Campus Veolia

Background information ............................................................................... 3

Inspection judgements ..................................................................................... 3 Scope of the inspection..................................................................................... 3

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Overall judgement ........................................................................................ 6

Effectiveness of provision.................................................................................. 6 Capacity to improve........................................................................................ 6

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Main findings................................................................................................. 7

Achievement and standards .............................................................................. 7 Quality of provision........................................................................................... 8 Leadership and management ............................................................................ 9 Equality of opportunity ................................................................................... 9

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Inspection judgements

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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Key for inspection grades

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

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Key for inspection grades

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

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Scope of the inspection

In deciding the scope of the inspection, inspectors take account of the provider’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and comments from the local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or other funding body. Where appropriate, inspectors also consider the previous inspection report ( www.ofsted.gov.uk ), reports from the inspectorates’ monitoring visits, and data on learners and their achievements over the period since the previous inspection.

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Scope of the inspection

In addition to reporting on overall effectiveness of the organisation, its capacity to improve further, achievement and standards, quality of provision and leadership and management, this inspection focused on specialist provision in:

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Scope of the inspection

 Construction, planning and the built environment

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Description of the provider

1. Campus Veolia (the provider) is the education and training company for the Veolia Group which employs 21000 employees in the United Kingdom. Based in Staines, Campus Veolia was formed in 2001 to provide waste management training and qualifications to ‘Veolia environmental services’.

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Description of the provider

2. The provider began providing government funded training in January 2007. It holds its contract with the National Employer Service to provide National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) at level 2 under the Train to Gain programme in the area of learning of construction, planning and the built environment.

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Description of the provider

3. At the time of inspection there were a total of 682 learners working towards a qualification. 289 learners were undertaking a waste management operations qualification 140 learners were completing a recycling operations qualification. In the last two months the provider has started delivering an NVQ at level 2 in cleaning and support services, where there are 98 learners, performing manufacturing operations, with 15 learners, and two further learners are undertaking a customer service NVQ.

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Description of the provider

4. In August 2007 the provider began delivering apprenticeships at level 2 in engineering and manufacturing technologies. Currently there are 77 apprentices in engineering, 51 in driving goods vehicle under retail, eight in landscaping and two in business administration. Some of these programmes are under review as part of the learning strategy.

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Description of the provider

5. All learners are employed in the Veolia Group and based throughout England. Government funded training represents approximately 30% of the provider’s total training provision.

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Description of the provider

6. The NVQ programme is provided by a team of 14 geographically based assessors led by a manager and three internal verifiers. The whole team is managed by an NVQ manager. The team is also assisted by two administrative staff. A senior education adviser further supports the team and reports directly to the Managing Director.

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Description of the provider

7. The organisation is currently working towards the achievement of Investors in People and Training Quality Standard awards.

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Summary of grades awarded

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

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Summary of grades awarded

Achievement and standards Outstanding: Grade 1

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Summary of grades awarded

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Sector subject areas

Construction, planning and the built environment Good: Grade 2

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Good: Grade 2

8. The overall effectiveness of the provision is good. The provision in construction, planning and the built environment is good. Achievement and standards are outstanding and the quality of provision is good. Leadership and management are good and equality of opportunity is satisfactory.

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Good: Grade 2

9. This is the provider’s first inspection. The provider has demonstrated that it has good capacity to make further improvements. The provider has delivered government funded programmes for two years and in that time it has increased the size of its training portfolio while increasing and maintaining both the high overall success rate and the timely completion rate in their Train to Gain programmes. The self-assessment and quality development processes are satisfactory overall. The self-assessment report was broadly accurate and correctly identified all but one of the areas for improvement.

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Key strengths

 Very high overall success rates  Good acquisition of additional skills and knowledge  Thorough promotion of health and safety  Very effective assessment practice  Particularly good learning and development strategy to meet the business needs  Very effective networking and partnerships  Well managed provision

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Key areas for improvement

 Insufficient use of teaching styles  Underdeveloped Skills for Life strategy  Some underdeveloped aspects of quality improvement

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Outstanding: Grade 1

10.Achievement and standards are outstanding. Success rates have consistently increased in the last three years. In the first year of delivery, 2006/07, 100% of the 208 learners on programme completed their qualification. In 2007/08, overall success rates were 96% and the learner numbers had grown to 809. In the first eight months of the present year, learner numbers have continued to increase, to 860, and the overall success rate is 91% so far.

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Outstanding: Grade 1

11.The timely achievement of qualifications by learners has also increased over the last three years. In 2006/07, 72% of the learners completed their qualification in a timely manner. This increased to 91% in 2007/08 and in the current year. The current learners are making good progress with their qualification.

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Outstanding: Grade 1

12.Learners acquire very good additional skills and knowledge. They further develop personal skills such as self-confidence and their team work abilities which contribute to their high level of customer service skills. Learners experience an increase in their technical knowledge within the environmental services and they become more vigilant about the adherence to safe working practices. During their visits to the workplace, assessors apply excellent reinforcement of learning and understanding through extended conversations, demonstrations and discussions.

