Endeavour Learning SCITT

Endeavour Learning SCITT c/o Tarleton Academy, Hesketh Lane, Tarleton, Lancashire PR4 6AQ

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Inspection judgements

[Primary and secondary age-phase combined]

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education and training Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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

Trainees experience subject experts who are passionate and dedicated to the partnership. However, some trainees do not benefit from a suitably well-designed ITE curriculum across the core and School Direct ITE programmes. Aspects of the training programme in the centre and at schools are uneven in quality because leaders sometimes do not know exactly what trainees are expected to learn. Despite this, overall, trainees are sufficiently prepared to embark on a career in teaching.

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

The professional studies programme gives trainees a secure grounding in how teachers have a responsibility to safeguard pupils. Trainees learn about how to foster positive behaviour for learning in their classrooms. Trainees also develop a secure understanding of promoting equality and inclusion by adapting the delivery of the curriculum for pupils with additional needs. However, some trainees do not learn enough about how to apply other key aspects of the professional studies training to their chosen subject or age-phase.

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

Primary trainees are taught the importance of systematic synthetic phonics as part of teaching pupils to learn to read. They enjoy learning how to teach the full range of national curriculum subjects. Secondary trainees are adequately introduced to subject- specific practices and disciplines.

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

Across the core and School Direct routes, trainees do not always benefit from relevant reading and research. Some trainees do not get the same opportunities to learn how to reflect on reading and research, or debate with their mentors while on their teaching practice. Overall, trainees benefit from carefully selected school-based experiences. However, the quality of mentoring that trainees receive is uneven. For example, the quality of feedback that trainees receive sometimes lacks rigour and depth.

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

Despite these shortcomings, trainees speak highly of their experiences at Endeavour Learning SCITT. This is because they receive high-quality personal and pastoral support. Trainees’ well-being and welfare are genuinely at the heart of leaders’, tutors’ and mentors’ work. Trainees feel that they are well known, understood and supported by leaders. They said that communication across all partners in the SCITT is strong.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ Endeavour Learning SCITT is a School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) provider. ◼ The SCITT has been providing teacher training in the secondary-age phase since September 2013, and in the primary-age phase since September 2021. ◼ In the 2022/23 academic year, there were 19 trainees enrolled on the SCITT’s programmes. This included four primary- and 15 secondary-age phase trainees. ◼ In the primary- and secondary-age phases, the SCITT offers core and School Direct fee-paid routes. ◼ Trainees who follow the primary programmes are trained to teach the five to 11 age-phase. Trainees on the secondary programmes are trained to teach the 11 to 16 age-phase. ◼ Secondary trainees choose from the following subject specialisms: art and design, biology, business studies, chemistry, computing, design and technology, drama, English, geography, history, mathematics, modern foreign languages, physics or religious studies.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ All trainees gain qualified teacher status. The SCITT also works in partnership with Liverpool John Moore’s University to support all trainees to complete a postgraduate certificate in education. ◼ The partnership includes nine primary schools and 16 secondary schools across four local authorities. ◼ Two schools in the partnership are currently judged as requires improvement or inadequate by Ofsted. All other schools are judged to be good or outstanding by Ofsted.

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Information about this inspection

◼ This inspection was carried out by one of His Majesty’s Inspectors and three Ofsted Inspectors. ◼ Inspectors spoke with a range of SCITT leaders, staff and partners, including the director of the SCITT. They met with members of the SCITT’s partnership steering committee. Inspectors also spoke with representatives of the Endeavour Learning Trust. ◼ Inspectors sampled a wide range of documentation relating to the ITE training programmes. This included: subject and phase curriculum plans; trainees’ assignments and their records of target-setting and mentoring; and information relating to the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) ITE criteria and supporting advice. ◼ Inspectors also reviewed a wide range of information relating to the leadership and management of the partnership. These documents included leaders’ records of self- evaluation and improvement planning. ◼ Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online trainee survey. Inspectors

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Information about this inspection

also considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. ◼ The inspection was carried out through face-to-face meetings, virtual meetings and on-site visits to partner schools. ◼ During the inspection, inspectors visited five schools across the primary- and secondary-age phases. ◼ In the primary age-phase, inspectors spoke with four trainees and two early career teachers (ECTs), either face to face or remotely. ◼ In the secondary age-phase, inspectors spoke with 10 trainees and two ECTs, either face to face or remotely. ◼ In the primary phase, inspectors carried out focused reviews in early reading and science. ◼ In the secondary phase, inspectors carried out focused reviews in history, mathematics and modern foreign languages.

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better?

Leaders have established appropriately ambitious overarching aims for the SCITT’s ITE programmes. Across the primary and secondary programmes, trainees follow a suitably broad ranging curriculum that is well informed by the DfE’s core content framework). Overall, trainees benefit from ITE programmes that prepare them sufficiently well to become early career teachers.

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better?

Although the overarching curriculum aims are clear, leaders’ curriculum thinking at subject-specific level is not defined as precisely as it should be. Leaders have not identified some of the essential knowledge that trainees must learn. For example, the quality and range of the specific content of the centre-based professional studies programme varies between the core and School Direct routes. This impedes how well course tutors can align phase- and subject-specific centre-based training to what trainees are learning in their generic professional studies curriculum. It also hampers how well mentors can ensure that trainees’ school-based experiences deliberately build on the content of centre-based training.

