Safe Opportunities

Safe Opportunities Monitoring visit report

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Name of lead inspector: Suzanne Wainwright, His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 February 2025

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Type of provider: Independent specialist college

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Address: 14 Mallard Court Mallard Way Crewe Cheshire CW1 6ZQ Monitoring visit: Safe Opportunities, 26 and 27 February 2025

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Context and focus of visit

Ofsted undertakes to carry out monitoring visits to independent specialist colleges newly funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This monitoring visit was undertaken as part of those arrangements and as outlined in the ‘Further education and skills inspection handbook’, especially the sections entitled ‘Monitoring visits’ and ‘Monitoring visits to providers that are newly directly publicly funded’. The focus of these visits is on the themes set out below.

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Context and focus of visit

Safe Opportunities was founded in 2014 to support school children aged 14 to 16 to attend work-focused alternative provision that complements their school curriculums. Leaders extended their provision to include post-16 young people, who leave school with an education, health and care plan, but who find the concept of attending a general further education college too overwhelming. These young people are at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training, particularly because of their personal and social needs. Students who enrol at the college are often care- experienced and have adverse childhood and/or poor educational experiences.

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Context and focus of visit

At the time of the monitoring visit, 22 students followed the Step-16 course and 13 followed a supported internship. Most students have learning difficulties or disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, visual impairment or Down’s syndrome.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers have developed effective and individualised curriculums to meet the needs of students who face considerable educational barriers. They have developed two pathways that provide opportunities for students to experience the world of work. These are the Step-16 course and the supported internship. Leaders have developed the Step-16 course to encourage students to aspire to securing paid work and to develop their English and mathematical skills. This course is welldeveloped and has a clear purpose. However, a few students start a supported internship before they have fully developed the skills they need for sustained work. This impacts on their attendance and achievement.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders work with a variety of employers across a range of industry sectors. These include sectors with identified local and regional skills shortages. Leaders help employers to make adaptations to job roles to ensure that students and supported Monitoring visit: Safe Opportunities, 26 and 27 February 2025 interns access placements that are meaningful and useful to them. Interns benefit from effective workplace support from experienced job coaches. Leaders support employers to successfully pursue government grants that help students to move into paid employment at the end of their course.

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Reasonable progress

Teachers, coordinators and job coaches are suitably qualified and experienced. Leaders support staff to gain qualifications and to take part in training to enhance their knowledge and skills. For example, staff benefited from training by educational psychologists, who helped them to understand how students’ behaviours relate to their past experiences. Staff learned how to adapt their teaching practices for students affected by childhood trauma.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have implemented appropriate quality assurance and improvement arrangements. These help leaders to accurately identify the strengths and weaknesses in their provision. They already recognise that the personal development curriculum and a few quality processes, such as the recording of students’ progress and target setting, require development. However, it is too soon to evaluate the impact that leaders’ plans will have on rectifying these areas for improvement.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders assess what students already know and can do fully before they start their course. This process is well developed for Step-16 students. It leads to clear and manageable targets that help students to return to learning, often after long periods of not attending school. However, targets for a few supported interns are less developed and do not focus sufficiently on building interns’ professional behaviours, such as attendance and independence.

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Reasonable progress

Students and interns are positive about their learning and enjoy coming to college. They benefit from individualised tuition or studying in small groups. Teachers encourage them to express their opinions and to ask for help. Through teachers’ sensitive and individualised approaches, students gain confidence and improve their social and communication skills significantly. Most students progress to positive destinations, such as paid employment or further learning at a higher level.

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Reasonable progress

Most teachers plan their teaching effectively. They link what they teach to the knowledge, skills and behaviours that students need to gain employment. For example, in English, teachers teach students to recognise the difference between formal and informal language and how to make appropriate responses. However, in a few lessons, teachers do not give students sufficient time to process questions and to develop their answers fully. Monitoring visit: Safe Opportunities, 26 and 27 February 2025 Leaders and managers monitor most students’ progress frequently and meticulously. They know how successfully their students perform against academic and personal targets. However, a minority of targets are too broad and do not allow students to build on their new knowledge and skills incrementally to help them to remember what they have learned over time. Staff do not always include specific work-related targets that students need to achieve in the workplace.

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Reasonable progress

Students discuss their career aspirations with qualified careers staff at the start of their course. Leaders use this information to secure suitable work experience and work placements that meet students’ future aspirations. They have begun to implement career development plans for all students using recognised career frameworks to ensure consistency and quality of teaching.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders and managers prioritise safeguarding across their provision. This includes ensuring that employers understand safeguarding expectations and requirements and adhere to them.

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Reasonable progress

Leaders have implemented appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures. Staff, including the designated safeguarding leads, receive frequent and relevant training and updates on safeguarding and ‘Prevent’ duty guidance.

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Reasonable progress

Students say that they feel safe in college and that there are staff members they can talk to if they have a problem or a concern. They appreciate the calm and safe environments that leaders have created to help them to learn. However, students are less confident to discuss the risks they may face where they live or learn. Monitoring visit: Safe Opportunities, 26 and 27 February 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for students 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

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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Reasonable progress

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

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