Farleigh Further Education College - Frome

Farleigh Further Education College Reinspection monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Tracey Zimmerman, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 September 2022

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Type of provider: Independent specialist college

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Address: North Parade Frome Somerset BA11 2AB Monitoring visit: Farleigh Further Education College, 21 and 22 September 2022

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Context and focus of visit

This is the first reinspection monitoring visit to Farleigh Further Education college following publication of the inspection report on 6 May 2022 which found the provider to be inadequate overall. The effectiveness of leadership and management, the quality of education, personal development and behaviour and attitudes were inadequate.

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Context and focus of visit

Farleigh Further Education College (FFEC) is an independent specialist residential college owned by Aspris Children’s Services. It offers provision for young people with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, including pervasive development disorder or Asperger syndrome traits. Students often have other complex needs. All students are in receipt of funding for high needs.

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Reasonable progress

Most of the college’s current senior leadership and management team have been appointed since the previous inspection. The previous leadership team is no longer at the college. The college’s new team now includes an executive headteacher, two deputies and a director with responsibility for governance.

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Reasonable progress

The new team has brought a renewed focus, direction and expertise to all aspects of quality improvement at the college. Working closely and collaboratively, the team has concentrated on action planning for comprehensive improvement to the quality of the provision. As part of this, they have made rapid and correct assessments of what needs to improve, and how that will be achieved. Their assessment includes identifying fundamental weaknesses in the strategic and operational aspects of the provision. However, the team has only very recently begun to implement a wide range of new systems and processes, including a quality improvement cycle. Consequently, the impacts of these improvement actions are, for the most part, negligible.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have reviewed thoroughly whether their working links with two external colleges of further education are providing consistently good outcomes for students. As a result, they have ended one link and retained the other. They have also retained a relationship with an external training provider. Monitoring visit: Farleigh Further Education College, 21 and 22 September 2022 Leaders have taken robust action to ensure that the curriculum offer is what students need. They have closed some provision and ended services which do not add value to the students’ learning, their life skills or the progress they make. While focusing strongly on improving the provision as it stands, the new leadership and management team has ambitious plans for the future of the college.

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Reasonable progress

The team has identified rightly that the college, as currently constituted, does not meet the best interests and needs of certain cohorts of students with high needs, not least in respect of the vocational courses offered. While plans are not yet in place for the college’s future or its location, leaders are working on the assumption that they will maintain the current provision over the next two years while progressively implementing a new strategy.

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Reasonable progress

The new senior leadership team have devised a curriculum that includes developing students’ independent living, personal and social skills. Curriculum topics include the acceptance of others, identifying needs and child-on-child abuse.

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Reasonable progress

At the beginning of the course, students participate in a six-week assessment programme, which helps to identify what they know and can do. Tutors use this information on their starting points and the targets identified in their education, health and care plans to devise a curriculum suitable for each student.

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Reasonable progress

Students receive information from staff which provides them with a thorough introduction to the college. This includes learning about the repurposed building, safeguarding procedures, expectations for behaviour and attendance and how to produce an initial career plan.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have developed a comprehensive staff training plan, which focuses on improving staff’s teaching skills. Leaders use set dates for training to address the staff development needs that are identified as a result of quality assurance activities, such as visits to lessons and the scrutiny of learner work. Senior leaders have recognised rightly that some staff require more intensive support and provide them with weekly sessions to help plan and prepare their teaching.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have recognised rightly that the specialist therapy required by students to help them to access the curriculum is yet to be provided to all. This is because leaders have been unable to obtain the services of fully trained staff. However, plans are in place to address this, and leaders are working with a local university to provide placement opportunities for year 3 occupational therapists. Monitoring visit: Farleigh Further Education College, 21 and 22 September 2022 Students benefit from employability training that enables them to explore various careers and receive ongoing careers guidance. Tutors are also supporting students to find and participate in appropriate work placements based on their career interests. However, the impact of these recent changes to the curriculum content are yet to be seen.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders are passionate that students study an appropriately challenging curriculum, which enable them to make the expected progress towards achieving their goals and learning new skills, knowledge and behaviours. Staff are supporting those students whose needs cannot be met fully, to find alternative, appropriate education, training or employment.

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Reasonable progress

Immediately after the previous inspection, senior leaders appointed new staff to oversee and manage safeguarding at the college. These members of staff are appropriately qualified and bring a range of relevant knowledge and experience to the college, such as residential care management.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders identify promptly lessons to be learned from previous safeguarding incidents and put in place actions to help continually improve the safeguarding arrangements.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have made changes at the college to help students to feel safe, and to know who and how to report their concerns.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers seek students’ feedback on all aspects of college life, including feeling safe. They use a range of methods to obtain information, such as questionnaires, the student council and keyworker discussions. Leaders use their findings to shape the support offered to students.

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Reasonable progress

Staff take part in comprehensive and regular safeguarding training. Leaders have developed a training curriculum for staff that includes topics such as how to recognise sexual harm and child-on-child abuse, a young person-centred approach to support, staying safe online and improving their understanding of the LGBTQ+ student community. Although leaders check staff understanding of these topics at the end of each term, staff are not provided with feedback and are unable to use it to identify and address their gaps in knowledge.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders recognise rightly that the safeguarding culture at the college requires further development so that all learners are confident that staff will respond promptly to their concerns. Monitoring visit: Farleigh Further Education College, 21 and 22 September 2022

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Reasonable progress

Senior leaders have very recently implemented comprehensive new governance arrangements for FFEC. As a result, it is not yet possible to judge whether these arrangements will provide senior leaders with the information they need and in sufficient depth to monitor the quality of education and students’ progress. However, directors’ oversight of the college has been thorough and frequent since the previous inspection.

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Reasonable progress

Senior leaders’ revised arrangements are part of a new corporate approach to performance management at the college, schools and care settings in the Aspris group. The approach is based on a senior leader’s weekly, monthly and termly review of performance data reported through the framework of carefully structured meetings. The senior leader in turn reports to the Aspris chief operating officer. As such, the approach is, at least initially, about performance management rather than strategic-level governance. Nonetheless, senior leaders intend to use the data reported to hold college leaders and managers to account. Monitoring visit: Farleigh Further Education College, 21 and 22 September 2022 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for students of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family

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Reasonable progress

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.

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Reasonable progress

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