic skills to reading. Where trainees are training to teach in classes for pupils aged four to seven, training is supplemented by the schools in which they work. Trainees training to teach in classes with older primary-age pupils, however, do not have opportunities to develop their expertise in teaching phonics and reading. This means that these trainees are not prepared well to teach pupils at the early stages of learning to read.

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better?

The quality of support from visiting tutors and in-school lead trainers and mentors is too inconsistent. Some training and support based at school placements are not aligned with the central training. Frequently, trainees’ second school-based placements do not provide a sufficiently contrasting experience. Although this is partly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the partnership’s lack of leadership capacity means that it is unable to mitigate this, or to monitor the work of schools rigorously enough. Key aspects of the partnership’s work, such as quality assurance or the design of subject-specific curriculum content, have not been adequately developed.

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better?

Programme leaders use the core content framework (CCF) appropriately to set clear expectations. Some aspects of the centrally delivered training, which is provided online, enable trainees to build their knowledge and skills effectively. For example, the professional studies elements of the course, which include behaviour management and how to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, equip trainees with some essential pedagogical understanding about teaching. This gives trainees the foundations on which to develop their general practice in the classroom.

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better?

With the support of the management board, leaders have begun to identify accurately some weaknesses in the quality of subject training or in the support given to trainees. There are some appropriate plans for improvement, for example to promote trainees’ well-being. However, limited leadership capacity means that the plans for improvement are slow to be implemented.

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better?

Leaders ensure that the assessment-only route complies fully with all requirements.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

Leaders have not made sure that their aims for the curriculum are being put into practice. The curriculum is not as coherently sequenced as it should be. As a result, trainees are not prepared effectively for teaching the primary phase. Leaders need to ensure that training for the foundation subjects is suitably rigorous. It should contain enough specific content to ensure that trainees are ready to teach all subjects equally well. This includes ensuring that all trainees learn how to help pupils who are learning to read to apply their phonics knowledge. In addition, leaders need to consider how best to sequence the training so that trainees build up their cumulative knowledge and skills logically.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

Trainees experience too many inconsistencies in the quality and quantity of support provided by visiting tutors and mentors. The ease with which trainees access the partnership’s online tracking and information system is variable. While partnership tutors do much on an individual level to mitigate some of these weaknesses, senior leaders should ensure that procedures to quality assure trainees’ experiences, especially the support they receive, are suitably rigorous and effective. In addition, they should make sure that all systems and procedures, including those that are online, are suitable and meet trainees’ needs.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

The lack of leadership capacity seriously impedes the partnership’s ability to tackle these weaknesses successfully and in a timely manner. The partnership’s leaders have not put in place suitable leadership arrangements following the substantial increase in the number of primary-phase trainees. There are too few leaders and, as a result, roles and responsibilities are stretched, slowing improvements. The partnership’s leaders should ensure that the leadership team has sufficient capacity to carry out improvements. It also should ensure that roles and responsibilities are defined so that lines of accountability are clear.

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criteria?

◼ The partnership does not meet the DfE statutory compliance criteria. The partnership does not meet the following criteria: ◼ criterion C3.1, which requires ITT partnerships to ensure that their management structure ensures the effective operation of the training programme, and ◼ criterion C3.4, which requires ITT providers to monitor, evaluate and moderate all aspects of provision rigorously and demonstrate how these contribute to securing improvements in the quality of training and the assessment of trainees. Secondary phase report

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better?

Leaders have not ensured that trainees across all subjects in the secondary phase experience an ambitious ITE curriculum. In English, mathematics and science, trainees gain limited subject-specific knowledge. They receive minimal input in how to teach their subject. In subjects such as economics and art, there is no specific training. Instead, trainees receive booklets that outline how to teach the subject. These are basic and trainees find them unhelpful. This lack of subject-specific training means that trainees often rely on filling gaps in their knowledge themselves, for instance through seeking out support from colleagues in school.

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better?

The ITE ‘mastery’ curriculum introduces trainees to important pedagogical content that equips them for classroom teaching. For example, they learn about behaviour management and how to plan sequences of lessons. This programme is fully compliant with the requirements of the CCF. Leaders have given some thought to the sequencing of this training. However, many trainees reported that the sessions repeat what they have already learned in their school placements. Because of the dual demands of teaching and the training programme itself, they find it difficult to complete the reading required in advance for this training. This adds to trainees’ workload and causes them to feel ‘overwhelmed’. Leaders have plans to improve support for trainees’ well-being, but these have not been implemented.

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better?

In the secondary phase, leaders do not work well with partnership schools to design and implement the ITE curriculums. Senior leaders in schools have little information about the central programme. This prevents them from helping trainees to apply and build on their previous learning. Partnership leaders have not made sure that school-based mentors and partnership staff, such as subject tutors, understand how the different aspects of training link together. This means that trainees do not have access to a well-sequenced and coherent curriculum.

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better?

The lack of leadership capacity means that systems for quality assurance are not robust or implemented effectively. Too much is left to chance. For example, many trainees reported variations in the amount of support they had received from school-based mentors. Some mentors keep a close eye on what their trainees have covered in the centrally delivered mastery and subject training. They work with trainees in school to ensure that this training is fully integrated into classroom practice. Other mentors do not have the confidence or the time to carry out their role as effectively. There are similar variations in the quality of the partnership’s subject tutoring. Some is supportive and knowledgeable, but other tutoring lacks subject expertise. Where support from tutors is not strong, trainees are left to their own devices or must turn to school staff for additional support.

