Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Limited

Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Limited

Address: Black Country House, Rounds Green Road, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 2DG Unique reference number (URN): 2827081

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders are highly committed to promoting inclusion across their organisation. They realise this vision through carefully articulated policies, practices and carefully planned curriculum design. They are passionate about providing pathways into teaching for individuals from a wide and diverse range of backgrounds. They deliberately select organisations to work with that share their values of sustainable employment, skills and training.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders systematically promote diversity. They deliberately design their recruitment process to remove potential barriers that may prevent individuals from applying for teacher training due to their prior attainment, socio-economic background and age.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders routinely evaluate the effectiveness of the support they provide to trainees. They adapt and reduce this according to trainees’ changing and emerging needs. Their swift

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Expected standard

actions enable trainees to remain committed and engaged in learning. Learners with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and other barriers make the same or better progress than their peers.

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Expected standard

Staff arrange highly effective support to help trainees who experience challenges to their learning as a result of identified SEND and other barriers. For example, they arrange assessment extensions, breaks in learning and additional one-to-one teaching for trainees who have physical and mental health challenges and caring responsibilities.

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Expected standard

Leaders provide staff with comprehensive training to support trainees with SEND and other barriers. Staff complete training in a variety of areas such as autism awareness, neurodiversity and trauma-informed practice. This helps them to carry out their roles confidently.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees develop valuable knowledge, skills and professional behaviours required to teach effectively within their specialist contexts. For example, trainees who work in specialist settings for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities use education, health and care plans with greater confidence. They adjust their language for the variety of stakeholder groups they work with, including learners, parents, carers and local authorities. Trainees increase their professional credibility and confidently design and lead new training programmes within their organisations.

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Achievement Expected standard

Trainees are generally well prepared to teach their specialist subject in their organisations. They plan, design and assess learning effectively and understand their safeguarding responsibilities. However, leaders have not ensured that trainees consistently participate in wider professional activities beyond their teaching commitments, such as attending team meetings, undertaking peer observation and visiting other settings. This limits those trainees’ understanding of the breadth and diversity of the further education and skills sector.

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Achievement Expected standard

Most trainees complete their apprenticeship. Of those that have completed, a high proportion gained distinctions. Achievement rates have improved considerably and are now high.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders have planned and designed an ambitious and well-structured curriculum that supports trainees who work in the further education and skills sector effectively. Trainees develop important new knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the apprenticeship standard through monthly themed workshops, frequent assessment, routine one-to-one meetings with mentors and training assessors, reviews of progress and professionally designed study materials. Trainees become better able to link theoretical principles they study to the teaching they undertake at work. Staff structure the curriculum logically to enable trainees to build foundational knowledge before they study more complex concepts. For example, trainees learn about what a curriculum is early on in their programme. They then compare and contrast different educational models, such as spiral, linear and top-down curriculum design, to plan training

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

in their specific teaching contexts within charities, healthcare settings and specialist settings for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Leaders’ arrangements for mentoring are broadly effective. Trainees typically benefit from the subject knowledge and expertise of those who support them at work. However, in those instances where trainees receive support from colleagues other than their allocated mentors, leaders do not ensure feedback from those colleagues is captured consistently in mentoring discussions or reflected in target setting.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Staff use assessment purposefully to identify gaps in trainees’ knowledge and skills. They provide constructive developmental feedback and helpfully refer trainees to relevant evidence-informed research, such as Rosenshein’s principles, to reflect on their teaching. Over time, trainees become increasingly more evaluative in their teaching and work to a high standard in their written assessments and practical teaching.

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Curriculum, teaching and training Expected standard

Staff and mentors adapt training and support to meet trainees’ individual needs effectively. They use flexible assessment methods, assessment extensions where appropriate and reasonable adjustments such as transcripts after sessions. This reduces barriers to learning and helps trainees remain engaged in learning.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision for the delivery of their initial teacher education curriculum. Their work clearly supports the local, regional and national teacher shortages in key sectors including charities, healthcare settings and specialist provisions for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work effectively with employers and workplace mentors to help trainees become more confident and develop the resilience they need to sustain a career in teaching.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders have a thorough understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement. They have taken swift actions and implemented a clear transformation plan to improve the quality of trainees’ outcomes and participation in learning. Most actions taken already have had a positive impact on trainees’ achievements. Leaders recognise there is more work to do to improve the quality of their mentoring arrangements and broaden trainees’ exposure to the wider further education and skills sector.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders have recruited appropriately qualified and experienced staff to teach their curriculum. Staff undertake mandatory training in safeguarding and the 'Prevent' duty in addition to training in a broad range of areas such as neurodiversity, dyslexia awareness and sexual harassment. A few staff complete valuable additional qualifications, such as coaching to support their work with trainees.

