Ambition Teacher Training

Ambition Teacher Training

Address: 2 Bridge Wharf, 156 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9UU Unique reference number (URN): 2740715

p.1

Achievement Strong standard

Trainees systematically develop a secure knowledge of relevant research and pedagogical approaches in the primary phase. The taught curriculum, alongside an embedded mentoring programme, ensures that trainees become progressively more expert at applying this knowledge in the classroom. They consistently develop the attributes and knowledge that they need to flourish in the profession. This includes an awareness of the realities of teaching and how to set high standards for behaviour. Leaders’ effective systems for analysing trainees’ progress mean that any difficulties trainees encounter are addressed swiftly and effectively.

p.1

Achievement Strong standard

Mentors and the providers’ training partners speak highly about trainees’ readiness to teach. Trainees also say that they have the knowledge and attributes they need to be successful in their classroom practice. Completion rates for trainees are consistently high. The programme is very effective at supporting trainees to achieve qualified teacher status and a postgraduate certificate in education. Overall, trainees are very well prepared for their future teaching careers.

p.1

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

The curriculum has been expertly designed by leaders with the most pertinent research for primary phase teaching embedded throughout. Across the programme, leaders shape and refine content with precision, with deliberate attention given to the sequence of trainees' learning and how their skills and confidence should be nurtured over time. Leaders' approach means that trainees experience a curriculum that equips them with the foundational teaching knowledge needed to be highly effective in the classroom. Intensive teaching and practice and postgraduate certificate in education assignments are positioned carefully. These introduce trainees to the right information at the right time, enabling the trainees to build their knowledge and understanding incrementally. Safeguarding is prioritised at the start of the taught curriculum so that trainees are fully prepared to begin in their main teaching placements in September.

p.2

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Inclusion is the cornerstone of the curriculum. It is skilfully interwoven throughout the subject and professional studies aspects of the course. Through thoughtful engagement with research, taught sessions, and guided practice in school, trainees learn the art of quality first teaching. This includes understanding the role of adaptive teaching and the importance of assessment and questioning.

p.2

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

School-based training, both at trainees’ main and contrasting placements, is arranged purposefully, supporting trainees to practise and apply theories with increasing proficiency and ease. High-quality mentoring underpins this. Mentors are knowledgeable about the taught course and the rationale for what is taught. This enables them to optimise the support they provide to trainees, with feedback centred on embedding key learning into day-to-day practice. Any occasional variation in mentoring quality is swiftly addressed by leaders so that trainees’ experiences remain positive.

p.2

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Assessment approaches are integrated strategically and productively into the organisation and delivery of the curriculum. For example, the provider’s learning platform enables course leaders, training partners and mentors to build a shared picture of each trainees’ progress and provide feedback or supplementary support in an efficient, well-directed manner.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders enact their inclusive values consistently and resolutely. This is clear throughout the taught course and its materials, as well as the way in which leaders work to overcome trainees’ barriers.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

Equality, diversity and inclusion are championed both centrally and through each of the training partners. This starts with recruitment, where, for example, leaders have worked with external partners to recruit diverse cohorts and to identify parts of the country where there is a lack of teacher training provision. Leaders proactively work to plug these gaps, reflecting their mission to provide high-quality teachers within disadvantaged areas. The programme also makes it clear that there is a pathway into teaching for all, with support provided to assure success for trainees, irrespective of their barriers or needs.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

From the point of application and continuing throughout the course, there are a range of ways and opportunities by which trainees can report any barriers to learning. Once identified, leaders prioritise appropriate support and adjustments, and action these swiftly. In the vast majority of cases, high-quality mentoring support, alongside the work of leaders, ensures that trainees get help that is both timely and pertinent to their needs. This support is regularly reviewed and adapted by leaders and staff, as required, to successfully reduce or remove any barriers trainees may face.

p.3

Leadership Strong standard

Leaders, including trustees, have a very clear vision to train teachers who can make a difference to the outcomes and experiences of pupils who face disadvantage. Each part of the provision, from recruitment to curriculum documentation and delivery, has been designed with this vision in mind. As a result, everyone involved in the programme, including teacher educators, training partners and their trainees understand and do their utmost to enact the provider's aims.

