Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council

Further education and skills inspection report

p.1

Inspection of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council

p.1

Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Adult learning programmes Requires improvement Apprenticeships Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

p.1

Information about this provider

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s adult education service is based in Redcar, operating from Redcar and Cleveland College’s campus, which is used as a base for its operation. The council provides adult and community learning courses (ACL), apprenticeships and bespoke employer-led courses to support learners into skilled employment in plant construction and logistics. Its provision is separate from that of the college.

p.1

Information about this provider

At the time of the inspection, there were 158 learners enrolled on ACL programmes, of whom 55 were following courses in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), 33 were on functional skills courses in information and communication technology (ICT), and 20 were studying functional skills English and mathematics courses. The remaining adult learners had completed their learning on bespoke employer-led courses and were waiting for their heavy goods vehicle test. There were 33 apprentices, 22 of whom were enrolled on a level 3 business administration programme. Fewer than five apprentices were on level 3 team leader or supervisor, level 2 customer service practitioner and level 2 horticulture or landscape construction operative programmes. Fewer than five apprentices had an education, health and care plan. 5 to 8 December 2023

p.1

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

Learners and apprentices are polite, respectful and courteous. They attend their lessons and behave well on the campus and in the community centres where they study. Tutors create calm and respectful learning environments that help learners to study productively. Learners and apprentices demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and take pride in their work.

p.2

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

Too many tutors do not use the information they gather about learners’ and apprentices’ starting points to plan programmes that meet their individual and specific needs. On ICT courses, all learners follow the same learning and complete the same projects and assignments, regardless of their starting points. On the level 3 business administration apprenticeship, tutors do not identify and plan relevant learning for apprentices who have higher-level qualifications.

p.2

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

Staff are not ambitious for learners and apprentices with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including the few apprentices with high needs. Tutors have not received training on how to support apprentices with high needs. Too many tutors are unaware of the additional needs that learners and apprentices have. Consequently, timely and appropriate support is not put in place.

p.2

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

Apprentices do not benefit from opportunities to develop and deepen their wider interests or talents. Leaders have not implemented an age-appropriate curriculum to enable young apprentices to develop their understanding about healthy lifestyles and forming healthy relationships.

p.2

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

Most learners and apprentices benefit from impartial careers advice provided by the National Careers Service and staff who hold careers advice and guidance qualifications. However, advice and guidance are not routinely provided for all learners and apprentices. As a result, a few learners and apprentices are unaware of their potential next steps once they achieve their qualification.

p.2

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

Learners and apprentices feel safe. They know to whom they should report concerns and are confident that these will be dealt with quickly.

p.2

better?

Leaders do not have a clear oversight of the quality of education they provide. They do not have rigorous quality assurance arrangements in place, so they cannot assure themselves that the programmes they offer are of a high standard. Leaders recognised that the reviews of teaching conducted until recently did not focus sufficiently on the quality of education. Consequently, they failed to identify poor teaching practice when it occurred. Leaders have recently implemented a more rigorous process for reviewing the quality of teaching. However, they do not monitor the actions they set for tutors following reviews, so they do not know if tutors are improving their teaching practice. 5 to 8 December 2023

p.2

3

Leaders and managers provide adult learning programmes and apprenticeships to meet the needs of residents and employers in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland. The intent is to upskill adults so that they can progress on to further learning and employment. Leaders closely align ESOL programmes to resettlement goals, such as developing the English language skills of refugees and asylum seekers, which will enable them to study and work successfully in the United Kingdom.

p.3

3

Tutors do not sequence and teach the curriculum on ICT courses and the business administration apprenticeship effectively enough to help learners and apprentices develop the knowledge and skills they need. Learners on ICT courses work independently on assignments without having received sufficient teaching about basic concepts, such as word processing and internet searching. As a result, too many cannot recall what they have previously learned and make slow progress. Tutors do not check carefully enough that business administration apprentices understand and remember what they have learned in their on- and off-the-job training when planning further learning. They do not identify what apprentices achieve in their workplace and, consequently, do not help them to recognise what they need to improve and refine.

