Future Horizons Leeds Ltd

Future Horizons Leeds Limited Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Jacquie Brown, Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent specialist college

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Address:

2 Wyther Lane Kirkstall Leeds LS5 3BT Monitoring visit: Future Horizons Leeds Limited, 20 and 21 July 2022

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Context and focus of visit

From autumn 2019, Ofsted undertook to carry out monitoring visits to independent specialist colleges newly Education and Skills Funding Agency-funded from August 2018 onwards. This monitoring visit was undertaken as part of those arrangements and as outlined in the ‘Further education and skills inspection handbook’, especially the sections entitled ‘Monitoring visits’ and ‘Monitoring visits to providers that are newly directly publicly funded’. The focus of these visits is on the themes set out below.

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Context and focus of visit

Future Horizons Leeds Limited is an independent specialist college in Leeds. It began receiving funding in May 2021 for learners with high needs between the ages of 19 and 25. At the time of the monitoring visit, there were 19 learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties, complex learning and communication needs, severe learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties and autism spectrum disorder. Learners study at two sites in the city and follow one of four pathways to prepare them for adulthood. The college does not subcontract any of its provision.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers have a clear rationale for the curriculum that they provide for learners. They offer four pathways: sensory and communication, towards life skills, embedding life skills and towards employment. Each pathway has a clear curriculum intent. For example, learners on the sensory and communication pathway focus on developing communication and interaction skills.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers have been too slow to recruit suitably qualified staff. Appropriate staff are now in place, but staff in key posts only started at the college very recently. Although leaders and managers have provided useful training to staff, this training does not have sufficient focus on enabling staff to understand how to evaluate learning or how to recognise and record learners’ progress and achievement. Leaders and managers recognise this, and they have scheduled training to enhance staff skills in these areas.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers do not provide learners with sufficient high-quality work experience or work-related and voluntary activities. They do not provide learners with sufficient specialist careers information, advice and guidance to support learners Monitoring visit: Future Horizons Leeds Limited, 20 and 21 July 2022 to plan their next steps. Consequently, learners, parents and carers are not fully informed about opportunities, and learners are not fully prepared for life after college.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of the quality of the provision or the progress that learners make. They recognise this, and have developed an appropriate schedule of activities for the next academic year to check the quality of the programmes and the progress of learners.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers use high-needs funding effectively for most learners. For example, they provide small group sessions and one-to-one support for learners. However, a few learners do not routinely have access to the devices that they need to communicate their wants and needs. Leaders and managers do not consistently source therapies in a timely manner. As a result, a few learners are not able to express any concerns that they may have.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers have worked closely with the local authority to respond to the demand for educational provision in the city for learners with high needs aged 19 to 25. There is a particular need in the city for this provision for learners with complex and profound needs.

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Insufficient progress

Teachers do not identify learners’ starting points accurately enough. They do not review learners’ education, health and care plans or complete an initial and diagnostic assessment of learners’ needs well enough. Teachers focus too much on discussing learners’ likes and dislikes rather than assessing what learners can and cannot do. As a result, they do not implement appropriately designed and sequenced curriculum plans that are sufficiently linked to learning outcomes recorded in learners’ personal learning plans.

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Insufficient progress

Teachers do not identify learning outcomes for learners that are specific enough. In a few cases, learning outcomes are not age-appropriate, referencing terminology such as ‘toys’ and ‘hide and seek’. Consequently, teachers do not evaluate learning sufficiently well. They measure progress against targets that are too broad and do not consistently recognise or celebrate the small, incremental steps that learners make in improving their knowledge, skills and behaviours.

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Insufficient progress

Teachers too often record progress in terms of taking part in or completing tasks rather than evaluating what learners have learned. For example, in music lessons, teachers Monitoring visit: Future Horizons Leeds Limited, 20 and 21 July 2022 cannot explain how learning activities relate to individual learning targets. Learners are not aware what they have learned or what they need to do to improve.

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Insufficient progress

Too many teachers do not use effective teaching strategies to support learners to understand key concepts. For example, in cookery sessions teachers do not break instructions into small or manageable steps.

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Insufficient progress

Most teachers provide effective support to learners to improve their English and mathematical skills. They integrate these subjects well in lessons so that learners can use them in context. For example, learners on the towards life skills pathway are taught to count out baking ingredients accurately. However, teachers do not track or record the progress of learners well enough. Consequently, they do not know whether learners are improving their English and mathematical skills quickly enough.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders have not ensured that teachers have the appropriate skills to teach learners with complex needs effectively about safeguarding issues, including the risks of radicalisation and extremism. As a result, too many of these learners do not have an appropriate understanding of the potential risks that they may face at college and in the community.

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Insufficient progress

In too many cases, staff do not write risk assessments for learners that accurately identify risks and effective strategies to help minimise potential risks. They complete risk assessments of off-site activities that are too generic and do not include the level of detail required. For example, they do not assess the risk of learners’ crossing busy roads when visiting activity centres.

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Insufficient progress

The designated safeguarding lead and deputies have appropriate experience and have carried out relevant training to be effective their roles. Leaders and managers have appropriate policies and procedures in place to keep learners safe. They implement safe recruitment processes to ensure that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable adults.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders and managers work closely with external partners and agencies to safeguard learners, including the local authority Prevent coordinator, the local authority safeguarding adults board and the police. They refer safeguarding concerns to external agencies when appropriate. Monitoring visit: Future Horizons Leeds Limited, 20 and 21 July 2022 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

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Insufficient progress

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Insufficient progress

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Insufficient progress

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Insufficient progress

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

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