p.3

Leadership Strong standard

Mentoring is supported by expert training from Ambition Institute staff. For example, the mentoring programme at each training partner is supported by an initial teacher training fellow, a member of the central team who maintains strategic oversight of their work. This is complemented by regular updates and step-by-step information to ensure that mentors have everything they need to be effective in their roles. Leaders’ oversight means that they are quick to pick up on instances when mentoring across training partners is not as precise or as consistent as they expect it to be.

p.3

Leadership Strong standard

Leaders are highly analytical about every aspect of their curriculum offer. They understand its strengths and are committed to continuous improvement. As part of this, leaders seek the views of all stakeholders often and they respond to any feedback they receive swiftly. Trustees and the executive board also provide insightful and evidence-driven support and challenge. This guides leaders’ work to ensure that their vision and high expectations are universally embedded across all programme aspects.

p.3

Leadership Strong standard

Overall, staff are very positive about the support and training they receive from Ambition Institute, including for their wellbeing. Staff also feel their workload is manageable and taken into consideration.

p.3

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

As with other areas of the initial teacher education curriculum, professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing considerations are seamlessly integrated through the planned curriculum, the taught course and the mentoring offer. Expectations are high, with leaders taking tangible steps to foster a positive environment where all are treated fairly and supported to manage the demands of the course.

p.3

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The curriculum breaks down the professional behaviours that trainees need to develop into successful teachers. For example, trainees learn about professional conduct, safeguarding,

p.3

Next steps

Leaders should continue their effective work to embed the highest levels of consistency across all aspects of the primary programme and to ensure a transformational impact on the experiences of all trainees. dress code and attendance. Leaders act quickly when trainees may benefit from further support in order to consistently meet the professional standards that are expected of them. For example, when needed, trainees receive additional guidance on aspects such as effective time management. The course is structured to incrementally build trainees’ professional responsibility and resilience so they are not fazed by any unforeseen challenges that arise on their training. The programme ensures that trainees understand the routine realities of the teaching profession, including strategies they can adopt or adapt to support workload and wellbeing.

p.4

Next steps

Wider course materials signpost trainees to a range of pastoral support, both within Ambition and externally, such as help that is available through counselling services. Those who struggle with their wellbeing for any reason receive well-considered guidance and care to enable them to remain on track with their learning.

p.4

Achievement Strong standard

Trainees are consistently knowledgeable about the taught curriculum. They articulate the theory they have learned and put this into practice with assuredness and clarity. Trainees are particularly confident in their use of behaviour management strategies and making adaptations to their teaching to support pupils with a broad range of needs. They also demonstrate a secure understanding of important teaching principles, such as those related to working memory and the importance of reducing cognitive load. Trainees appreciate the importance of subject-specific pedagogies and speak about these with clarity.

p.4

Achievement Strong standard

Trainees show a firm grasp of their strengths and areas for development. This is because mentoring sets clear and helpful targets, including in relation to the development of subject knowledge. Through the programme’s structured approach to building and deepening expertise, trainees cultivate habits and routines of reflective practice to sustain them in their teaching careers. The vast majority of trainees successfully complete the course as qualified teachers and with a postgraduate certificate in education. They leave well equipped for and confident about their next steps in the profession.

p.5

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

The ambitious curriculum is designed using principles from pertinent academic research, including those related to cognitive science. At every stage of trainees’ development, the curriculum is ordered with precision. It supports trainees in moving from knowing, to doing, to applying and engaging critically with taught content. They master key ideas securely before moving on to increasingly complex concepts.

p.5

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Inclusion is woven throughout the professional studies and subject curriculums. Trainees learn the fundamentals of quality first teaching early in the programme. As the programme progresses, the curriculum extends trainees’ insight into inclusive practice, including the application of the graduated approach for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Intensive training and practice and academic assignments are particularly well considered in contributing to the development of trainees’ adaptive practice. Trainees are knowledgeable about the roles of expert school professionals who can help them meet pupils’ diverse needs.

p.5

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

Trainees enjoy their engagement with high-quality research throughout the programme. They talk assuredly about their reading around topics such as explicit instruction and language acquisition. Trainees’ learning is further enhanced by visits to primary and special schools as well as post-16 providers. Trainees speak positively about how this has informed their wider understanding of ‘how education fits together,’ in the words of one trainee. They are also well supported to understand the teaching of phonics and numeracy through dedicated sessions. Trainees understand their roles in keeping pupils safe. They complete extensive training on safeguarding and the 'Prevent' duty prior to starting the course and build on this initial understanding through the training.

