Mulberry College of Teaching

Mulberry College of Teaching

Address: Richard Street, Commercial Road, London, E1 2JP Unique reference number (URN): 2783278

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Inclusion Exceptional

Inclusion is central to the culture and ethos of the provider. Leaders have an impressive understanding of the local communities and the schools that serve these. They use this expertise to anticipate and build a deep understanding of the potential barriers that trainees might face. Leaders work proactively with local groups to address barriers potential trainees from diverse backgrounds might have, and they support them to access a career in teaching that they never thought possible. Leaders are highly skilled, precise and creative in how they reduce or remove any barriers trainees face. This is of consistently high quality across all aspects of the course, including school placements.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Leaders create a consistently positive and nurturing culture where trainees feel extremely welcome and highly valued. Trainees describe the partnership as a family. Leaders implement remarkably precise and effective systems to identify any barriers to learning that

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Strong standard

trainees may have. They take a highly nuanced approach, through applications, interviews and during the course, to identify any area of need. Leaders persistently track the impact of support and proactively establish any emerging needs through trainees’ ‘wellness plans’. This means that any emerging needs are identified swiftly, and it ensures trainees continue to flourish. Trainees have a comprehensive understanding of the support they can access, both at the provider and externally. Staff across the partnership have a profound understanding of trainees’ needs and how to support them. This ensures trainees thrive across all areas of their programme.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Leaders have unflinchingly high expectations for trainees’ professional behaviours. They have precise and proactive strategies in place throughout the application process, and beyond, to swiftly identify any trainee who does not meet these high standards. They then address this with both sensitivity and rigour. By the end of the programme, trainees consistently demonstrate very high levels of professionalism and become role models in their schools for their commitment to excellence in education.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Trainees understand and abide by the high expectations leaders have for their attendance and commitment to learning. Leaders take an unwavering and tailored approach to support to ensure trainees attend regularly, reducing any barriers that may emerge. As a result, trainees attend regularly and demonstrate a deep devotion to their learning.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The pastoral support in place for trainees is remarkable. Leaders have an exemplary depth of understanding of the trainees and their contexts. They go out of their way to anticipate support needs for trainees so that they can begin to pinpoint support during the application process. Leaders continually reflect on the impact of their actions on individual trainees to ensure the support is both bespoke and highly effective. Provider staff and trainees share a commitment that bullying or discrimination is not tolerated.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Leaders ensure all trainees are highly prepared to enter the teaching profession. They support trainees to develop sustainable strategies to learn how to manage their workload in schools and how to balance this with wider responsibilities outside of work. Strategies to support workload are framed with a relentless focus on ensuring the quality of support for pupils remains extremely high.

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Achievement Strong standard

Trainees build detailed knowledge of the taught curriculum. They gain an astute understanding of how to support all pupils, including those with a range of barriers to their learning. Trainees are very well equipped with subject knowledge and a wide range of skills to teach English expertly across the key stages. For example, trainees teach and model information clearly, skilfully address misconceptions and manage pupil behaviour very well. The achievement rate for trainees is very high. Leaders embed a culture of purposeful reflection and ensure that trainees become highly reflective practitioners. Trainees routinely and critically analyse the impact of different teaching approaches in their training and with their mentors. Trainees have a comprehensive understanding about their strengths and areas they need to improve. They are highly articulate about what they need to do to develop these priority areas.

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Achievement Strong standard

Trainees are very well prepared for the next stage of their career. They go on to thrive in their careers, both in local schools and those further afield.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Leaders ensure that trainees benefit from an ambitious and highly relevant curriculum that goes well beyond statutory expectations. They are passionate about the research that underpins this curriculum and ensure that they stay at the forefront of this. Leaders skilfully use pertinent and high-quality research to continuously develop and adapt the curriculum.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Trainees benefit from an expertly designed curriculum that builds their knowledge over time. Leaders carefully consider the context of the provider and the schools that serve the local community when developing the curriculum. This supports trainees to be consistently well prepared to thrive as teachers of English in local schools and beyond.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

The weekly training sessions, school placements and academic assignments work together seamlessly to build trainees’ comprehensive knowledge of teaching. For example, trainees learn about ways in which they can adapt their teaching, which they explore with mentors and practise in their placement schools. Trainees then use their reflections from all of this very well in their completion of an academic research project.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

