Team Domenica

Team Domenica

Address: 2-3 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton, BN1 4QE Unique reference number (URN): 149471

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, learners are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect providers for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The provider has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The provider has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have created a culture with inclusion at its heart and with shared high aspirations for all learners. They are passionate in their belief that, with the right support, everyone can develop the knowledge, skills and confidence that they need to succeed.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff quickly acquire a thorough and accurate understanding of each learner’s abilities, support needs and aspirations. Leaders work closely with learners, their parents and carers and stakeholders, such as the local authority and previous education settings, to understand the often-multiple barriers which learners face to their learning. Leaders use the insight they gain to create programmes of learning and support closely aligned to learners’ needs. Staff work effectively with external professionals, such as occupational therapists, to integrate specialist support seamlessly into learners’ programmes.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff liaise with employers to provide learners with work experience and supported internship placements that reflect closely learners’ interests and career goals. Skilled and experienced job coaches support learners to undertake purposeful job roles, tailored to learners’ needs and abilities.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff track learners’ progress closely and monitor the effectiveness of support diligently, reducing it swiftly wherever appropriate. Staff liaise with employers to identify workplace reasonable adjustments that help learners gain independence and make the transition into paid work successfully.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders, with input from learners and staff, have created a vision and set of values centred on helping young people with learning disabilities and autism to succeed in work and thrive in life. Leaders and governors prioritise what is in learners’ best interests when making decisions. They recently acquired a local pub to provide a wider range of training facilities and experiences that reflect learners’ job aspirations in the hospitality sector.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders and governors understand the strengths of the provision and take sensible, proportionate action where further improvement is required. They rightly recognise the need to sustain their work to ensure that the quality of teaching in English and mathematics matches the high standards found elsewhere in the provision.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Skilled and knowledgeable governors challenge and support leaders to enhance the provision further. They recently tasked leaders with improving the provision of key information, resulting in leaders and governors now having a richer picture of learners’ progress and performance.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders work purposefully with a wide range of carefully selected partners to enrich learners’ prospects significantly. They talk with the Chamber of Commerce to understand and respond to skills needs in the area. They engage local charities and community groups to provide learners with opportunities to develop essential skills such as travel training.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have created a supportive workplace where staff feel valued. Leaders are mindful of the pressures that staff can experience and manage their workloads thoughtfully, so staff enjoy work. Leaders provide staff with a wide range of highly tailored professional learning activities that enable them to grow and develop.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Learners respond very positively to leaders’ high expectations for them to acquire the skills, values and behaviours essential for success in life and work. Leaders have created a rich and varied curriculum that empowers learners to be themselves, self-advocate and develop high levels of independence. Learners are respectful, tolerant and courteous.

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Participation and development Strong standard

Learners recognise attendance and punctuality as essential workplace expectations. They consistently arrive on time, ready to learn and work. They are highly motivated, work extremely hard and are professional in the workplace. They justly take pride in what they achieve.

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Participation and development Strong standard

All learners participate in an extensive programme of wider learning activities that staff provide. Learners enjoy playing cricket, practising yoga and dancing. These activities help learners develop a keen understanding of how to stay physically and emotionally well. Staff ensure that learners know how to keep safe while online and protect themselves from the risks from radicalisation and extremism. Staff skilfully and sensitively teach learners about healthy, appropriate relationships.

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Expected standard

Leaders have developed a highly effective, tailored careers programme that supports learners to make well-informed choices about their future. Carefully planned work experience placements help learners gain valuable insights into the world of work. During these activities, learners practise useful skills such as multitasking and being flexible that prepare them well for their future.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learners, all of whom have special educational needs and/or disabilities and often experience other challenges to their learning, make appropriate progress from their starting points. They develop valuable workplace skills, knowledge and behaviours, which are closely linked to their personal development priorities and career ambitions. For instance, when working in hospitality, they prepare fresh food and clean down afterwards. They apply their understanding of food intolerances and preferences to provide a high standard of customer service.

