Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk Teacher Training (NESTT)

Suffolk and Norfolk Secondary SCITT 120 Star Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 1JN

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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 benefit from leaders’ focus on preparing them for all aspects of being a teacher. They learn, for example, about how to manage pupils’ behaviour and about supporting the different needs of pupils in their classes. Trainees also learn how to help those pupils at the early stages of learning to read. Over time, trainees develop the skillset they need to teach with confidence.

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

If trainees have difficulties with their own well-being, help is on hand. For example, they can speak to a mental health first-aider. Most trainees find the training they receive helpful. They value the support they get from SCITT staff and school-based mentors and feel well prepared for the start of their teaching careers.

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

Trainees’ progress through ITE is steered by joined-up working between the SCITT and its partners. Regular contact with personal tutors makes it hard for trainees to fall behind. Most school-based mentors know what they should be doing to support trainees and help trainees apply what they have been taught. A minority of trainees have less positive experiences than their peers because their mentors are not as familiar with the training curriculum as they should be.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ At the time of the inspection, there were 34 trainees on School Direct (tuition fee) and four on School Direct (salaried) training routes. All of these trainees complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. ◼ In addition, there were three trainees following an assessment-only route. ◼ All trainees are secondary phase. ◼ Most of the schools in which trainees are placed are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection team consisted of three of His Majesty’s Inspectors. ◼ Inspections met with the executive leader of the Suffolk and Norfolk SCITT partnership and the secondary SCITT leader. Inspectors met with representatives of the SCITT steering group and the SCITT strategic board. They met with a range of school partners. ◼ Inspectors spoke with 26 trainees and two early career teachers. ◼ Inspectors carried out focused reviews in mathematics, modern foreign languages, drama, English and business studies. ◼ Inspectors visited five schools and one sixth-form college. They held online meetings with mentors or professional tutors from a further nine schools.

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better?

Leaders’ training programme connects the theory of teaching to its practical application. It covers all aspects of the core content framework and incorporates up-to-date and relevant research. Leaders have structured the course so that the three main elements through which it is delivered are joined up. Trainees’ professional studies are built on in subject training. Trainees try this out in their school placements. They reflect on, and discuss with mentors, what they are learning about and how it is working for them. Mentors and trainees use their observations of, and reflections about, trainees’ level of expertise to determine targets for trainees to work on.

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better?

Leaders have selected when different aspects of the course should be delivered so that trainees get information when it is most pertinent. Over time, content is revisited and built upon. Trainees develop an increasing level of expertise as the course progresses.

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better?

Leaders have secured the expertise needed to deliver and check on most aspects of the ITE programme. Subject trainers are experts in their field. Personal tutors check that trainees have completed the work they should, including their own reflections on their experiences of using different education theories and approaches while in school. Subject tutors periodically check that mentors are working well with trainees. All of this is overseen by a quality assurance team and subject to feedback from partner schools and trainees. Combined, these checks ensure trainees who fall behind are quickly identified and supported.

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better?

Trainees learn about the theory of teaching their subjects. Leaders make sure mentors have the detail of what they should work on with trainees and they train mentors in how to support trainees. However, some mentors have not attended the training, and some do not know the ITE curriculum well enough. This does not stop trainees from applying and reflecting on what they have been taught, but it does mean some of them miss the opportunity for professional discussion with an expert. Because leaders’ quality assurance systems rely on periodic visits, they take longer than they should to identify weaker mentoring.

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better?

Leaders make changes when something is not working as intended. This year has seen several changes to the structure of the course, including the tightening of links between different aspects of the training. When they identify a problem with the way a mentor and a trainee are working together, leaders step in to find a solution. They use the feedback they get from stakeholders to help inform next steps.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

Leaders’ quality assurance systems do not tell them in a timely manner if a trainee is not getting sufficient support from their mentor. This means that some trainees’ mentoring is not as structured or extensive as leaders expect. Leaders should ensure that their systems give them the information they need to ensure mentors support trainees in line with leaders’ expectations.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70147 Inspection number 10277773

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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 20 to 23 May 2013

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Inspection team

Andrew Hemmings, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Bessie Owen His Majesty’s Inspector Liz Smith His Majesty’s Inspector

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Annex: Placement schools and colleges

Inspectors visited the following schools and colleges as part of this inspection:

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Name URN ITE phase

Mildenhall College Academy 139867 Secondary Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy 140032 Secondary Ipswich Academy 136453 Secondary Thorpe St Andrew School and Sixth Form 143278 Secondary One Sixth Form College 142283 Secondary Wymondham High Academy 137461 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

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 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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