NELTA

Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education and training Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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

NELTA strives to promote excellence in secondary education in the community that it serves through recruiting locally based trainees. Very strong working and caring relationships between trainees and staff help to sustain NELTA’s success. This is particularly promoted by NELTA’s ‘power of presence’ approach. This includes, for example, weekly in-person meetings between trainees, tutors and lead mentors, where trainees reflect on and critique their development. Any individual concerns are addressed quickly and effectively. Trainees particularly value the close communication and collaboration between the centre and school-based staff. This ensures that all that they learn and apply is thoughtfully linked. Trainees are extremely well supported and developed to enter the teaching profession in their chosen subjects.

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

The curriculum is highly aspirational. It cumulatively builds trainees’ professional and subject knowledge extremely well. Right from the start, trainees learn strategies for managing pupils’ behaviour, safeguarding and promoting positive professional relationships in the classroom. For example, trainees benefit from a three-day summer school to get them ready for school placements. High expectations for all pupils shape NELTA’s curriculum design. Trainees are taught thoroughly about how to adapt teaching to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and how to support pupils who speak English as an additional language.

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

Trainees like the richness of the curriculum and how it extends beyond the expected. For example, trainees appreciate the careers guidance provided and being able to explore current topics in education, such as how generative AI could be used to enhance teaching. NELTA Woodford Bridge Road, Ilford IG4 5LP

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ NELTA currently has 26 secondary age-phase trainees. ◼ The provider enables trainees to gain qualified teacher status through the School Direct (salaried and non-salaried) route. ◼ NELTA also offers an assessment-only route into teaching for secondary age-phase candidates. At the time of inspection, there were no candidates enrolled on this route. ◼ The provider currently works with 10 local partner schools.

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by two of His Majesty’s Inspectors. ◼ Inspectors met with the SCITT senior leadership team, subject and mentor leads, the CEO, chair and members of the trust board as well as a group of headteachers, including some who serve on the advisory board. ◼ Inspectors met with 15 trainees and eight early career teachers. Some of these conversations were conducted remotely. ◼ Inspectors carried out focused reviews in science, mathematics and physical education. Other aspects of the ITE curriculum were considered as part of this inspection. ◼ Inspectors visited four partner schools. They met with school leaders, school-based mentors, trainees and early career teachers. ◼ Inspectors also met remotely with some school-based mentors and leaders from other partnership schools. ◼ Inspectors considered the provider’s documents related to the curriculum and improvement planning as well as information related to the provider’s compliance

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Information about this inspection

with the requirements of the ITE criteria. ◼ Inspectors reviewed the responses to online surveys of trainees’ and staff’s views.

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better?

Leaders have developed a highly ambitious curriculum. They keep it under regular review to ensure that it is broad, rigorous and underpinned by recent pertinent academic research. This review includes seeking frequent feedback from trainees and partner-school leaders on curriculum content and how well this is promoting trainees’ readiness to teach their specialism. Leaders act quickly and reflectively on these findings. They are rigorous in their approach to securing further improvements to the professional and subject-specific knowledge that trainees learn and practise. This enables trainees to flourish in their development as they embark on a career in teaching. The training programme incorporates all the core content framework requirements in full. The carefully crafted curriculum enables trainees to acquire and evaluate professional knowledge and behaviours in a rigorous but manageable manner. This includes regular

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better?

input on and practice of key areas like promoting positive behaviour for learning, adaptive teaching for pupils with SEND and checking of pupils’ understanding.

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better?

Careful thought has gone into ensuring that the curriculum is very well sequenced. It builds trainees’ knowledge securely over time. Highly experienced and knowledgeable subject specialists, working seamlessly alongside staff with expertise in pedagogical principles, deliver the curriculum exceptionally well. Trainees are taught in depth about new generic pedagogical concepts and their subject-specific application. Supported skilfully by their school-placement mentors, trainees practise and hone these taught skills in their classrooms. As a result, as the year progresses, trainees make excellent progress through the curriculum. Trainees, whatever their chosen subject specialism, are equipped exceptionally well with the knowledge and skills that they need to promote pupils’ success in learning and all-round development.

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better?

NELTA, in partnership with three other providers, has devised a new highly comprehensive and effective one-year training programme for school-based mentoring. Mentors are provided with clear guidance on the year’s trainee curriculum. For example, every week the provider sends mentors information on what trainees have been taught, and a summary of the underlying research. Mentors value this guidance highly. NELTA staff also ensure that mentoring is tightly focused on enabling trainees to meet their developmental targets. Both mentors and trainees know exactly what needs to be practised and trialled in lessons during the week. These procedures ensure that all elements of the curriculum taught at the centre are integrated purposefully with mentoring and practice in placement schools. The SCITT’s lead mentors keep a close check on the quality of mentoring and its impact on trainees’ development. This enables NELTA to maintain a detailed and accurate

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better?

picture of each trainee’s progression, and specifically, how well they are applying the subject-specific and pedagogical principles taught at the centre in the classroom.

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better?

NELTA also has regular and rigorous arrangements in place to assess trainees’ knowledge and progress towards meeting their targets throughout the year. From the beginning of the course, any subject-specific gaps are audited and these are addressed methodically. If any other gaps in trainees’ understanding of essential concepts, ideas and pedagogies emerge over time, these are also picked up and addressed effectively. Bespoke and timely support is put in place to help trainees who need to catch up. Trainees are highly complimentary about how both their professional development and personal well-being are prioritised.

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compliance criteria?

◼ The provider meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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ITE provider details

This inspection was carried out in accordance with the initial teacher education inspection framework and handbook , which 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 SCITT Phases provided Secondary Date of previous inspection 14 June and 13 November 2017

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Inspection team

David Radomsky, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Luke Stubbles, Team inspector 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 phase

Beal High School 140575 Secondary Frederick Bremer School 103094 Secondary Highams Park School 136758 Secondary The Forest Academy 137692 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 looked after children, 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

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 phase

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

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