Leeds Trinity University

Leeds Trinity University Brownberrie Lane, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 5HD

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Inspection judgements

The quality of education and training Good Good

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Inspection judgements

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good Good

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

Trainees get a very good deal at Leeds Trinity University (Leeds Trinity). Trainees leave the course well prepared to teach their chosen subject and phase. The quality of training on offer is high. This is the case both at the university and at partnership schools. Trainees’ experiences on placement build on their university experience in a logical and coherent manner.

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

Research is at the heart of the programmes on offer. The way in which research weaves through all elements of the curriculums is exceptional.

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

Effective partnerships between stakeholders underpin the quality of trainees’ experience at Leeds Trinity. For example, communication between trainees, the university and placement schools is strong. This helps trainees feel well supported, enabling all stakeholders to consider issues such as trainees’ workload.

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

Leaders help trainees to understand the realities of teaching. Trainees’ understanding of how to support pupils with different educational needs and how to manage behaviour develops strongly over time. Leaders encourage trainees to consider their own professional identity as a teacher. An ongoing focus on trainees’ development and the competencies they build on their placements helps trainees and mentors to identify strengths and next steps.

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

Leaders at Leeds Trinity want to ensure that teachers reflect the wide range of backgrounds found in society. They work to ensure that trainees come from different socio- economic backgrounds. University leaders also work to increase representation from different ethnic backgrounds. The Race Equality Charter Award they have achieved is testimony to this.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ In the 2022/23 academic year, Leeds Trinity University partnership had 727 trainees across the primary and secondary phases of training. ◼ There are 626 trainees in the primary phase and 101 trainees in the secondary phase. ◼ Trainees train to teach in the primary phase through one of two routes: an undergraduate, three-year Bachelor of Arts with Qualified Teacher Status (BA QTS) course, which covers either the 3–7 age-phase or the 5–11 age-phase, or a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, which covers either the 3–7 age- phase or the 5–11 age-phase. The PGCE course is either university led or part of a School Direct, fee-paid route. ◼ In the secondary phase, all trainees follow the PGCE route. This is delivered through the university or as a School Direct, fee-paid route. In 2022/23, secondary-phase trainees were enrolled on the following subject courses: business, computing, English,

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Information about this ITE provider

geography, history, mathematics, modern foreign languages (French and Spanish), religious education, and science (with biology, chemistry or physics specialism). ◼ In the partnership, there are approximately 500 schools, with inspection judgements ranging from outstanding to inadequate. Partnership schools are located across 18 local authorities. There are 12 School Direct alliances. Occasionally, trainees complete placements in other areas of England due to personal circumstances, interest and demand. For example, current trainees are on placement in Southend, Hull and Stockport. ◼ In the secondary phase, the partnership includes approximately 60 schools across eight local authorities. These schools’ judgements span from outstanding to inadequate. There are 18 School Direct alliances, 10 of which are primary schools and eight are secondary schools. ◼ At the time of the inspection, there were seven candidates across the primary and

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Information about this ITE provider

secondary phases on the assessment-only route.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by six of His Majesty’s Inspectors and three Ofsted Inspectors. ◼ During the inspection, the inspectors met a range of university staff and members of the partnership. These included: the deputy dean of faculty; the head of school; deputy heads of school; associate professors in the faculty; the school partnerships manager; the head of admissions; lecturers and senior lecturers; link tutors; mentors; initial teacher training (ITT) coordinators; members of the partnership leadership group (including the chair); the external examiner; and School Direct representatives. ◼ In the primary phase, inspectors completed focused reviews in art and design, early reading, geography, history, mathematics, music, physical education, religious education (RE) and science. They visited nine schools. They also spoke to staff and/or trainees from other schools in the partnership. This included early career teachers. Inspectors

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Information about this inspection

visited centre-based, taught sessions and a careers fair. ◼ In the secondary phase, inspectors completed focused reviews in English, history, mathematics, RE and science (with biology specialism). Secondary-phase inspectors visited five schools. In addition, they communicated with staff and/or trainees from other schools in the partnership. This included early career teachers. ◼ Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation relating to the initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in the primary and secondary phases. This included: subject curriculum documentation; information about mentoring and assessment; records of mentor meetings and target-setting (the development record); leaders’ self- evaluation document; and improvement plans for the different programmes. In addition, inspectors reviewed examples of training materials and visited a training session and a careers event. ◼ Inspectors considered the provision for candidates following the assessment-only route.

