Pennine Camphill Community

Audience Published Provider reference Post-sixteen July 2007 50040

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Contents

Key strengths and areas for improvement 7

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Grading

Inspectors use a four-point scale to summarise their judgements about achievement and standards, the quality of provision, and leadership and management, which includes a grade for equality of opportunity.

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Grading

The descriptors for the four grades are: • grade 1 – outstanding • grade 2 – good • grade 3 – satisfactory • grade 4 – inadequate

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Grading

Further information can be found on how inspection judgements are made at www.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Scope of the inspection

In deciding the scope of this inspection, inspectors took account of: the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans; comments from the local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or other funding body; and where appropriate the previous inspection report ( www.ofsted.gov.uk ); reports from the inspectorate annual assessment visits or quality monitoring inspection; and data on learners and their achievements over the period since the last inspection. This inspection focused on the following aspects:

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Scope of the inspection

 overall effectiveness of the organisation and its capacity to improve further  achievement and standards  quality of provision  leadership and management.

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Description of the provider

1. Pennine Camphill Community is a residential independent specialist college. It provides further education and training for students aged 16-25 who have learning difficulties, including emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties. The college is part of the Association of Camphill Communities. Its mission is to “celebrate the unfolding of each person’s potential in a setting which encourages: learning together; care and respect for the environment; new social forms and activities”.

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Description of the provider

2. The college is situated 4 miles from Wakefield. It is based on a 38 acre site which includes five community houses, craft workshops, classrooms, a hall, market garden, farm and riding school.

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Description of the provider

3. There are 33 students enrolled in 2007, 27 of whom are funded through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). There are slightly more male than female students and most are aged 19 or over. Students are recruited mainly from the north of England. Students are members of the Community. Many staff are volunteers who live and work at the college. The principal holds his position by nomination from the senior management team and the trustees. The Pennine Camphill Community is a registered charity with four trustees at present.

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Description of the provider

4. The curriculum has three main strands: learning through living with others; learning through lessons; and learning through work. Each student follows an individualised programme. The college offers national vocational qualifications (NVQs) at level 1 in amenity horticulture, horse care, and catering and hospitality.

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Leadership and management Satisfactory: grade 3

Equality of opportunity Satisfactory: contributory grade 3

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Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

5. The quality of provision is satisfactory. Students’ achievements are satisfactory overall, and good in some aspects. Most students make good progress in acquiring practical skills. Achievement in national vocational qualifications (NVQs) is good. All students develop their confidence and personal skills. In classroom based lessons, progress is less clear. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Teachers make good use of baseline assessments to set subject specific targets in practical subjects, but the links between students’ core goals and specific targets are not always clear. Students generally enjoy their lessons but the more able are not sufficiently challenged. The teaching of literacy and numeracy has improved since the last inspection and is satisfactory. Information technology (IT) skills are not well assessed or developed.

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Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

6. The range of provision to meet students’ needs is satisfactory. They benefit from realistic working environments in the kitchens, on the farm and in other settings. The range of external accreditation open to them has improved since the last inspection but remains an area for further development. External work placements are in place but are too limited. Enrichment opportunities are satisfactory. The foundation course undertaken by new students is not providing an appropriate curriculum for all their needs.

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Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

7. Social and educational inclusion are satisfactory overall, with particular strengths in social inclusion. Students are recruited from a range of social backgrounds and they participate well in the life of the college community. Traditionally, there have been more male students but the proportion of female students is increasing. There are few students from minority ethnic backgrounds. Links with the local community to extend learning opportunities have improved since the last inspection but are still limited. Some students are restricted in their ability to participate in activities due to communication difficulties; the college has recently employed specialist skills to help them develop the use of visual symbols and signing.

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Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

8. Guidance and support for students are good. The tutorial system provides a strong framework for personal support and students also have access to a range of specialist medical and therapeutic services. The lack of access to speech and language therapy has recently been addressed. Admission and induction procedures are good. The links with the Connexions service are effective and the arrangements for transition have improved since the last inspection.

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Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

9. Leadership and management are satisfactory. There is a strong shared ethos and sense of purpose. The priorities of the college are clear and well supported by staff. Changes to the management structure in 2006 led to rapid improvements in some areas. Procedures for health and safety are good. Promotion of equality of opportunity is satisfactory. Quality assurance procedures are not satisfactory. Senior managers have a good understanding of the purpose of these procedures but this is not well shared across all the staff.

