Gateshead Primary SCITT

Gateshead Primary SCITT Lobley Hill Primary School, Rothbury Gardens, Gateshead NE11 0AT

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education and training Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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

Trainees are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of their course. The programme equips them well for their future careers as teachers. One trainee summed up the collective view in saying, ‘The SCITT programme has given me amazing guidance and support to flourish as a trainee teacher. The course is hard, but they support you every step of the way. I couldn’t have asked for a better programme.’

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

Training is of a consistently high quality. Professional tutors and school-based mentors in placement schools skilfully build on central training. They seamlessly enable trainees to apply what they have learned.

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

The programme prepares trainees extremely well to teach early reading and phonics. The content of this module is planned and sequenced with precision. Trainees gain an accurate understanding and knowledge of this and other subjects.

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

Provider and school-based staff provide very effective pastoral care. Consequently, trainees are thoroughly supported throughout their course. They learn to manage their workload.

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

Leaders ensure that trainees are introduced to important knowledge about identifying and meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and inclusion at an early stage in the course. Well-considered content is expertly woven throughout the course. A specific placement in a school with a particular specialism in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND is greatly valued by trainees.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ There are currently 25 trainees. All are being trained in the primary age-phase, with 10 following the age three-to-seven age-range route, and 15 following the five-to-11 age- range route. ◼ All trainees follow the qualified teacher status with Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) route. The PGCE element of the course is accredited by Northumbria University at Newcastle. ◼ The SCITT offers a fee-paid route. It does not offer a salaried route. ◼ The provider works with 19 schools across three local authorities. Trainees are currently placed in 12 of these schools. Eight of these schools are classed as consortium schools within the Gateshead Primary SCITT organisation. ◼ The Ofsted inspection judgements of the partner schools that have trainees on placements this year range from outstanding to requires improvement.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and one Ofsted Inspector. ◼ The inspectors met with the programme leader who is the headteacher of the lead school. Inspectors also met with the lead school’s deputy headteachers, who are senior leaders at Gateshead Primary SCITT. ◼ Inspectors met with the business manager, members of the management committee, professional tutors, school-based mentors and headteachers of the four schools visited as part of focused reviews. ◼ An inspector had a meeting with Gateshead Primary SCITT’s university link tutor from Northumbria University at Newcastle. ◼ Inspectors visited four primary schools. On these, they visited trainees’ lessons and held discussions with headteachers, professional tutors, mentors, trainees, early career teachers (ECTs) and recently qualified teachers (RQTs). ◼ Inspectors conducted focused reviews in early reading, art, humanities and physical

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Information about this inspection

education (PE) in the primary phase. Further consideration was also given to mathematics. ◼ Inspectors spoke to 24 trainees, several headteacher employers, seven ECTs and nine RQTs. ◼ Inspectors considered responses to the online questionnaires for trainees and staff. ◼ Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents, including curriculum module handbooks, partnership policies, self-evaluation documents, development plans and the minutes of meetings of the management committee.

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better?

Recently, leaders have carefully reviewed their three-to-seven age-range and five-to-11 age-range training programmes. Their curriculum for trainees ensures that all aspects of the core content framework are included and enjoy thorough coverage. Leaders, tutors and mentors skilfully bring together content taught centrally with training delivered in placement schools. The initial teacher education (ITE) curriculum is ambitious and coherent. It gives trainees a solid grounding for their chosen careers.

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better?

Trainees quickly gain confidence in teaching reading and mathematics and in the skills of being an effective teacher. For example, trainees learn about building positive relationships and this helps in their management of behaviour. They are well prepared to teach early reading using systematic synthetic phonics. Trainees are equally well prepared to teach the foundation subjects, including art and design, geography, history and PE.

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better?

The school-based mentors are well supported by partnership staff and professional tutors. These staff are instrumental in ensuring a consistently effective experience for trainees. Leaders’ exacting and rigorous processes are key to this being successful. For instance, there are careful checks on the quality of placement experiences and trainees engage in meaningful evaluations of the course at key points.

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better?

Leaders ensure that trainees develop the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Training sessions and opportunities to apply learning in practice are woven throughout the course. A short placement, which is dedicated to inclusivity, is grounded in solid research about what works well for pupils with SEND. This placement leads to trainees presenting their newly gained knowledge and understanding to their peers and the headteachers of partnership schools. Trainees speak with confidence about the adaptations for pupils that they make in their daily practice. They are passionate that they can make a difference to each child’s life.

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better?

There is a clear culture of rich, professional dialogue between trainees, mentors and tutors that is both reflective and developmental. Mentors support trainees to identify next steps, focusing on the precise detail that is necessary so that trainees fully understand what they need to do to improve their practice. However, in the formal processes set by the provider, there is a lack of clarity in how much evidence should be collected. Consequently, trainees spend time unnecessarily gathering detailed evidence early in their course. Leaders have recognised that this aspect of assessment needs further work, and it features in their existing plans for improvement.

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better?

Leaders use internal and external insights to develop a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT). This information is increasingly used to secure improvements for trainees. Members of the management committee have an overview of the provider’s effectiveness and provide some challenge to leaders. However, there are some aspects of the provider’s work that are not routinely reviewed by the management committee. The committee has not provided sufficient challenge to leaders on the speed with which some improvement priorities are addressed.

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(Information for the partnership and appropriate authority)

◼ Mentors and professional tutors ensure that there is rich conversation with trainees to support them in considering their next steps to become competent and reflective teachers. However, the expectations of the provider’s assessment processes lack clarity. These are not sufficiently mindful of trainees’ workload in quantifying and demonstrating attainment and progress. As a result, some trainees spend time gathering extensive evidence, even at early stages of their training. Leaders should accelerate their plans to review assessment processes, giving suitable consideration to trainees’ workload, and ensuring that the provider’s expectations are understood by all stakeholders. ◼ There are inconsistencies in the extent to which the management committee has oversight of the work of the SCITT and holds SCITT leaders to account. For example, while correctly focusing on the immediate experience of trainees, it has given less

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(Information for the partnership and appropriate authority)

attention to its own self-evaluation and the subsequent pace of improvement planning. Leaders should review the roles and responsibilities of all partners, as set out in the partnership agreement, to ensure that the management committee provides robust support and challenge to SCITT leaders.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70161 Inspection number 10220243 This inspection was carried out 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 School-centred initial teacher training Phases provided Primary Date of previous inspection 25 to 28 November 2013

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Inspection team

Marcus Newby, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector

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Annex: Placement schools

Inspectors visited the following schools and colleges as part of this inspection:

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Name URN ITE phase(s)

Dunston Hill Community Primary School 108338 Primary Kells Lane Primary School 131106 Primary Lobley Hill Primary School 108369 Primary St Mary & St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School, Blaydon 149052 Primary 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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Name URN ITE phase(s)

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Name URN ITE phase(s)

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Name URN ITE phase(s)

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Name URN ITE phase(s)

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

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