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better?

Trainees are well prepared to teach all the national curriculum subjects well and to assess pupils accurately. The ITE programme is underpinned by recent and pertinent research. Trainers use their expertise to model how to apply this in practice. Trainees also learn from professionals during school placements. They develop their knowledge of adaptive teaching to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils who speak English as an additional language. Trainees learn about how the early years foundation stage prepares children for key stage 1. Leaders enhance this curriculum offer with trainees undertaking additional study of their choice.

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better?

High-quality, centre-based sessions ensure that trainees develop a secure knowledge of how to teach pupils early reading skills, including through the use of systematic synthetic phonics. On placement, trainees learn from expert teachers, including learning how to support pupils who struggle to read. They learn how phonic knowledge supports pupils to spell words accurately and how fluent reading enables pupils to access information in other curriculum subjects.

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better?

Course leaders value the commitment of school leaders in contributing to the success of the programme. School leaders appreciate the calibre of the trainees they work with, reflecting effective systems of training and recruitment. Course leaders communicate very well with school leaders, ensuring that all participants are clear about their responsibilities for the training and support that trainees receive. This means that trainees’ needs are well met and that their workload is taken into account.

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better?

Leaders ensure that all elements of the core content framework are interwoven purposefully through trainees’ learning and in their assessment criteria. Trainees put their theoretical knowledge and learning into practice and reflect on how well this process is achieved.

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better?

School-based mentors contribute to the trainees’ development record. They access a high- quality, mandatory training package, which includes the theoretical perspectives that trainees study. However, leaders do not consistently check that mentors understand these theories well enough to help trainees to apply them when on placement.

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better?

Link tutors from the university meet trainees weekly. They work with mentors to ensure that effective systems are in place to track trainees’ progress and provide timely, appropriate targets for development. There is some inconsistency in how well the role of the link tutor is quality assured. This contributes to some variance in the quality of trainees’ experience.

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better?

Trainees set high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Leaders ensure that trainees exhibit the professional behaviours expected of a teacher. Trainees develop their pupil behaviour management strategies during school-based placements. Trainees feel well supported and understand their responsibilities in safeguarding. Early career teachers who trained at Leeds Trinity say that they were exceptionally well prepared for their first teaching post.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ There is some inconsistency in how well the role of the link tutor is quality assured. Systems to check the quality of school-based mentoring are not consistently applied, and this means that some trainees’ experience is stronger than that of others. Leaders should ensure that they improve the quality assurance of the role of the link tutor more effectively so that all trainees benefit from consistently high-quality training and support. ◼ Leaders provide mandatory training for school-based mentors to make them aware of the educational theories and research that trainees will experience through the programme. On occasion, mentors’ understanding of how to help trainees to apply these theories when they are on placement varies. This means that trainees’ experience of aligning theory to practice is not as well supported in some placements as it is in others. Leaders should ensure that they strengthen this aspect of learning for school-based

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

mentors across the primary-phase programme.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria. Secondary phase report

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better?

Trainees from Leeds Trinity are well prepared for their careers as teachers. Leaders’ ambition is to produce teachers who will be leaders in their classrooms, in their schools and beyond. Partnership schools see the trainees from Leeds Trinity as valuable colleagues who are set up to succeed. There is a collegiate aspect to this learning community. Trainees remain connected to the university through strong support networks, and many end up becoming mentors themselves. One early career teacher explained the benefit of this ongoing connection: ‘I’ve left the course, but not left the university.’