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Capacity to improve Satisfactory: grade 3

10. The college demonstrates a satisfactory capacity to improve its provision for learners. The senior management team has been restructured and strengthened. Management information systems are used increasingly well by senior managers and staff to record the progress and achievement of learners. Quality assurance processes are improving but are not yet well understood and owned by staff. Although the self-assessment report is too descriptive, its overall gradings agreed with those awarded by inspectors. The management team is clear about aspects of provision that need further development.

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improvement since the last inspection

11. The college has made satisfactory progress in addressing areas for improvement noted during the last inspection and annual assessment visits. Many effective steps have been taken following restructuring in 2006. Literacy and numeracy provision is now satisfactory. The planning of activities, to support students in their life after college, has also improved and a management information system has been successfully introduced. The college now meets statutory requirements in relation to equalities legislation. Quality assurance arrangements have improved but are still in need of further development. Specialist support for students with communication difficulties has recently started to improve.

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Key strengths

 good development of students’ confidence and personal skills  good development of practical skills  effective action taken to improve the teaching of literacy and numeracy  good personal support for students within a culture of mutual respect  shared ethos and sense of purpose across the Community  good procedures for health and safety.

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The college should address:

 appropriateness of targets for the most able  underdevelopment of students’ IT skills  lack of differentiation in the foundation programme for new students  insufficient opportunities for external work placement  underdeveloped specialist support for communication  inconsistent implementation of quality assurance systems.

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Achievement and standards Satisfactory: grade 3

12. Achievement and the standards of students’ work is satisfactory overall, and some aspects are good. This judgement is in line with the college’s own findings. Students make significant gains in confidence and personal skills. During their time at the college, they improve their ability to share, take turns and to value and respect others. Many students make good progress in gaining practical skills in areas like cooking, baking, horticulture, woodworking, pottery and horse riding. In vocational sessions, students make good progress towards detailed, specific and contextualised targets. Achievement on national vocational qualification (NVQ) programmes is good. Achievement is increasingly recorded on the new management information system and via photographs of students completing tasks.

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Achievement and standards Satisfactory: grade 3

13. Standards of literacy and numeracy have improved since the last inspection and are now satisfactory. Many students are confident communicators in a variety of settings – in lessons, in social groups and in meetings. In vocational lessons, students develop the skills to estimate, measure and count, within the craft context. However, the links between students’ core targets, literacy and numeracy and subject goals, are not sufficiently clear. The more able students do not always make sufficient progress. Students are not given targets to develop their information technology skills, and their progress in this area is not monitored.

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Achievement and standards Satisfactory: grade 3

14. In non-practical classroom based lessons, it is difficult to measure progress because the sessions lack detailed individual targets or learning goals and sometimes topics are too complex for students to understand. Progress in developing skills for working life is hampered by the limited opportunities to practise in external work placements.

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Achievement and standards Satisfactory: grade 3

15. Students enjoy their learning. Behaviour and attendance at lessons are good. Students demonstrate a good understanding of health and safety procedures.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

16. Inspectors agree with the college judgement that the quality of provision is satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Tutors use baseline assessment effectively to set subject targets in practical lessons. The information provided by a range of agencies that informs the baseline assessment, is detailed and comprehensive. However, the information is not always used effectively in setting long and medium term goals. Opportunities for acknowledging and building on existing skills and experience are not always taken.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

17. The contextualised target setting in vocational subjects is good, and teachers embed the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills in these subjects satisfactorily. In practical lessons, the clear subject targets help students to understand exactly what they are going to learn, and to measure their own progress. Support staff are skilled and, where they are effectively deployed, are able to help students make progress. In a pottery class, a support worker made a set of instructions with pictures to help a student who cannot read to work independently. Assessment in NVQ programmes is good. In horticulture, the students’ portfolios contain good photographic records of their skills and activities.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

18. Whilst teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, the needs of the most able students and those with complex communication disorders, are not met. The more able students too often, rehearse skills they already have. For example, a student with considerable skill in IT spent time searching the internet cutting and pasting. Two students with speech difficulties could not use their signed communication because staff do not have sufficient skills. This limited the learning opportunities for both students. In classroom based lessons, students spend too much time waiting their turn to contribute. Whilst support staff are skilled, they are not always well deployed. In some classes, they do not receive sufficient instructions from teachers to help students complete their work.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

