Mid Somerset Consortium for Teacher Training

Mid Somerset Consortium for Teacher Training MSC, Crispin School, Church Road, Street, Somerset BA16 0AD

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Inspection dates 6 February to 9 February 2023

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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 Requires Improvement

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

The Mid Somerset Consortium provides trainees with a teacher training experience that is shaped to their experience and personal circumstances. Leaders listen to trainees’ views. Trainees feel well supported. They appreciate the opportunity to qualify as teachers by working in local schools.

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

Across the partnership, there is a shared commitment to developing trainees as experts in their subjects. The programme is well organised and coherent. Leaders and school-based staff work together well to help trainees apply what they learn in theory to their classroom practice.

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

There is a culture of professional learning in which trainees engage with research and ideas in their specialist subject. Trainees build a repertoire of teaching approaches. They understand the evidence underpinning the pedagogies they learn about. Consequently, they are well prepared for their early careers as teachers. School leaders see this as a strength of the programme.

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

Trainees understand their wider professional responsibilities, such as safeguarding. They know why some pupils find learning difficult and how they can help. Trainees learn how to preserve their own well-being. They learn how to manage their own workload, for example by using assessment wisely.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ The Mid Somerset Consortium provides teacher training for the secondary phase (11 to 16). ◼ There are 21 trainees enrolled in the 2022/23 academic year. ◼ There are 19 schools in the partnership. Most were judged to be good at their most recent Ofsted inspection. ◼ The partnership offers the following routes: School Direct (salaried), School Direct (fees), school-centred initial teacher training, apprenticeships and assessment only. Trainees also have the option to complete a postgraduate certificate in education. At the time of inspection, there were no trainees following the apprenticeship or assessment-only routes.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by two of His Majesty’s Inspectors. ◼ Inspectors met with senior leaders from the SCITT. They also held meetings with members of the management board (SCITT governors), headteachers from partnership schools, Initial Teacher Training Coordinators (senior staff in schools with responsibility for Initial Teacher Education), subject leaders and school-based mentors. ◼ Inspectors carried out focused reviews in English, geography and science. ◼ Inspectors visited five partnership schools in person and conducted focused review activities with a further school remotely. They met with 19 trainees and five early career teachers (ECTs). Inspectors reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s surveys for staff and trainees. ◼ Inspectors visited centre-based training and viewed samples of provider and trainee documents.

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better?

The Mid Somerset Consortium (MSC) curriculum is ambitious. Subject-specific training builds on the pertinent research that trainees study. Consequently, they can apply what they have learned to the subject that they are training to teach. The curriculum meets the requirements of the Department for Education’s core content framework. The curriculum is well-matched to trainees’ needs and supports their development during school placements. For example, an early focus on behaviour management in centre-based training means trainees use a range of approaches to secure good behaviour from pupils. Staff who lead centre-based subject training have the expertise they need. They develop the subject-specific knowledge that trainees need. However, trainees do not always fully understand the uniqueness and breadth of knowledge in the particular subjects they are preparing to teach. Leaders provide high-quality information and training to school-based staff. Consequently,

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better?

most subject mentors and school-based leaders have a comprehensive understanding of the ITE curriculum and can support trainees to put what they have learned into practice. A few school-based staff do not understand the ITE curriculum well enough, particularly the research that informs it. MSC leaders identify when trainees are not getting the quality of support that they should in school. However, they do not always improve this as promptly as they could. The ongoing assessment of trainees is against the curriculum that MSC leaders have designed. The targets set for trainees now help them to know exactly what they are working on and how this links to their overall development. ECTs say that the assessment at the end of the course helped them to understand their strengths and weaknesses as they began their teaching careers. Leaders check the quality of all aspects of the programme. They know their partner

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better?

schools very well and seek their views in reviewing their curriculum to ensure it is well aligned to local needs. Headteachers speak highly of the quality of the ECTs that the MSC provides and see it as an invaluable part of the educational landscape in Somerset. There are strong relationships between centre-based staff and trainees. Trainees feel able to raise any concerns they have with course leaders. Both centre- and school-based staff provide the professional and personal support they need. There is a strong focus on the well-being of trainees and they learn specific skills to help them manage their workloads throughout the course and into their careers.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ Some areas of the curriculum do not cover the full scope and breadth of the subject that trainees are learning to teach. As a result, some trainees do not fully develop the richness of knowledge within their subjects. Leaders need to ensure that trainees develop a wider understanding of the breadth of their chosen specialisms. ◼ The quality of support that a minority of trainees receive while on school placements is not consistently strong. Consequently, some trainees cannot consolidate and develop their understanding of all aspects of the ITE curriculum in their school placement as fully as they might. Leaders need to ensure that they act promptly to bring about improvement in the small proportion of placements where school-based training is not strong enough.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70231 Inspection number 10249842

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ITE provider details

This inspection was carried out in accordance with the ‘Initial teacher education inspection framework and handbook’.

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ITE provider details

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 Secondary Date of previous inspection 14 February to 17 February 2022

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Inspection team

Sarah Favager-Dalton, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Lydia Pride His Majesty’s Inspector

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Annex: Placement schools

Inspectors visited the following schools as part of this inspection:

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Name URN ITE phase

Crispin School Academy 136913 Secondary King Arthur’s School 147016 Secondary Robert Blake Science College 123878 Secondary Stanchester Academy 137080 Secondary The Gryphon School 138471 Secondary West Somerset College 136791 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 phase

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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-

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Name URN ITE phase

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Name URN ITE phase

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Name URN ITE phase

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

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