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Leadership Expected standard

Leaders provide mentors with valuable support to carry out their roles. For example, mentors receive a comprehensive handbook, benefit from a helpful induction that outlines their roles and responsibilities and training in areas such as giving effective feedback to trainees.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that trainees’ developmental targets are consistently shared and understood by those who support them when in training and at work.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that they provide opportunities for trainees to develop their understanding of their wider aspects of the further education and skills teacher role.

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Next steps

Leaders should further refine their mentoring arrangements to ensure that trainees consistently benefit from subject specialist support. Leaders prioritise the wellbeing and welfare of staff effectively. They provide them with a comprehensive range of support through professional development, frequent appraisals, teaching observations and caseload reviews. Staff appreciate the support they receive and feel valued.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff and mentors provide trainees with effective pastoral support to help them cope with workplace pressures, anxiety and dips in confidence. Trainees benefit from the sensitive guidance provided through progress reviews, mentor meetings and one-to-one sessions. They value the positive impact this has on their mental wellbeing.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff set and reinforce clear expectations of professional behaviours, attendance and engagement in learning. Trainees consistently demonstrate professionalism when in learning and at work. They understand their responsibilities as teaching professionals and apply organisational codes of conduct effectively. Overall, trainees’ attendance at monthly workshops and reviews of progress is high.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Trainees are committed to their learning and are keen to develop their skills. In workshops, they participate enthusiastically in discussions and contribute examples from their own teaching settings. Most submit their work in a timely manner, respond positively to feedback and make expected progress.

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Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff work well with employers to ensure that trainees balance their workload and study commitments appropriately. Staff make relevant adaptions, including flexible assessment deadlines and ensuring trainees receive protected study time. They use different assessment methods, such as work products and recorded professional discussions, to lower the burden of writing assignments and offer timely additional support for trainees experiencing personal or professional challenges. Trainees typically manage their workloads effectively.

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

Trainees value the teaching they receive from highly knowledgeable and experienced staff. Staff use a wide range of evidence-informed approaches, including modelling, questioning, peer critique, self-assessment, reflection and professional discussion, effectively. Trainees replicate these approaches in their workplace contexts and increasingly make more informed decisions about strategies to use with their learners.

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

Trainees study a curriculum that is suitably informed by relevant research. Through exploring pedagogy developed by key educational theorists such as Bloom, Vygotsky and Tyler, trainees improve their teaching by deepening their knowledge and understanding of lesson design, assessment for learning and stretch and challenge.

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

Trainees are prepared to teach learners with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities and other challenges to their learning effectively. They learn about inclusive practices, including making reasonable adjustments, using assistive technology, adapting communication and sensory regulation. Trainees who work with learners with complex needs adjust their teaching sensitively using tactile resources, such as raised lettering for blind learners and adapted game pieces for learners with limited dexterity.

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

Trainees develop important new knowledge, skills and behaviours. They grow in confidence through their training. In mental health settings, they use their new-found confidence to delegate tasks to individuals, manage groups with assurance and use relevant learning resources to support their teaching. Employers see a marked difference in trainees’ ability to lead training sessions.

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

Trainees feel safe and know how to keep their learners safe. They know how to report their concerns, both at the provider and at work. They have good rapport with staff and trust that they would deal with any incidents of bullying and harassment, if reported, swiftly.

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

Trainees typically sustain employment and, in a few cases, take on additional responsibilities or progression through their organisation. They enjoy increased confidence, improved professional credibility and a stronger ability to design, lead and evaluate training within their organisations.

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About this inspection

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.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with leaders, managers, staff, mentors, trainees, employers and governors during the inspection.

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About this inspection

Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Limited, part of the Shaw Trust Group, is an independent training provider based in the West Midlands. The provider teaches the level 5 learning and skills teacher apprenticeship. Trainees study an online curriculum.

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Facts and figures used on 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. At the time of the inspection, there were 8 active learners.

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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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