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better?

Trainees are assessed by school-based mentors and the partnership’s subject tutors. However, school-based mentors often struggle to measure trainees’ progress in learning the taught ITE curriculum. This is because partnership leaders have not made them fully aware of the essential knowledge that trainees need to learn and apply. In some cases, the teachers’ standards are unhelpfully used to set targets for trainees at the end of each term.

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better?

Leaders ensure that the assessment-only route complies fully with all requirements.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

Leaders do not have ambitious and coherent subject curriculums in place. This means that trainees are not well prepared to teach their subjects specialism. Leaders should ensure that they plan and implement well-sequenced and ambitious subject-specific curriculums that prepare trainees to teach their subject.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

The different aspects of the centre-based ITE curriculum are not integrated with the training delivered by schools. This prevents schools from aligning their training programmes with those provided at the centre. Mentoring does not typically consolidate what trainees learn in the centrally delivered subject and mastery curriculums. Leaders must improve communication with school-based staff so that centrally delivered and school-based training programmes align more closely, and in turn, enable trainees to develop readiness to teach step by step. This includes ensuring that school-based mentors receive the training and guidance they need to carry out their roles and responsibilities.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

Quality assurance processes lack rigour. Leaders have an overly positive view of the quality of training that they provide. Trainees’ experiences are too variable as a result. Leaders must review and improve quality assurance systems. This will allow them to evaluate and then improve the quality of ITE training, as well as the support for trainees.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The partnership does not meet the DfE statutory compliance criteria. The partnership does not meet the following criteria: ◼ criterion C3.1, which requires ITT partnerships to ensure that their management structure ensures the effective operation of the training programme, and ◼ criterion C3.4, which requires ITT providers to monitor, evaluate and moderate all aspects of provision rigorously and demonstrate how these contribute to securing improvements in the quality of training and the assessment of trainees.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70197 Inspection number 10216356

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ITE provider details

This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) in accordance with the ‘Initial teacher education inspection framework and handbook’. This framework and handbook set out the statutory basis and framework for initial teacher education (ITE) inspections in England from September 2020.

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ITE provider details

Type of ITE provider SCITT/level 6 apprenticeship provider Phases provided Early years Primary Secondary Date of previous inspection 3 to 6 December 2012

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Inspection team

Ruth Dollner, Overall lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Alison Colenso, Phase lead inspector (early years) Brian Oppenheim, Phase lead inspector (primary) Lisa Strong, Phase lead inspector (secondary) Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Her Majesty’s Inspector Gary Rawlings, team inspector Jean Thwaites, team inspector Mark Smith, team inspector Jude Wilson, team inspector Adam Vincent, team inspector Aliki Constantopoulou, team inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Annex: Provider settings, schools and colleges

Inspectors contacted trainees and staff at the following settings and schools, as part of this inspection:

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grade

St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School 138025 Early years September Not previously inspected Early Foundations Day Nursery 550090 Early years September Good

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grade

Dorothy Gardner Nursery School 101105 Early years September Requires Improvement Date Palm Primary School 139221 Early years September Good

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Coconut Nursery 144566 Early years September Good

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N Family Club Church Street 2572925 Early years September Registration

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St Peter and St Paul Primary School 100447 Early years September Good

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grade

Nursery Days EY355428 Early years September Registration

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GroWild Kindergarten 2548930 Early years September Registration

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grade

Nurture Pre-school at Abbotsweld 2639641 Early years September Good

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grade

Great Finborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School 124732 Early years September Good

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grade

Snapdragons Nursery and Out of School Club Corsham 293287 Early years September Good

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grade

Concordia Academy 142885 Primary April 2021 Outstanding Seven Sisters Primary School 132253 Primary April 2021 Outstanding Oasis Academy Ryelands 140674 Primary October Good

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grade

The Vineyard School, Richmond 102906 Primary April 2021 Outstanding Broadfields Primary School 140236 Primary September Good

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grade

London Academy 134798 Primary August 2020 Good Bandon Hill Primary School 148776 Primary August 2020 Good Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee School 101184 Primary September Good

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grade

Crosslee Community Primary School 105412 Primary September Good

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grade

Kelvin Grove Primary School 100690 Primary January 2021 Good Sidegate Primary School 140822 Primary September Good

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Montgomery Primary School 113082 Primary September Good

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grade

Forest Gate Community School 143274 Secondary September Outstanding

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grade

Mulberry Academy Shoreditch 137789 Secondary September Outstanding

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grade

All Saints Catholic College 100503 Secondary September Good

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Cumberland Community School 145113 Secondary December Good

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grade

Chiswick School 137907 Secondary June 2019 Good The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial Roman Catholic School 141931 Secondary September Outstanding

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grade

Blundell’s School 878/6012 (DfE number) Secondary January 2019 Excellent (Independent Schools Inspectorate) The Suthers School 144768 Secondary June 2021 Not previously inspected Essa Academy 135770 Secondary September Good

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St Gregory’s 142560 Secondary September Outstanding

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Little Lever School 142296 Secondary June 2021 Requires Improvement 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 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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