A core aim of the curriculum is to ensure that trainees are well prepared to support pupils who may face barriers to their learning. This is integrated skilfully throughout the taught curriculum and is a key focus of intensive practice sessions, mentoring and academic assignments. This ensures that trainees are very well prepared to meet the needs of pupils with a wide range of differing needs. The curriculum also focuses on ensuring that trainees understand their role in keeping pupils safe. Trainees quickly learn how to identify a broad range of potential safeguarding concerns and how these should be reported in their placement schools.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Teacher educators, delivery partners and mentors possess a precise understanding of the taught curriculum. They understand very well what trainees are learning on a weekly basis, meaning they can link this learning to their trainees’ in-school practice. For example, mentors receive a weekly set of ‘practice prompts’ that ensure trainees apply and practise their current learning.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

The assessment of trainees is continuous and effective throughout all elements of the course. Teacher educators build a comprehensive knowledge of what trainees know and can do. They are adept in making sure that any gaps in knowledge or misconceptions are swiftly identified and addressed. Trainees receive helpful and meaningful feedback regularly from teacher educators and mentors. They use this feedback very well to reflect on and improve their teaching.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to reflect on, adapt and sustain their highly impactful work across all areas of the provision, particularly as they begin to grow to include further subjects.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders share an unwavering moral purpose of ensuring members of the local community have the opportunity to embark on a highly successful career in teaching. This is firmly understood by all involved in the programme. Leaders’ decisions are always taken in the best interests of the trainees and children in the community.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders have a sharp understanding of their strengths and priorities for improvement. They are highly reflective, continually making changes and amendments to the provision to ensure they are offering the highest possible experience for the trainees. Leaders make effective use of extensive feedback from partners to inform improvements to the programme. Those responsible for overseeing the provision fully understand their responsibilities, including ensuring all statutory duties are met. They hold leaders to account and provide support when required.

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Leadership Strong standard

There is a sharp focus on ensuring all those involved in the delivery of the programme are well trained and highly skilled. Leaders provide continual professional learning for all staff through high-quality training that is underpinned by the latest research and developments in their areas.

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Leadership Strong standard

Mentors are specifically recruited for their experience and expertise in teaching the subject of English. Many have prior mentoring experience and benefit from tailored training. As a result, all mentors receive training that develops their skills and expertise regardless of their level of prior experience. This, along with rigorous quality assurance from leaders, ensures that mentoring is consistently of a high quality.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders ensure the provision complies with all mandatory criteria. They carefully follow the required safer recruitment practices. Leaders take a range of measures to ensure they are meeting these requirements, including internal and external checks.

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Leadership Strong standard

Leaders ensure that staff are free from bullying or harassment. Although this is a small provider where staff take on a broad range of responsibilities, workload and wellbeing are key considerations. Staff are passionate about their work and their contribution to the provider and the local community.

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What it's like to be a trainee at this provider

Leaders are unwaveringly committed to training teachers who reflect the needs of schools in the local area and beyond. Trainees are consistently prepared extremely well for the realities of teaching. They become highly knowledgeable practitioners with an extensive

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Facts and figures used on inspection

understanding of how to meet the needs of their pupils. They develop a deep sense of responsibility for supporting pupils to achieve well. Trainees are unanimously positive about the knowledge they develop and how well prepared they are to thrive as teachers.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The support that leaders provide to reduce any barriers to trainees’ learning or wellbeing is remarkable. Leaders’ knowledge and understanding of trainees’ needs are exemplary, and the support that is put in place is precise, sustained and highly impactful. This has a transformational impact on trainees, ensuring they are supported to develop the skills and expertise to excel, regardless of any potential barriers.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum that ensures trainees become ready to be part of the professional teaching community. Trainees become extremely reflective practitioners with a deep moral purpose to support all pupils to succeed. They develop an excellent understanding of how to ensure pupils are kept safe so that they can flourish.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Trainees are unanimously positive about the quality of their taught sessions and the support they receive in their placement schools. There is a genuine collegiate culture where trainees feel a firm sense of belonging. Trainees value the deeply positive relationships they build with staff and their peers. This supports them to feel safe. They recognise the extraordinary lengths that leaders go to to understand their individual needs, putting in place pastoral support to ensure they thrive, regardless of any potential barriers they face.

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About this inspection

• Trainees all study a one-year postgraduate route leading to a post graduate certificate of education (PGCE). The PGCE is offered in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University. • There are 9 trainees. All are studying secondary English. • This is the second year that the provider has been delivering the programme. • Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs. • Inspectors spoke with the course leaders, those responsible for governance, training partners, mentors, professional mentors and a range of trainees and early career teachers during the inspection. This data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other providers can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The provider reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The provider is fulfilling the expected standard of training. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of training.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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

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