GLF Schools' Teacher Training

GLF Schools’ Teacher Training GLF Schools c/o The Beacon School, Picquets Way, Banstead, SM7 1AG

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Inspection judgements

Primary and secondary age-phase combined

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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 Good

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

Trainees and headteachers of partnership schools rate GLF Schools’ Teacher Training (GLF STT) highly. Trainees benefit from learning within a tight-knit partnership that produces high-quality, effective teachers that are able to meet the needs of pupils in partnership schools and beyond. Trainees particularly value the flexible ways that leaders and mentors adapt training to meet their needs.

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

Skilled professionals support trainees to develop the knowledge and skills to teach successfully in their phases and subjects. Trainees in the primary phase learn about the importance of early reading and gain insight into phonics programmes. Leaders’ initial focus on safeguarding, behaviour management and relationships are revisited and refined through the year. This underpins trainees’ developing expertise in the classroom. Trainees are taught how to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This work is not as well integrated into school-based training (SBT) as other areas.

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

Communication between trainees, mentors and leaders is typically very strong. Leaders’ new format for training workbooks and resources helps to ensure that everyone knows who is responsible for what. Trainees value how course leaders, mentors and school leaders support their workload and well-being. Course leaders regularly seek trainees’ views, acting on them when necessary.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ GLF STT is a school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) provider, offering postgraduate primary (5 to 11 years) and secondary (11 to 16 years) training. The head office is based at The Beacon School in Banstead, and training is delivered through partnership schools. ◼ The SCITT offers two training routes: School Direct (salaried) and self-funded. Currently, most trainees are self-funded. Trainees who successfully complete their training are recommended for qualified teacher status and most achieve a Postgraduate Certificate of Education by completing work with St Mary’s University. ◼ There are 64 trainees enrolled on various programmes this academic year. The partnership is overseen by the GLF Schools multi-academy trust (MAT). The chief executive officer of the MAT is the accounting officer. ◼ The partnership currently works with 53 schools. Partner schools include a mix of junior schools, primary schools and secondary schools. Nearly all of the schools were

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Information about this ITE provider

judged as good or better at their last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

◼ This inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and an Ofsted inspector. ◼ Inspectors met with the SCITT leaders and subject leaders. Meetings were also held with members of the executive board (including the accounting officer), partnership headteachers and a representative of St Mary’s University. Meetings were a combination of face-to-face and online. Inspectors also reviewed training resources and one inspector visited an online training session. ◼ Inspectors spoke to 22 trainees and their mentors in online meetings or during school visits. ◼ Focused reviews were conducted in early reading, history, physical education and science. Inspectors met with subject leads, scrutinised course documents and visited six schools to talk with senior leaders, mentors and trainees. Inspectors reviewed evidence of trainees’ learning and, where possible, observed them teaching the subject being reviewed.

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Information about this inspection

◼ Inspectors considered 15 responses to the trainee survey and 65 staff survey returns.

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better?

Leaders have refined their programme significantly since the last inspection in 2018, including embedding primary-phase training. Recently GLF leaders have invested a herculean effort to redesign their curriculum. It is now well sequenced and structured around seven core strands carefully woven through the workbooks trainees use for professional studies, subject learning and assessment. Each strand is introduced, applied and systematically revisited so that the provision fully meets, and exceeds, the requirements of the core content framework. Leaders’ well-organised curriculum design aids better integration between core training and trainees’ experience in schools and provides a good structure for the ongoing assessment of trainees. Leaders know their trainees well as individuals. They ensure that school placements provide trainees with opportunities to apply their knowledge and develop it in contrasting

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better?

contexts. Regular monitoring of trainees’ knowledge and skills allows leaders to flexibly adapt provision as required. This encourages trainees to become knowledgeable, reflective practitioners who are well prepared for their future careers.

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better?

Primary trainees learn how to teach early reading, including phonics, confidently and with increasing competence. Trainees experience planned opportunities to work with different expert colleagues in their SBT to develop and hone their skills.

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better?

GLF STT offers a strong team of phase and subject experts. Additional contributions are provided by external experts for parts of the course, including how pupils learn and provision for pupils with SEND. Trainees find their training on how pupils learn very helpful and typically apply this well in schools. Their knowledge about provision for pupils with SEND is not as coherently integrated into their SBT as other areas of the ITE curriculum.

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better?

Leaders have high expectations for the role of mentors. Subject leads, school leaders and mentors are offered training and regular newsletters from GLF leaders to help them implement the curriculum. Leaders have been creative this year by offering remote training and ensuring recorded materials are available to support anyone to catch up when required. However, not all mentors and trainers have fully absorbed and adopted the key messages. A few do not have a sufficiently in-depth and secure understanding of the partnership’s curriculum. Consequently, they haven’t understood and applied the seven core strands as well as most in the partnership do. Leaders are taking suitable actions to address these areas of inconsistency.

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better?

Headteachers are fulsome in their praise for the quality of provision and how well it prepares trainees for a long-term career in teaching. School leaders from across the partnership are represented on the various boards and committees and are involved in self-evaluation processes. Those with oversight of strategic governance are kept well informed through suitably robust quality assurance systems and reports from leaders and external moderators. This helps them challenge and support GLF STT leaders to make continuous ongoing improvements.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ A minority of trainers and mentors have not absorbed the training for their role in enough detail. These trainers and mentors do not apply the SCITT’s programme in sufficient detail when constructing and delivering their work with trainees. This has led to some inconsistencies across placements and/or subjects. Consequently, some trainees miss chances to strengthen and deepen their subject and professional knowledge. Programme leaders should continue with their work to ensure that all mentors and trainers reliably implement the intended ITE curriculum, in line with the best practice across the partnership. ◼ Trainees learn about adaptive teaching and how to provide effective support for pupils with SEND. However, the application of these training materials in trainees’ school settings is inconsistent. Targets set for trainees that are linked to SEND provision need to reflect fidelity to the planned curriculum. All trainees need regular opportunities to

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

deepen their knowledge and hone their skills in school and be better prepared to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

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comply with the ITE compliance criteria?

◼ The partnership meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70369 Inspection number 10230357

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ITE provider details

This inspection was carried out in accordance with the ‘Initial teacher education inspection framework and handbook’. This framework and handbook sets 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 and secondary combined Date of previous inspection 16 May and 14 November 2018

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Inspection team

Matthew Newberry, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Abbie Wilkinson Ofsted Inspector Lucy English Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Annex: Placement schools and colleges

Inspectors visited the following schools as part of this inspection:

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Name URN ITE phases

Cuddington Croft Primary School 141447 Primary Danetree Primary School 138764 Primary Warlingham Village Primary School 139916 Primary de Stafford School 143808 Secondary Glyn School 136534 Secondary Rosebery School 137736 Secondary 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 phases

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Name URN ITE phases

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Name URN ITE phases

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Name URN ITE phases

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

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