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Achievement Expected standard

Nearly all learners complete their programme and achieve their targets. Leaders have recently introduced functional skills qualifications in English and mathematics and are ambitious for learners’ success. While no learners have completed their qualification yet, most are making the progress expected. A small proportion of learners make slower progress developing aspects of their English skills.

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Achievement Expected standard

Learners are well prepared for their future. They acquire a sense of self-belief and feel confident for what lies ahead. Most move on to paid employment and volunteering successfully.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have implemented processes and practices to provide them with an accurate understanding of the quality of the provision. Where they identify a need for improvement, such as in the teaching of functional skills, they take effective action.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have created an ambitious 2-year curriculum carefully designed to enable learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to acquire essential employability, personal and social skills. Initially, teachers skilfully combine classroom learning with carefully selected work experience placements and extensive wider learning activities to enable learners to gain valuable foundational knowledge and skills. Learners then apply their learning in well-planned, supported internship work placements, which help them to hone their skills and grow in confidence.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Expert teachers skilfully order learning logically and sensibly. They prioritise and tailor teaching activities to meet learners’ needs and enable them to achieve their development priorities, such as those in their education, health and care plan. For instance, they provide plentiful opportunities for learners needing to develop their communication skills to speak in different settings and with different groups, so that learners become confident expressing themselves.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Learners are taught well by teachers who are expert in supporting learners with SEND. Teachers skilfully embed English, mathematical and digital skills in teaching activities, helping learners to become confident using these essential skills.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff provide learners with useful feedback that enables them to understand what they are doing well and how to improve their future work. In this way, learners’ work is generally at an appropriate standard and improves over time.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities study and work in calm, welcoming and supportive learning environments and workplaces. They acquire valuable employability and essential life skills while working in one of Team Domenica’s cafes. They enjoy the comradeship they experience with peers and rightly take pride in the high-quality, professional service they provide to paying customers.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Learners have very positive attitudes to their studies and work. They are committed to achieving greater independence and securing meaningful employment. They are resilient in overcoming the barriers they encounter and determined to be successful.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Learners benefit from a highly inclusive curriculum that is closely aligned to their needs, interests and future aspirations. Staff work closely with learners to provide highly effective support, that learners value greatly. This enables learners to participate fully in learning and workplace activities. Learners respond positively to staff, who purposefully reduce support, in recognition of learners’ growing competence and confidence.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Learners feel very safe while in learning and at work. They develop a deep and sophisticated understanding of possible sources of risk and know how to keep safe. They understand harmful topics such as misogyny, racism and sexism, appreciating that they are not acceptable and knowing how to raise concerns if they encounter them. They confidently discuss sensitive topics such as consent and intimate relations, in an age-appropriate way, which prepares them well for adult life.

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What it's like to be a learner and/or an apprentice at this provider

Learners value greatly the very wide range of activities available that allow them to explore their interests and try out new experiences. Staff carefully select activities that help learners to develop personal and social skills reflected in their education, health and care plans. Learners particularly enjoy playing sports such as badminton and volleyball. They recognise the importance of learning vital skills such as personal safety before applying these in the community. These factors all contribute to learners becoming resourceful, confident and work-ready young people.

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Team inspectors:

Hannah Hancock, Ofsted Inspector Kay Hedges, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that learners make sustained progress in functional skills English from their varied and individual starting points and pass their final assessments. Leaders should continue to consolidate and refine the changes they are making to the functional skills curriculum and how it is taught, so that high standards are sustained, in line with other parts of the provision.

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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, governors, teachers, staff, parents and carers, employers, local authority staff and other stakeholders and learners during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the provider:

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About this inspection

Team Domenica is a small specialist college based in Brighton. The college works with young people aged 18 to 25 who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Learners follow a 2-year programme. In year one, they undertake employability, personal and social skills training, study English and mathematics and complete work experience placements. In their second year, learners complete a supported internship with a substantial work placement and further skills development. At the time of the inspection, there were 36 learners enrolled. All were 18 years of age or older. All learners were in receipt of high needs funding and had an education, health and care plan.

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About this inspection

Principal: Lisa Campbell-Squires The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 9 June 2026

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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 education and/or care. 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 education and/or care.

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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

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 .

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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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