The Alnwick Garden Trust

Further education and skills inspection report

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Inspection dates: 15 to 17 February 2023

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Adult learning programmes Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this provider

The Alnwick Garden Trust is an independent learning provider based in Alnwick, Northumberland. In August 2021, it began delivering courses to adult learners with funding from the North of Tyne Mayoral Combined Authority. At the time of the inspection, there were fewer than five learners on non-accredited programmes related to business start-up and employability. 15 to 17 February 2023

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners develop the fundamental knowledge and skills that they need to be successful in achieving their goals, such as starting a new business or gaining employment. For example, learners who have little knowledge of how to write a CV are taught to tailor and showcase their knowledge and experience for roles that they believe they are suitable for. Other learners gain the confidence that they need to open their own businesses.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners on the ‘grow into work’ programme benefit from useful and relevant work experience placements that meet their interests, such as working with the estates team or customer services staff in the visitor centre. Learners have mentors who provide effective support to help them to develop their employability skills. This includes projects for learners to work on during their placement so they can understand the nature and scope of the area in which they are working. Tutors provide suitable and appropriate careers advice and guidance linked to learners’ interests and the placements that they carry out.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Most learners make positive progress through the components of their programmes. Learners on ‘grow into work’ programmes first acquire skills in writing accurately, to enable them to present themselves well to prospective employers. They then carry out their work-experience placements. By the end of their programme, learners are better prepared for the world of work or self-employment.

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What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Learners value their participation on the programmes and attend willing to learn. They are keen to work with staff and departments at the Alnwick Garden and enjoy their time undertaking a wide range of visitor-experience-related roles. The large majority of learners on the ‘seeds to success’ programmes are either currently running their own businesses or planning to do so as a result of the programme.

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better?

Leaders and managers offer suitable employability programmes to adults who require support to get back to the labour market. Programmes are designed to support individuals to improve their physical and mental well-being and their social interaction skills, and then develop their employability and enterprise skills. Leaders and tutors successfully target their recruitment at adults who lack confidence or experience in applying for jobs or in setting up their own businesses.

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better?

Although leaders have in place a board of trustees to support the education and community services within the Alnwick Garden Trust, both leaders and trustees have insufficient oversight of the quality of programme design and delivery. This means that they are not able to identify accurately any weaker aspects of the provision or take action, should it be needed, to make improvements.

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better?

Leaders and trustees have taken swift action since the new provider monitoring visit to improve safeguarding arrangements, including securing external support. As a 15 to 17 February 2023

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result, the board now receives relevant and useful safeguarding and health and safety information, including staff training details and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) records.

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Tutors sequence the curriculum content well. On the ‘grow into work’ programme, tutors break down into manageable parts the components of how to find, apply and prepare for potential job opportunities so that learners understand what information they need to be well prepared. On the ‘seeds for success’ programme, the curriculum includes the fundamentals of starting a business, and challenges learners to consider their ideas for a business and whether there is a market space for the idea before progressing to pricing, financing and marketing it. Learners benefit from the use of relevant workbooks to record their learning, which include activities to consolidate their understanding.

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Tutors collect information about learners’ starting points to enable them to understand the current English and mathematics skills of learners and their employment experience. They use this information well to plan relevant training and support. When learners need additional support, tutors signpost them to further training opportunities and support, including in relation to developing their digital skills.

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Tutors have an appropriate level of experience and knowledge in relation to their subject areas. Learners value and benefit from their expertise. However, leaders do not take action to ensure that staff are experienced and skilled in current teaching strategies.

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In a few instances, tutors do not check learning effectively or identify the support needs of learners. For example, on the ‘seeds for success’ programmes, tutors provide feedback in learners’ workbooks, but do not follow up whether learners have responded to it and improved their understanding. In addition, tutors do not provide feedback on the grammatical and spelling accuracy of learners’ written work and, as a result, learners make repeated mistakes.

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Leaders recruit staff who are caring and who work in line with the values of the Alnwick Garden Trust. They select mentors who understand that learners will benefit from experiences that help them to develop skills as part of a team. As a result, learners increase in confidence and self-belief through the positive support that they receive from mentors and other people with whom they work.

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Leaders and tutors provide learners with the opportunity to be reimbursed for the cost of their food when they attend training. This enables learners who may struggle to afford food to access training, thus removing a potential barrier to their education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 15 to 17 February 2023

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Leaders have in place appropriate policies and procedures to ensure that their staff and learners are safe. They benefit from the support of the local ‘Prevent’ duty coordinator and have in place a relevant and useful ‘Prevent’ duty risk assessment and action plan.

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Learners feel safe and are provided with the age-appropriate safeguarding information that they need to remain safe. Tutors teach learners about the risks associated with radicalisation and the risk of terrorism. Learners working in the poison garden on work-experience placements are aware of their responsibility in preventing the possibility of toxic plants being taken away and used in terrorist acts. They gain an understanding of the signs that a person is being radicalised by the types of questions the person asks about the levels of toxicity of plants in the poison garden.

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Leaders recruit people who are safe to work with learners on their programmes. They follow safe recruitment practices. These include taking up references and carrying out right to work in the United Kingdom and DBS checks before staff are deemed safe to work with learners on an individual basis.

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What does the provider need to do to improve?

 Improve the oversight of the design and implementation of learning programmes to ensure that they remain of consistently high quality.  Ensure that teaching staff benefit from effective professional development in relation to their teaching skills.  Ensure that tutors check learning effectively so that they can identify accurately what learners need to do to improve and support them to make improvements to their work. 15 to 17 February 2023

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Provider details

Address The Alnwick Garden Gardeners Cottage Greenwell Lane Alnwick Northumberland NE66 1HB

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Provider details

Principal, CEO or equivalent Mark Brassell

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Provider details

Provider type Independent learning provider

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Provider details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Provider details

Main subcontractors None 15 to 17 February 2023

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the strategic head of community and education, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider’s most recent self- assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. The inspection was carried out using the further education and skills inspection handbook and took into account all relevant provision at the provider. Inspectors collected a wide range of evidence to inform judgements, including visiting learning sessions, scrutinising learners’ work, seeking the views of learners, staff and other stakeholders, and examining the provider’s documentation and records.

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Inspection team

Glenise Burrell, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Chloe Rendall His Majesty’s Inspector 15 to 17 February 2023

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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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