Cumbria Teacher Training

Cumbria Primary Teacher Training Partnership

p.1

Initial Teacher Education inspection report

p.1

Provider address CPTT Centre High Street Workington Cumbria CA14 4ES

p.1

Inspection dates Lead inspector 9 – 13 March 2009 Allan Torr HMI This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

p.1

registered childcare and children's social care, including adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children. It also inspects all state maintained schools, non- association independent schools, pupil referral units, further education, initial teacher education, and publicly funded adult skills and employment-based training, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), and the overall level of services for children in local authority areas (through annual performance assessments and joint area reviews). www.ofsted.gov.uk Reference no. 080190

p.2

Introduction

1. This inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors in accordance with the Framework for the Inspection of Initial Teacher Education (2008-11).

p.3

Introduction

2. The inspection draws upon evidence from all aspects of the provision to make judgements against all parts of the inspection evaluation schedule in the framework. Inspectors focused on the overall effectiveness of the training in supporting high quality outcomes for trainees and the capacity of the partnership to bring about further improvements. A summary of the grades awarded is included at the end of this report.

p.3

Summary of inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

p.3

The provider

3. Cumbria Primary Teacher Training works effectively in partnership with 26 schools to provide primary Initial Teacher Education leading to qualified teacher status. It offers a one-year full-time Postgraduate Certificate in Education course in the 5-11 age range. At the time of the inspection there were 24 trainees on the course.

p.3

The provider

4. The provider was established in 1994 to resolve a lack of trainees in an area which is isolated from established teacher training centres. There are close links with the University of Cumbria and with the local authority. The university provides the vast majority of the centre-based teaching on the course and all trainers are associate tutors at the university.

p.3

Key strengths

 the personalised school placements in high quality settings and the outstanding school-based training

p.4

Key strengths

 the accuracy of the partnership’s assessment of trainees’ teaching

p.4

Key strengths

 the highly focussed and very effective recruitment that assesses trainees’ aptitudes for teaching

p.4

Key strengths

 the partnership’s ability to react quickly to events and to anticipate local and national needs

p.4

Key strengths

 the highly reflective trainees and the very effective professional relationships formed with pupils and with staff in schools.

p.4

Recommendations

6. In order to further improve trainees’ progress and attainment the partnership should:

p.4

Recommendations

 improve the quality and use of the initial needs analysis and subject-specific information gleaned from trainees’ teaching

p.4

Recommendations

 improve the providers’ evaluation and improvement planning procedures to focus more sharply on outcomes for trainees

p.4

Recommendations

 improve feedback on trainees’ teaching by moving it from generic to subject specific.

p.4

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

7. Trainees’ attainment by the end of the course is good. The proportion of trainees judged to be meeting the Professional Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (the Standards) at a good level has increased in each of the last three years. Most trainees plan and teach lessons that are creative, stimulating and highly visual. They use a variety of teaching styles and make good use of resources such as interactive whiteboards, data loggers and programmable toys to make learning active and interesting for pupils. Although lesson plans are thorough a few trainees do not plan for progression in pupils’ learning. This means when they evaluate the lesson, comments are mostly regarding their teaching rather than about what pupils have learnt and what they need to learn next. A small minority of trainees made some errors in their spoken Standard English within their teaching. Trainees teach and use the skills of teaching assistants well to meet the needs of learners in the

p.4

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

8. Trainees have a good knowledge and understanding of how to teach pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and this is seen in the quality of their lessons. For example, in one class, trainees differentiated the teaching and activities very well to meet the needs of a visually impaired pupil, and in another class, trainees, with the help of school staff, planned and catered for a pupil with autism. The trainees benefit from attending a residential placement in Manchester which enables them, through first-hand experience and high quality debate, to gain a good understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion issues. Trainees, consequently, have good understanding of how to establish inclusive classrooms. Some, however, are unsure about how to adapt lessons to meet the needs of pupils with English as an additional language. Trainees have excellent relationships with pupils and with staff in schools. A representative of Cumbria local authority, which employs some of

p.5

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

the trainees, confirmed they are well trained, reflective and able practitioners. They are highly professional and continually strive to improve their teaching. Employing headteachers and ex-trainees believe this professionalism enables them to become effective members of teams.

p.5

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

9. The provider’s recruitment and selection procedures are outstanding. Interviews are very rigorous and very well designed to determine trainees’ capability and aptitudes for teaching. As a result, there are few withdrawals, succession rates are high, and the large majority of trainees meet their potential. The proportion of males on the course has risen in the last three years and is well above the national average. Although the proportion of trainees with a minority ethnic heritage has been well below the national average, this is changing rapidly. As a result of an effective recruitment drive, the number of successful applications and number of interviews has increased significantly as has the number of trainees recruited onto the course.

p.5

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

10. The good quality training and effective assessment procedures ensure that most trainees progress to fulfil their potential given their starting points. Over half of trainees start the course with less than a 2:1 degree and they make good progress. Information gleaned at interview however is not used as well as it could be to enable trainees to make faster progress at the start of the course. Trainees complete an initial needs analysis which is used effectively by tutors, for example in English and mathematics, to plan and deliver taught sessions. Trainees are however unaware of precisely what aspects of their subject knowledge they have to work on; this is because the analysis is based on trainees’ perceptions rather than on an incisive analysis of their skills and understanding. Centre-based training is delivered by highly skilled tutors. Trainees and ex-trainees confirm that tutors model good

p.5

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

practice, teach inspiring sessions and prepare them well for their teaching careers. In particular they say science, English, modern foreign languages and mathematics are excellent sessions. The science tutor begins each session with an audit and the day’s activities are then based on the results of this audit meaning that the course is matched precisely to trainees’ group and individual needs. 11. The quality of school-based training across the partnership is outstanding. Schools and placements are highly personalised to meet the needs of each trainee. Under the leadership of the programme director, tutors pinpoint a school, a mentor and a class that they feel will enable trainees to meet their full potential. Schools are very good venues for training. All staff are committed to providing high quality training, take full ownership of the training programme and ensure most trainees make good progress in their teaching. Mentors are fully conversant with their roles

p.5

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

in the training and assessment of trainees. Lines of communication with the provider are very good. The cost of a supply teacher is paid by the provider to enable school staff to attend all meetings and to support schools new to the partnership. The programme director, for example, attends governor meetings and staff meetings to ensure everyone at the school is well informed about the course and what is expected of schools.