p.5

Curriculum, teaching and training Strong standard

The curriculum is purposefully integrated. Teacher educators and mentors are experts in their subject and phase. They have a secure understanding of their role in delivering the curriculum to a high standard and checking trainees are on track with their learning. Mentoring provides systematic and precise target-setting and feedback which enables trainees to make positive progress. Should any variation occur in the quality of mentoring, leaders act swiftly to maintain consistently effective support for trainees.

p.5

Inclusion Strong standard

Trainees feel welcomed by the provider. They have many opportunities to declare any identified needs and are happy to do so. Trainees are confident that leaders will respond swiftly to any requests for adaptations or reasonable adjustments. Leaders carefully design support plans which can be tailored to trainees’ different circumstances. These plans are shared, as appropriate, with all the staff and mentors who work with the trainee. As a result, trainees benefit from support plans that are well implemented, both at centrally led training and in placement schools.

p.6

Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders implement a range of strategies to ensure that trainees who may not otherwise complete the course are able to succeed. For instance, some trainees benefit from a slower move to the required 80% teaching load, while others receive additional time to complete assignments or extra mentoring support. Leaders ensure that there is a deliberate and staged removal of these support mechanisms over time, with trainees’ needs and views shaping these decisions. This means that trainees become increasingly independent as the course progresses.

p.6

Inclusion Strong standard

Trainees access a range of support both internally and through wider external networks. This includes, for example, counselling and life coaching. Trainees also have the option to join one of the provider’s ‘affinity’ networks. These offer helpful support for trainees who are parents and carers, those who face race or equality issues, or those who have mental health needs and/or disabilities.

p.6

Leadership Strong standard

Leaders’ vision is to provide disadvantaged pupils with excellent teachers. This vision is enacted through all areas of the programme. It is shared by training partners, staff and trainees, who all strive to embed it in their daily practice. Leaders ensure that staff consistently make decisions in the best interests of trainees.

p.6

Leadership Strong standard

Trustees and the executive board are rigorous in holding leaders to account in their implementation of this vision. Trustees have a detailed understanding of the work of leaders. They provide a great balance of challenge and support to ensure that trainees progress well through the curriculum. Trustees ensure that the programme meets all mandatory compliance and teacher training criteria. Leaders fully understand and follow all safer recruitment practices.

p.6

Leadership Strong standard

Leaders demonstrate an accurate understanding of their strengths and areas for development. They are relentless in seeking to tweak and refine aspects of the programme in response to feedback and with stakeholders' workload in mind. Leaders also work effectively with external partners, such as finding potential training partners in areas of the country where there is a lack of teacher training provision.

p.6

Leadership Strong standard

Leaders ensure that staff involved have the training and support they need to deliver the programme with consistency. This includes those delivering the mentoring programme. The initial teacher training fellows, members of the provider's central team, play a key role in quality assurance and in ensuring effective collaboration with training partners and schools. This approach ensures that when trainees experience variation in school-based training and

p.6

Next steps

Leaders should continue their effective work to embed the highest levels of consistency across all aspects of the secondary programme and to ensure a transformational impact on the experiences of all trainees. mentoring, leaders act to ensure it does not persist. Staff are positive about how well they are supported by leaders, including with workload and wellbeing.

p.7

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders have very high expectations of trainees’ professional attributes and behaviours. These expectations are introduced at the pre-course conference and maintained in all aspects of the programme, whether this is delivered centrally or on school placement.

p.7

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees understand the expectations of them as professionals both within and beyond the classroom. For example, they recognise why it is necessary to follow the school’s professional dress code and the importance of punctuality and attendance each day. Trainees appreciate the provider’s approach to promoting professional conduct, valuing how this prepares them well for long-term success in their role. Trainees also benefit from helpful advice and expectations on ways to interact professionally with staff and pupils. Trainees understand the importance of how to safeguard themselves as professionals, for example through considering their online presence.

