Stourport SCITT

The Stourport SCITT c/o SAET, Wyre Forest House, Finepoint Way, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 7WF

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Inspection dates 6 February to 9 February 2023

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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 are proud to be part of this supportive and close-knit partnership. They feel respected and valued and appreciate that staff want them to thrive and flourish. Trainees explained that the high levels of support and guidance, coupled with an ambitious ITE curriculum, help them achieve well. This ensures trainees cultivate the professional attributes expected of teachers and prepares them well for the rigours of the profession. One trainee summed this up saying, ‘The SCITT is enabling me to achieve my dream job.’

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

Trainees acquire the knowledge needed to confidently teach in their subject and phase. This happens through a largely cohesive and interconnected curriculum. Trainees develop their understanding of pedagogy and practice over time. As part of the curriculum, they revisit and extend their knowledge through their experiences in school. For instance, trainees build on the fundamentals of managing behaviour by learning about character development. They are well prepared to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders thread this through the programme rather than teaching the knowledge discretely at a set point. Leaders ensure that trainees secure the knowledge needed to teach early reading. This includes phonics teaching.

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

Trainees learn how to manage their workload and take care of their own well-being. They learn about their role in promoting pupils’ physical and mental health. Alongside this, they learn about the importance of safeguarding pupils.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ There are 21 trainees in this academic year. There are nine trainees in the secondary phase and 12 in the primary phase. ◼ This school-centred initial teacher training provider (SCITT) has 15 partner schools. Partner schools consist of nine primary schools and six secondary schools. ◼ All trainees who complete their programme achieve a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. Primary phase trainees qualify to teach ages five to 11. Secondary phase trainees qualify to teach ages 11 to 18. ◼ The Ofsted inspection judgements of the partner schools that have placed trainees this year range from outstanding to requires improvement.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by two of His Majesty’s Inspectors and one Ofsted inspector. ◼ Inspectors spoke with a range of staff and partners, including, the chief executive officer of the Severn Academies Educational Trust, the SCITT executive board chair, the SCITT director and other SCITT leaders, mentors, trust improvement leads, expert colleagues, professional tutors and senior leaders of schools involved in the partnership. ◼ Inspectors conducted focused reviews in early reading, mathematics, geography and science in the primary phase and science, modern foreign language, geography and history in the secondary phase. ◼ Inspectors visited three secondary schools and four primary schools. On these visits, they visited trainees’ lessons, observed learning coach feedback and held discussions with professional tutors, learning coaches and trainees. ◼ Inspectors communicated with staff or trainees at eight primary schools and five

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Information about this inspection

secondary schools during the inspection. ◼ In total, inspectors spoke to 14 primary and secondary trainees, 10 early careers teachers and 12 mentors. ◼ Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted surveys for staff and trainees that were completed during the inspection. Inspectors met with leaders to check the partnership’s conformity with the ITE compliance criteria and looked at records of safeguarding checks. ◼ Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents, including curriculum plans, partnership policies, self-evaluation documents and development plans

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better?

Leaders have crafted an ambitious and comprehensive curriculum. They have underpinned this curriculum with relevant research. The curriculum exceeds the scope of the DfE’s core content framework. Leaders have spaced the centre-based ‘core curriculum weeks’ across the year and these form the bedrock of the curriculum. Each of these weeks shines a ‘spotlight’ on a pertinent aspect of teaching. Leaders integrate this spotlight across all aspects of the curriculum, and this is further enhanced by the work of mentors, subject experts and independent research tasks that trainees complete. Leaders have designed this so that each spotlight links to trainees’ prior learning rather than being a series of disconnected foci. As a result, trainees develop a knowledge of the interplay between the different facets of teaching as they progress through the year. For instance, trainees successfully link their learning on behaviour management and cognitive science to

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better?

effective adaptive classroom practice to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

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better?

Leaders have designed the curriculum so that trainees’ placement-based work and subject- specific sessions align with, and complement, their centre-based learning. They have recruited dedicated and skilled mentors and subject experts to facilitate this. However, leaders have not ensured that all of these key staff have precise knowledge of what trainees are learning. This means that some mentoring focuses too much on the broad objectives of each spotlight rather than the detail that sits underneath. As a result, some targets set for trainees do not focus on the ‘nitty gritty’ of their learning. In addition to this, subject experts’ sessions do not always integrate the detailed learning from the core curriculum weeks and wider subject-specific thinking as well as they might. This hinders the development of trainees’ subject-teaching knowledge.

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better?

Leaders prepare trainees well to teach early reading. Trainees benefit from well-thought- through, centre-based learning. This is linked to their placement-based learning. In addition, trainees learn how to deliver a validated phonics programme.

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better?

Leaders have considered the processes used to continually check trainees’ learning. They employ a plethora of tools to do so. These include research-based spotlight tasks, learning logs, trainee presentations and discussions with mentors. This enables leaders to provide support to trainees when needed. This is most effective when leaders and mentors assess against the curricular detail, rather than the broader high-level objectives.

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better?

Leaders work effectively with schools across the partnership. School leaders are actively involved in the SCITT. They recognise the quality of the trainees that it produces. This collaborative working significantly enhances trainees’ experiences. It contributes to their learning and helps to develop their practice. Many trainees find employment within the partnership. This is because school leaders see the quality of trainees that complete the programme.

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better?

Leaders have made significant improvements to the curriculum in a short time. They have quality assurance measures in place to check the impact of these changes. However, governors have not ensured that they have sufficient capacity to use these processes to critically evaluate the programme as it has developed. Quality assurance is overly focused on compliance and any identified weakness. Leaders have not used the processes as a mechanism well enough to proactively raise quality further where it is already effective.

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better?

Staff across all aspects of the training programme provide high-quality pastoral support to trainees. They recognise the challenges and pressures that training to become a teacher can bring to bear. Staff across the partnership are alert to any signs that a trainee may need support and are quick to react.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ Leaders have not ensured that all mentors know and utilise the detail that underpins the curriculum. Some targets set for trainees lack clarity and precision and do not draw fully on trainees’ learning. Leaders should ensure that all mentors utilise the detail in the curriculum design to identify the precise areas to help trainees improve. ◼ Leaders have not ensured that all trainees learn about current subject curricular thinking sufficiently well. Consequently, trainees do not always view their learning about the pedagogy of teaching through a well-focused, subject-specific lens. Leaders should ensure that subject experts use traditions, debate and current subject curricular thinking that draws precisely on trainees’ centre-based learning. ◼ Those responsible for governance have not ensured that leaders have sufficient capacity to implement quality assurance systems to consistently build excellence. As a result,

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

some aspects of quality assurance focus on compliance and dealing with identified weaknesses rather than refining practices to improve quality. Those responsible for governance should ensure leaders have the further capacity to deliver quality assurance systems to support the evaluation, refinement and improvement of the delivery of curriculum.

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comply with the ITE compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70294 Inspection number 10247701

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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 Primary and secondary combined Date of previous inspection 9 May and 14 November 2016

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Inspection team

Ian Tustian, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Helen Forrest His Majesty’s Inspector Richard Gill Ofsted 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 phases

Baxter College 144367 Secondary The Stourport High School & Sixth Form College 137162 Secondary Lacon Childe School 141451 Secondary Wolverley Sebright VA Primary 135061 Primary Lickhill Primary School 137825 Primary Wilden All Saints C of E Primary School 144800 Primary Stourport Primary Academy 143508 Primary 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

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 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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