p.3

3

Tutors successfully sequence and teach mathematics and ESOL courses to enable learners to develop incrementally the knowledge and skills they need to achieve their goals. Tutors adapt course content and the sequencing of learning based on learners’ needs and their starting points. On functional mathematics courses, managers sequence content sensibly, using a well-structured scheme of work, while still giving tutors the flexibility to adapt the curriculum to meet learners’ individual needs and interests, such as supporting their understanding for progression into nursing. In ESOL, tutors use effective strategies, such as modelling and spaced repetition, to ensure that learners become more fluent in their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

p.3

3

Most tutors hold the relevant qualifications needed to teach their subjects, and most have teaching qualifications. However, a few do not have relevant qualifications or experience in the subject that they teach and, consequently, their teaching is not of a high enough standard. This limits the progress and achievement of learners and apprentices on the programmes that they teach.

p.3

3

Tutors do not set clear actions that help apprentices to address gaps in their knowledge. Reviews with employers of apprentices’ progress do not take place frequently enough and do not focus sufficiently on the knowledge, skills and behaviours that apprentices need to acquire. This contributes to the slow progress that too many apprentices make in developing the attributes they need to be successful in their workplace.

p.3

3

Leaders provide training for tutors that is often not based on current research. They do not support teachers well enough to develop their understanding of contested theories such as differentiated learning approaches. As a result, tutors do not improve their practice, and a few feel unprepared for their teaching roles. 5 to 8 December 2023

p.3

4

Following assessment, most tutors provide learners with helpful feedback on their written and practical work, which helps them to understand what they need to improve. However, tutors do not provide apprentices with developmental feedback, and, in a few instances, apprentices have not received any feedback at all on their written work.

p.4

4

Leaders have recently put actions in place to monitor more closely the progress that learners and apprentices make. They have introduced fortnightly meetings with individual tutors to scrutinise the attendance and progress of each learner and apprentice. As a result, attendance has significantly improved, and many learners, particularly in ESOL, are now achieving their qualifications more swiftly.

p.4

4

Leaders do not have in place any governance arrangements to hold them to account and ensure that quality of education that learners and apprentices receive is of a high standard.

p.4

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.4

What does the provider need to do to improve?

 Ensure that swift action is taken to improve the quality of education that learners and apprentices receive.  Ensure that tutors use learners’ and apprentices’ starting points to plan an ambitious curriculum that meets their individual needs.  Ensure that tutors receive appropriate training that focuses on improving their teaching practice.  Ensure that learners with high needs and those with additional learning needs receive the support they need to enable them to make good progress.  Ensure that, following assessment, tutors provide apprentices with helpful feedback about what they need to do to improve their written work.  Ensure that reviews with employers are used to monitor accurately the progress that apprentices are making towards acquiring the knowledge, skills and behaviours that they need in the workplace and to complete their apprenticeship successfully.  Implement a personal development curriculum to develop and deepen

p.4

What does the provider need to do to improve?

apprentices’ wider interests and talents and ensure that they can make informed decisions about a healthy lifestyle and forming healthy relationships.  Implement a well-designed careers education programme.  Put in place arrangements for governance so that leaders are supported, challenged and held to account for the quality of education that they provide. 5 to 8 December 2023

p.4

Provider details

Address Redcar and Cleveland College Corporation Road Redcar TS10 1EZ

p.5

Provider details

Principal, CEO or equivalent Elizabeth Moodie

p.5

Provider details

Date of previous inspection 23 September 2014 5 to 8 December 2023

p.5

Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the head of service, 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.

p.6

Inspection team

Philippa Firth, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Chloe Rendall His Majesty’s Inspector Toni Rhodes Ofsted Inspector 5 to 8 December 2023

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

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 .

p.7

7

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

p.7

7

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

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7