19. The range of provision to meet students’ needs is satisfactory. Students benefit from good resources on-site, to develop their practical skills in a range of subjects. Students work on projects that lead to realistic outcomes; for example, by producing and cooking food for the community and renovating tools that are then sent to communities in Africa. Student programmes also include sessions on creative skills and the development of personal and independent living skills. The provision for national vocational qualifications in hospitality and catering, and horticulture, continues to be a successful feature of the curriculum. 20. Opportunities for students to gain nationally recognised qualifications have increased since the last inspection. External work placements are still too limited, although some students undertake placements with a National Trust project. There is a satisfactory range of enrichment activities.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

Provision for the development of students’ literacy and numeracy skills has improved significantly since the last inspection, but development of IT skills is patchy. There is no formal programme for aspects of personal, social and health education. The foundation programme for students in their first year at college does not differentiate sufficiently to meet the needs of all students; they spend too much time following the same curriculum. Social and educational inclusion are satisfactory, with particular strengths in social inclusion.

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Quality of provision Satisfactory: grade 3

21. Guidance and support for students are good. Students benefit from a high level of personal support from their tutors. The arrangements for admissions procedures and induction for new students are good. The access to a range of medical and therapeutic services is good. The college has recently employed a speech and language therapist. The links with Connexions services are good. Arrangements to help students move on when they leave college have improved since the last inspection and are now satisfactory.

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Contributory grade:

Equality of opportunity Satisfactory: grade 3

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Contributory grade:

22. Leadership and management are satisfactory. This accords with the judgement in the self-assessment report. The strategic direction and values of the college are established by mutual consent, agreed by trustees and well shared by all staff. Following the restructuring of the senior management team in 2006, the college has moved quickly to address specific areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. For example, the management information system is now good and provides high quality data on students’ programmes and increasingly on achievements. Staff are confident in using the system and work is taking place to spread good practice in target setting and progress monitoring across all the provision. Literacy and numeracy teaching has improved and is now satisfactory. Achievements by students in practical subjects are good.

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Contributory grade:

23. Quality assurance systems are unsatisfactory overall. However, since the last inspection, some systems have been effective in securing improvement. For example, action planning is in place to ensure teachers’ qualifications meet the requirements of external frameworks. A quality assurance cycle is in place but it is not systematically applied or understood by all staff. The teaching observation scheme is systematically applied, but there is too much variety in the quality of feedback to teachers and insufficient evaluation of the outcomes of observations. The college has recognised this and has taken steps to improve the situation; for example, the college has joined the Yorkshire and Humberside peer observation network and two members of staff have undertaken training in observation techniques.

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Contributory grade:

24. The college estate and farm are well managed and provide good realistic settings in which students develop good practical skills. Teaching accommodation is also well equipped and resourced. The opportunities for staff development are good. Training in Makaton is planned as part of the aim to develop signing across the college. Since the last inspection, the college has extended its links with the community. A project, in association with the National Trust, is providing opportunities for external work placements for students undertaking national vocational qualifications.

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Contributory grade:

25. The self-assessment report provides a realistic picture of the college overall. However, it is too descriptive and parts of it lack sufficient evaluation. The report rightly identifies insufficient participation by staff in the self-assessment process as an area for improvement. The opportunities for tutors to meet and discuss the needs of students are formalised and regular. Staff have a deep understanding of each student’s personal and social needs. Communication of day-to-day needs and priorities is good. The college intranet is developing well and provides a good range of generalised and detailed information for staff and students.

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Contributory grade:

26. Managers promote equality of opportunity satisfactorily. The college is compliant with both the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2002. Action plans are regularly monitored. Different cultures and disability are celebrated successfully but the promotion of equality of opportunity in the curriculum is underdeveloped.

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Contributory grade:

27. There is a clear complaints procedure. Comprehensive procedures for adult and child protection issues are well established. Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks for all staff are in place and are monitored regularly. Health and safety matters are dealt with well and comprehensive risk assessments are good at providing students with a safe and supportive environment. 28. Trustees are very committed and meet regularly. Extended visits help trustees to understand the work of the college. Although closely involved in the work of the college, the trustees do not hold it sufficiently to account for some aspects of the quality of its work. The college provides satisfactory value for money.

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Contributory grade:

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