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better?

Even though the individual parts of the ITE programme are not as well aligned as they should be, trainees do learn in depth about what is distinctive about their chosen age- phase and/or subject. For example, leaders of primary programmes ensure that there is a strong focus on the teaching of early reading. They also ensure that trainees learn how to plan a well-designed sequence of lessons in English, mathematics and science, as well as the other primary foundation national curriculum subjects. Secondary programmes often include content that develops trainees’ subject-specific knowledge. These ITE curriculums also explore how to teach the more complex aspects of a subject discipline, including where pupils may develop misconceptions in their learning. However, primary- and secondary-age phase trainees are not exposed to a broad enough range of theoretical perspectives. This prevents some trainees from testing out theory in their everyday

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better?

Trainees benefit from suitably contrasting school placements. Trainees also experience well-designed enrichment opportunities. For example, primary trainees learn about early communication and language, and secondary trainees have access to post-16 settings. Trainees value these opportunities.

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better?

Despite the lack of clarity about the specific knowledge that trainees should learn in some aspects of the training programme, school mentors are well guided about the overarching themes and experiences that trainees should encounter. However, they do not have enough information about exactly what content is being taught in the different elements of the training programme. For example, leaders have not provided mentors with a clear enough framework to assess the progress that trainees are making on their school-based placements. Suitably experienced and well-intended mentors do what they can to assess trainees against the broad intent of the curriculum. They try to set appropriate targets. However, some trainees do not get consistent or clear enough guidance about the gaps that they need to address in their professional and phase- or subject-specific knowledge.

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better?

Leaders’ checks on the quality of education and training are wide ranging. However, they are mixed in their effectiveness. Quality assurance processes provide leaders with helpful insights into trainees’ experiences across some areas of the centre- and school-based training. This includes the quality of programme delivery and the overall quality of mentoring. However, these checks are not focused enough on how well ITE programmes help trainees to know and remember more of the ITE curriculum. This means that leaders do not always have a deep enough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses across the partnership, including how well the ITE curriculum is designed and implemented. Despite leaders’ commitment and best efforts, this limits the impact of the ongoing support and training that they provide to programme tutors and mentors.

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better?

Leaders, headteachers and staff across the partnership work collaboratively through the partnership steering committee (PSC). This contributes to effective strategic leadership in many areas, such as how well the partnership establishes a clear vision, the rigour of recruitment and selection processes, and the effectiveness of channels of communication with the different partners. However, some members of the PSC do not consistently demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to provide effective support and challenge in all areas of the ITE programmes. For example, members of the PSC do not know enough about the impact of the ITE curriculum on trainees’ learning and development.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ Across the core and School Direct routes, leaders do not set out the component knowledge that trainees should learn clearly enough. This results in trainees receiving an uneven quality of training across the different elements of the ITE programmes. It also prevents school-based mentors from shaping trainees’ learning in their placements around what they have learned in the centre. Leaders should ensure that it is clear what component knowledge trainees should learn across all parts of the ITE programme. ◼ Some primary and secondary trainees do not get sufficient access to pertinent reading and research. This prevents them from analysing and evaluating different theoretical perspectives to see how they work in practice. As a result, trainees’ learning is not always well informed by relevant wider thinking. Leaders should ensure that all parts of the training programme are well designed to incorporate a wide range of relevant

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

literature and research. They should also ensure that trainees get sufficient opportunities to discuss and evaluate this research as part of their training programme. ◼ Leaders’ systems to assess trainees’ learning and development are not fully aligned to the content of the ITE curriculum. This weakens the quality of feedback and targets that many trainees receive. Often, feedback does not help trainees to identify gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should ensure that trainees are assessed against the component knowledge that underpins the curriculum. They should ensure that feedback and target-setting systems provide trainees with a better insight about the knowledge and skills that they need to develop further and master. ◼ Leaders’ quality assurance systems do not evaluate in sufficient depth how well the ITE curriculums are designed and delivered. They do not evaluate with enough precision how well trainees are learning the content of the ITE curriculum. This means that

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

leaders, and members of the PSC, are not getting the insights that they need into the impact of the centre- and school-based training curriculums on trainees’ learning and development. This hinders how well leaders and members of the PSC identify, and act on, some of the weaknesses in the design and delivery of the training programmes. Leaders should improve their processes to quality assure how well the ITE curriculums are designed and delivered, as well as the impact that they have on trainees. ◼ Some members of the PSC do not have the breadth and depth of knowledge required to provide consistently effective challenge and support to SCITT leaders. This hinders their ability to strategically evaluate the effectiveness of the ITE training curriculum. Consequently, the quality of management oversight is variable. Leaders should ensure that all members of the PSC have the knowledge required to challenge and support

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comply with the ITE compliance criteria?

◼ The ITE provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70282 Inspection number 10277279

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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 13 May and 11 November 2015

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Inspection team

Michael Pennington, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Felicity Ackroyd Ofsted Inspector Fiona Burke-Jackson Ofsted Inspector Lisa Woolley 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

Churchtown Primary School 146688 Primary Northbrook Primary Academy 148039 Primary Parklands High School 138647 Secondary Burscough Priory Academy 146282 Secondary Wellfield Academy 119723 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 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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