p.7

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees benefit from well-considered pastoral support in their placement schools. Many especially appreciate the designated 30-minute ‘wellbeing’ time each week where they can discuss any worries with mentors. Course leaders are swift to alert mentors in the case of any wellbeing concerns so that trainees benefit from joined-up support.

p.7

Professional behaviours, personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Trainees feel well prepared for managing the demands of the next stage of their career. Leaders ensure that trainees learn how to manage their own workload. For example, leaders have ensured that taught sessions on workload helpfully occur at the point when trainees’ teaching load increases. Trainees develop resilience and a range of strategies to ensure they are ready to thrive in their teaching career.

p.7

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

Trainees develop a thorough understanding of the knowledge and skills required to become successful primary or secondary school teachers. They learn an expertly constructed curriculum which is delivered through high-quality taught sessions by teacher educators. Trainees appreciate how well these sessions develop their pedagogical understanding in both their phase and subject. Trainees also value the intensive teaching and practice (ITAP) parts of the programme. For example, primary phase trainees praise how the ITAP on phonics prepares them well for their future teaching careers. Trainees develop a range of strategies to check pupils’ understanding and swiftly address misconceptions. Trainees articulate these strategies clearly and demonstrate confidence in applying them to maximise pupils’ learning during lessons. Trainees are also knowledgeable about how to remove barriers to learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or

p.7

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

disabilities. The curriculum enables trainees to become increasingly assured in developing a positive learning environment, including managing pupils’ behaviour effectively.

p.8

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

Trainees feel well supported by leaders and staff at all levels of the provider, including those at training partners and placement schools. For example, weekly wellbeing checks are a key component of trainees’ meetings with their mentors. Leaders ensure that systems to support wellbeing are easy for everyone to access. Trainees are also aware of external organisations who they can reach out to when needed. As a result, trainees feel confident to share any learning barriers or emerging wellbeing concerns. They are also positive about how swiftly barriers to their learning or wellbeing are identified and responded to, including the high-quality, impactful support that leaders organise. Trainees appreciate this as well as the clear development targets they receive.

p.8

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

Trainees have a secure understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. They speak knowledgeably about how to identify a range of safeguarding concerns and how to report this in their placement schools. For example, trainees understand the roles of, and make links with, various professionals in placement schools, including the designated safeguarding lead.

p.8

About this inspection

Trainees in the primary and secondary phases are undertaking a postgraduate route into teaching leading to qualified teacher status and a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE). The postgraduate route is offered in partnership with 20 training partners. Trainees may opt to complete these programmes on a full-time or part-time basis. The PGCE is offered in partnership with Liverpool Hope University.

p.8

About this inspection

Trainees in the primary phase train to teach 5 to 11 year olds and trainees in the secondary phase train to teach 11 to 16 year olds. Currently, there are 219 trainees in the primary phase and 232 trainees in the secondary phase. There is also an assessment-only route for suitable applicants wishing to gain qualified teacher status.

p.8

About this inspection

This is a new provider in the initial teacher education sector and it works nationally with its 20 training partners. This is the second year that the provider has been delivering the programme.

p.8

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.

p.8

About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the executive director, programmes; the director of initial teacher training; the associate directors of initial teacher training and the director of learning design, as well as other leaders. The overall lead inspector also spoke with the chief executive

p.8

Primary phase lead inspector:

Samantha Ingram, His Majesty's Inspector

p.9

Team inspectors:

Tessa Holledge, His Majesty's Inspector Andrea Bedeau, His Majesty's Inspector Guy Forbat, His Majesty's Inspector Luke Stubbles, His Majesty's Inspector Janet Hallett, Ofsted Inspector Simon Conway, His Majesty's Inspector Chris Parker, His Majesty's Inspector Martin Lee, Ofsted Inspector Sue Timmins, Ofsted Inspector Helen Large, Ofsted Inspector Tim Johnson, His Majesty's Inspector

p.9

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.

p.9

Number of trainees

Primary 19 219 officer of Ambition Institute, members of the board of trustees and representatives from training partners.

p.9

Exceptional

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

p.10

Strong standard

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

p.10

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.

p.10

Needs attention

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

p.10

Urgent improvement

The provider needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of training. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

p.10

Urgent improvement

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 .

p.11

Urgent improvement

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-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Urgent improvement

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Urgent improvement

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

p.11