Star Greenwich Education

Further education and skills inspection report

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Inspection dates: 12 to 14 February 2025

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Apprenticeships Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this provider

Star Greenwich Education (SGE) is an independent training provider in Woolwich, south-east London. SGE started teaching dental nursing, health and social care and mortgage advisor apprenticeships in 2023. Since the new provider monitoring visit, leaders have stopped offering health and social care and mortgage advisor apprenticeships.

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Information about this provider

At the time of the inspection, there were fewer than five adult apprentices studying dental nursing. Training took place online and at the employer’s premises. Apprentices worked for employers in London and Surrey. Leaders did not subcontract any of their training. A few apprentices studied functional skills English qualifications. 12 to 14 February 2025

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

Apprentices are well motivated to achieve their apprenticeship. Most have high rates of attendance to teaching sessions. Apprentices are frustrated with the time it has taken them to complete their apprenticeship. Where apprentices have fallen behind with their studies, they value the support that their teacher and workplace mentors have now put in place to help them catch up.

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

Apprentices have learned new knowledge, skills and behaviours since they started their apprenticeship. They have learned how to assist dentists during general examinations and more specialist procedures such as fitting dental crowns. Apprentices know how to set up instruments for different treatments, keep accurate patient records and how to adjust procedures to take account of patients’ individual needs.

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

Apprentices develop the professional behaviours they need for their workplaces. For example, they learn the importance of maintaining patient confidentiality during discussions with co-workers. Apprentices grow in confidence, showing respect and empathy to their patients. They have learned how to work independently.

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

Apprentices feel safe during online training and in their workplaces. They know the steps they need to take to maintain their safety and that of others in their dental practice, such as by using effective infection control procedures.

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better?

Since their monitoring visit, leaders have sensibly amended their apprenticeship offer. They now solely offer apprenticeships in dental nursing, where leaders have existing training experience and established employer links. This curriculum offer meets the need to recruit and train dental nurse apprentices in London.

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better?

Leaders and teachers have designed a curriculum in which the required knowledge of dental nursing is planned and taught in a sensible order to build apprentices’ knowledge and skills over time. Apprentices first learn about the duty of candour, maintaining confidentiality, how to prevent accidents at work and how to manage risks. This gives them the basic knowledge they need for their job roles. They then learn about more complex topics such as respiratory and circulatory anatomy. This helps apprentices to understand the theory that sits behind the tasks they complete in the workplace.

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better?

Level 3 dental nurse apprentices have not made swift enough progress towards achieving their apprenticeship. Leaders did not plan a sufficiently long apprenticeship curriculum to enable apprentices, including those who are part time, adequate time to complete their studies. Leaders did not teach apprentices who need to gain English or mathematics qualifications the knowledge they needed early enough in their apprenticeships. Instead, these subjects were taught as a block at the end of their apprenticeship. This meant that apprentices became overwhelmed 12 to 14 February 2025

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by the need to study for their examinations as well as completing and making amendments to their dental nursing work. As a result, apprentices fell behind with their dental nurse studies and have not achieved their apprenticeship by their planned end date.

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During teaching sessions early in the apprenticeship, teachers did not check sufficiently that apprentices understood new knowledge before moving on to other topics. More recently the quality of teaching has improved. Teachers now support apprentices effectively during useful one-to-one sessions. These sessions are targeted towards the areas in which apprentices need to improve. This has helped apprentices to catch up where they have fallen behind. Apprentices now make effective progress. It is, however, too soon to see the impact of these changes on the proportion of apprentices who achieve their qualifications.

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Teachers have excellent knowledge of the dental sector. This helps them to give useful and relevant feedback to apprentices on how they can improve their practical skills and written work. Apprentices know what they need to do to improve. Teachers prepare apprentices well, and most know the requirements of their final assessments.

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Staff work closely with workplace supervisors to ensure that apprentices can apply what they have learned while in the workplace to develop their skills. Where progress reviews have taken place, staff have used these well to discuss how apprentices have developed the professional standards needed to be a dental nurse. Apprentices broaden their technical expertise by working at other dental practices which specialise in techniques outside of their usual work, such as orthodontics.

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Leaders have not provided apprentices with sufficient careers advice and guidance. Most apprentices have not had any discussions with their teachers about their proposed next steps or possible career routes. Where apprentices are clear on their career plans this is mainly through their own research or discussions with their workplace supervisor.

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Leaders and managers have started to make improvements based on the areas identified in their monitoring visit. They have put in place effective quality assurance processes for the assessment elements of the dental nursing apprenticeship. However, there has been insufficient oversight of the quality of teaching. Leaders have not provided training and development that helps teachers to reflect on and improve their teaching skills. Leaders have not established arrangements for frequent external challenge to hold them to account when making improvements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 12 to 14 February 2025

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What does the provider need to do to improve?

 Ensure that teachers support apprentices to complete the portfolios they need to achieve their apprenticeship.  Assess accurately whether apprentices understand the new knowledge that they have been taught.  Offer sufficient professional development to teachers to improve their teaching skills.  Provide careers information, advice and guidance to apprentices so that they are aware of the wide range of possible routes they can take on completion of their apprenticeship.  Improve the effectiveness of governance arrangements to help leaders improve the quality of training. 12 to 14 February 2025

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Provider details

Address 16 Beresford Square Woolwich London SE18 6AY

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Provider details

Principal, CEO or equivalent Shekhar Sharma

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Provider details

Provider type Independent learning provider

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Provider details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Provider details

Main subcontractors None 12 to 14 February 2025

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the director, 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.

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Inspection team

Georgina Ager, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Rochelle Saneria His Majesty’s Inspector 12 to 14 February 2025

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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.

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