Alpha Care Agency Limited

Alpha Care Agency Limited Report following a monitoring visit to a ‘requires improvement’ provider

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Name of lead inspector: Peter Cox, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Type of provider: Independent learning provider

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Address: Tottenham Town Hall Town Hall Approach London N15 4RY Monitoring visit: Alpha Care Agency Limited, 18 October 2022

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Context and focus of visit

Alpha Care Agency Limited, trading under the name Alpha Gateway College (AGC), was inspected in September 2021. At that time, inspectors judged the overall effectiveness of the provision to require improvement.

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Context and focus of visit

The focus of this monitoring visit was to evaluate the progress that leaders and managers have made in addressing the main areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection.

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Context and focus of visit

AGC is an independent learning provider based in the London Borough of Haringey. AGC specialises in apprenticeships and adult courses, predominantly within the health and care sector. At the time of the inspection, 66 apprentices were on framework apprenticeships at level 2 and 3 children’s care, learning and development and level 5 care leadership and management. A further 134 apprentices were on standards-based apprenticeships in health and social care from level 2 to level 5. Of these, 77 apprentices were studying the level 3 lead adult care worker and 27 were studying the level 5 leader in adult care. There were a further 109 loans-funded learners, mostly on health care or business management courses.

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Reasonable progress

Since the previous inspection, leaders have quickly improved their enrolment processes so that apprentices and learners now have better opportunities to disclose any barriers to their learning. Trainers assess apprentices’ and learners’ starting points carefully. As a result, they have a reasonable understanding of apprentices’ and learners’ individual learning needs.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers use information about apprentices’ and learners’ individual needs to plan and adapt teaching. For example, they make sensible changes to assessment where apprentices and learners do not speak English as their first language. Trainers use different teaching strategies and questioning styles to support learners with additional needs well. Consequently, these apprentices and learners make as good progress as their peers. Monitoring visit: Alpha Care Agency Limited, 18 October 2022 Trainers are quick to adapt teaching to accommodate instances where apprentices and learners face unexpected life challenges. In these small number of cases, trainers provide a range of effective support and help. As such, apprentices and learners benefit from support that enables them to overcome barriers, stay motivated and achieve their qualifications.

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Insufficient progress

Since the previous inspection, leaders have made sensible enhancements to their governing body. They have strengthened the governing body by including more governors who are experienced and qualified specialists in health and social care. Governors understand their roles in supporting leaders to improve the quality of training. However, inexperienced governors do not benefit from training which helps them to undertake their duties.

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Insufficient progress

Leaders do not ensure that governors have access to key information about the quality of training. As a result, where issues have been identified, governors have not been able to intervene in a timely or successful manner. For example, leaders have been too slow in ensuring a significant number of apprentices complete their courses by their planned end dates. For a few apprentices, this has resulted in difficulty applying for promotion or employment. Leaders do not provide governors with detailed information about this concern. Consequently, governors are not able to appropriately challenge leaders to resolve this issue.

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Insufficient progress

Governors have a limited understanding of the quality of education across the organisation. While governors complete work reviews and lesson visits, leaders do not provide them with sufficient information about the overall effectiveness of training. Subsequently, governors are unable to support and challenge leaders to improve the quality of education and training effectively.

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Reasonable progress

Trainers benefit from good quality professional development opportunities, which help them to improve their teaching. For example, all trainers recently completed training on how to give effective feedback to apprentices and learners. They have successfully applied their knowledge of giving effective feedback and, as a result, apprentices’ work improves over time. They now feel more confident about how to structure essays, use source material and reference work appropriately. Trainers understand how to use different forms of questioning to test apprentices’ and learners’ understanding, and to encourage greater depth of answers. Monitoring visit: Alpha Care Agency Limited, 18 October 2022 Trainers use their improved understanding of teaching to plan well-structured teaching sessions, which helps apprentices and learners to make good progress. For example, trainers demonstrate to apprentices working in care homes how to

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Reasonable progress

communicate effectively with patients with dementia. Learners become adept at creating care plans for children, taking into account their health and well-being, nutrition and physical abilities.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders do not check that all staff’s training records are up to date. This limits the ability of leaders to fully evaluate the impact of staff training on the quality of education. Monitoring visit: Alpha Care Agency Limited, 18 October 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 and child protection.

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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

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