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better?

Not only are the trainees prepared for the demands of a teaching career, they are also well prepared to teach their subject specialism. Trainees are inducted into their subject communities so that their understanding of current debates sets them up for a career of continuous development and learning. The consideration that leaders have given to current educational research is exceptional. Both trainees and school partners describe this as a distinctive aspect of training at Leeds Trinity. The high expectations of leaders are evident through the ambitious curriculum design, which is underpinned by the core content framework.

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better?

Trainees’ understanding of how pupils learn is strong and deeply rooted in pertinent research. Their ability to apply research in practical ways and their understanding of the breadth of inclusion emerge clearly in their practice. They have a clear understanding of behaviour and pedagogical strategies that support inclusion. Leaders ensure that trainees’ understanding of adaptive teaching is similarly rooted in the most up-to-date research. This echoes the high ambition of the course that all trainees and hence pupils can achieve highly. Trainees are taught in ways that model effective pedagogical strategies so that they can emulate these in their own teaching. Reflective practice is built into the fabric of the course. This ensures that trainees are closely involved in reviewing and taking responsibility for their own progress.

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better?

There are clear systems in place to ensure that there is purposeful integration across different provider settings. The assessment of trainees is in some respects a real strength, particularly through the use of placement competencies designed to produce meaningful targets for mentors to set for trainees. Despite this, there remains some variability in the quality of targets set by mentors for trainees, which leaders continue to address.

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better?

Leaders have an accurate view of the strengths of the programme and of areas for improvement. They check the quality of the curriculum and of mentoring well. The quality assurance role of the link tutor and the subject tutor is less assured, meaning that variation is harder to identify.

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better?

Most trainees strongly value the support of staff and appreciate their guidance and consideration. Leaders are considerate of workload and have made decisions to adapt systems in response to feedback from trainees. Trainees agree that leaders listen and respond to concerns.

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phase?

(Information for the provider and appropriate authority )

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phase?

◼ There is some variation in the quality of targets set for trainees by mentors. Some trainees’ targets are not closely linked to the curriculum they are learning. Leaders should ensure that the systems in place continue to improve the quality of the targets set by some mentors to support trainees’ development. ◼ Leaders’ quality assurance systems do not identify potential variance in the quality of support provided by link tutors and subject tutors. Some trainees may be receiving more effective support than others. Leaders should refine how they quality assure the work of link tutors and subject tutors so that any variation in the effectiveness of support can be quickly addressed.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70127 Inspection number 10212893

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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 set 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 Higher education institution Phases provided Primary Secondary Date of previous inspection 4 to 7 March 2013

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Inspection team

Michael Wardle, Overall lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Alison Aitchison, Phase lead inspector (primary phase) His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Katherine Spurr, Phase lead inspector (secondary phase) His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Michele Costello Ofsted Inspector Kirsty Godfrey His Majesty’s Inspector Janet Keefe Ofsted Inspector Tim Scargill-Knight His Majesty’s Inspector Lynne Selkirk Ofsted Inspector Alison Stephenson 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 phases

Christ Church Upper Armley Church of England Primary School 146306 Primary

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Name URN ITE phases

Cookridge Primary School 107894 Primary Fagley Primary School 107249 Primary Half Acres Primary Academy 144332 Primary Hawksworth Wood Primary School 107893 Primary Kirkstall Valley Primary School 107887 Primary St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy 147982 Primary

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Name URN ITE phases

St Bartholomew’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School 108005 Primary

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Name URN ITE phases

Victoria Primary School 143571 Primary Allerton High School 108057 Secondary Batley Girls High School 137424 Secondary Beckfoot School 139975 Secondary Bradford Grammar School 107455 Secondary Horsforth School 137775 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

government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Name URN ITE phases

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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