p.6

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

12. Resources are deployed and used effectively to identify and support innovative and creative training. Trainees for example, spend two days of the first week on a residential at Derwent Water to learn about the five outcomes of Every Child Matters and how the outside classroom can be used with pupils. The provider targets resources well, for example to try and support trainees to move from a satisfactorily level to one that is good.

p.6

Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

13. The promotion of equality and diversity is good. There is little difference in the attainment or the progress of different groups of trainees. There are no reported instances of harassment, bullying or intimidation because of a trainee’s background or because of socio-economic factors.

p.6

Grade: 2

14. The provider has good capacity for further improvement. The programme director and the management group provide good leadership and make good use of internal and external scrutiny. This leads to a sharp and accurate view of provision. The school-based tutors have a very accurate view of the trainees’ attainment. Inspectors agreed with judgements made against the trainees observed as part of the sample. They also have a very good understanding about what each trainee needs to do next to improve and to reach higher levels of attainment. All in the partnership are frequently invited to express their opinions about the training and this is used to improve outcomes for trainees. This identified, for example, that trainees needed a greater understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage. A local authority adviser was drafted in to provide the training and as a result, trainees have a stronger understanding of how younger children learn. Tutors have begun to

p.6

Grade: 2

identify strengths and areas to develop based on trainees’ teaching. In English, for example, the tutor has collated information from observations of trainees’ shared reading sessions. However, this is not yet fully embedded within the course. The centre-based training is evaluated frequently and the programme director assures its quality. This is good improvement from the last inspection though it is not yet sharp enough to measure the impact of training on trainees’ teaching and how well they meet different Standards.

p.6

Grade: 2

15. Schools are evaluated rigorously. There are robust systems in place for selection and de-selection and to ensure the quality of training is maintained. Mentors are accurate in their assessment of trainees’ teaching. Joint observations including those undertaken by mentors from other schools help to ensure the accuracy of judgements.

p.7

Grade: 2

16. The provider has a track record of anticipating and driving change. In response to the Rose review into early reading and the Rose review of the curriculum, the provider has introduced focused training sessions and amended the training in English and the foundation subjects. Trainees, as a result, are aware of the review’s recommendations and its implications in school. In addition, they have a good knowledge and understanding about how to teach pupils to read, how to teach phonics through Letters and sounds and how to assess pupils’ language comprehension and their decoding skills. The centre-based training is flexible. As such new training can be incorporated into the course quickly to respond to new initiatives or research. The provider uses excellent trainers and school-based tutors. They are highly qualified and many attend national and regional committees. There are also good systems to plan for changes in the leadership of the course. Some

p.7

Grade: 2

board members, for example, have been recently trained and are well placed to provide support and challenge to the new programme director starting in the summer.

p.7

Grade: 2

17. Improvement planning is effective. Actions are prioritised, clearly defined, appropriately time-scaled and emanate from detailed evaluations of the provision. There is a clear cycle of review, action and evaluation which leads to the provider making continual progress. Many procedures have been streamlined, refined and improved because of this process. However, the improvement planning does not yet focus sufficiently on outcomes for trainees. Trainees sometimes receive subject specific advice after teaching a lesson; this pinpoints exactly what they need to do to improve their teaching in that subject. Some observations however are too generic. Consequently, centre-based tutors do not always have an up-to-date view on how well trainees are teaching in particular subjects, which means they are not able to adapt their centre-based sessions to meet trainees’ needs as effectively as possible. Since the time of the last inspection the provider has improved trainees’ attainment,

p.7

Grade: 2

the centre-based training and quality assurance procedures. Given this track record of improvement together with its good self evaluation procedures the provider demonstrates good capacity to improve further.

p.7

Summary of inspection grades 1

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding; grade 2 is good; grade 3 is satisfactory; grade 4 is inadequate.

p.8

Overall effectiveness

How effective is the provision in securing high quality outcomes for trainees? 2 Trainees’ attainment How well do trainees attain?

p.8

Overall effectiveness

To what extent do recruitment / selection arrangements support high quality outcomes? To what extent does the training and assessment ensure that all trainees progress to fulfil their potential given their ability and starting points? Factors contributing to trainees’ attainment

p.8

Overall effectiveness

To what extent are available resources used effectively and efficiently?

p.8

Overall effectiveness

The quality of the provision To what extent is the provision across the partnership of consistently high quality? Promoting equalities and diversity To what extent does the provision promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and eliminate harassment and unlawful discrimination? 2

p.8

Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

To what extent do the leadership and management at all levels have the capacity to secure further improvements and/or to sustain high quality outcomes? How effectively does the management at all levels assess performance in order to improve or sustain high quality? How well does the leadership at all levels anticipate change, and prepare for and respond to national and local initiatives? How effectively does the provider plan and take action for improvement? 2

p.8

Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

1 The criteria for making these graded judgements are in the Grade criteria for the inspection of ITE 2008-11; Ofsted July 2008; Reference no: 080128. set out in the guidance ‘Complaints about school inspection’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.8