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Outstanding: Grade 1

13.The provider exercises a thorough promotion of health and safety during the training programme. Health and safety principles within the environmental service industry are very well introduced during the programme induction and they are continually reinforced and monitored throughout the assessment activities. The provider provides a very comprehensive programme of health and safety instruction ensuring the consistency, currency and accuracy of the information shared with learners. In the past 12 months, the organisation has experienced a 20% decrease in health and safety related incidents.

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Outstanding: Grade 1

14.At Campus Veolia, most learners have benefited from having access to additional qualifications such as Health and safety, first aid and advanced driving awards. Many learners have also obtained a job promotion within Campus Veolia after having completed their qualification.

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Outstanding: Grade 1

15.The differences in performance related to progress and achievement of qualifications made by learners of different gender, age and minority ethnic groups is negligible.

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Good: Grade 2

16.The quality of provision is good overall. Teaching, training and learning are satisfactory. Assessment practice which takes place promptly after induction is particularly effective. It is well planned and managed, offering a robust structure and sufficient flexibility to fit around learner’s busy work patterns. A wide range of diverse evidence is assembled and stored in individual electronic portfolios. Digital recording methods are used effectively to record direct observation of evidence during some of the cleansing activities. Assessors make very good use of structured questioning techniques to identify learner competence. A different assessor undertakes the final assessment and ensures sufficiency of evidence while moderating the quality of the final outcomes.

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Good: Grade 2

17.Assessors monitor learners’ progress well. They conduct regular and frequent progress reviews with their learners and update the central management system promptly after each assessment. Area managers receive the appropriate information on learner progress and achievement.

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Good: Grade 2

18.Theory sessions are delivered locally through the use of learning materials designed by the provider. The training sessions cover many important aspects including manual handling, double sided collection of waste bins and reversing assistant’s procedures. However, the delivery of these sessions does not use sufficiently varied teaching styles. There is an over reliance on the tutor presenting facts and knowledge to the learners. Little learner interaction takes place at these sessions. Tutors do not use questioning techniques to check learner understanding.

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Good: Grade 2

19.Opportunities for additional literacy, numeracy and language support are available to support learning and performance but the number of learners receiving support is low. As correctly identified in the self-assessment report, the identification of additional learners’ needs is ineffective as the current process relies on self- declaration by the learner.

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Good: Grade 2

20.The qualification meets the learners’ needs well and helps to motivate them towards further progression. Although many of the learners have little prior academic achievement, they successfully progress onto a second qualification. The provider holds a prestigious awards ceremony annually when certificates are formally presented and learner success is celebrated.

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Good: Grade 2

21.Assessors and managers provide good support for learners. Assessors and managers display good role modelling behaviours with learners. All assessors are appropriately qualified within the vocational areas they deliver and possess extensive experience in all aspects of waste management. Most managers have been developed and promoted within the company providing evidence of good internal progression opportunities. 22.Local collection, cleansing and sweeper teams provide good support to each other in covering for learners while on assessment. Teams support colleagues well in the event of vehicle breakdown or other collection problems.

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Good: Grade 2

23.Information advice and guidance is satisfactory. Learners receive comprehensive information at induction about the training programme and their appeal rights. Information on further qualifications and progression is also available to learners. They demonstrate an adequate understanding of their programme and the benefits it brings to them and their managers.

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Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Good: Grade 2

24.Leadership and management are good. There is a good learning and development strategy to meet the business needs. The provider has designed a very structured staff development path that allows for learning and career progression for all employees. The provider has responded well to the increasing technical and customer service needs within the environmental services industry by incorporating these skills and introducing new formal qualifications in their training programme. The created campus as a focal training venue is currently being expanded to another three training centres across England, removing travel and geographical access barriers for learning. Each centre will be fitted with specialist equipment where learners can further their development in any of the industry areas represented by the provider regardless of whether they already work in that area. In the last two years, the provider has identified many learners

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Good: Grade 2

who have experienced career progression as well as an increase in staff retention.

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Good: Grade 2

25.The training programme is well managed. The provider has conducted several programme reviews to ensure that the current delivery model fits the needs of learners engaged in environmental services. Learner progress is monitored and recorded on a weekly basis. Assessors’ caseloads are also reviewed to ensure timely visits to the learners take place. The programme manager carefully reviews this information with each assessor and the depot managers are informed of any issues affecting learner progress. The provider has made a substantial investment by introducing mobile, digital equipment to facilitate the electronic gathering of evidence during activities such as street cleansing and waste collection.

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Good: Grade 2

26.The provider has developed a very good relationship between site managers, employers and the training team. Employers are briefed thoroughly on their responsibilities towards supporting learners who are undertaking the qualification. The employer involvement is very high. Managers support learners with the achievement of the competencies they need and offer them reassuring feedback on their level of performance. Assessors offer personal, pastoral support from induction building effective relationships with learners very quickly. Coaching is offered on a individual basis, for example on health and safety and language issues. 27.The provider has developed very good networking and partnerships. The provider has been actively involved in several partnerships with awarding bodies and steering committees designing the standards for new qualifications in the waste management area such as the creation of an NVQ at level 4. It has taken an

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Good: Grade 2

influential role in a committee that is reviewing the apprenticeship programme under waste management by evaluating the effectiveness of the different elements that compose the award. The provider is also involved in the design of learning materials in partnership with awarding bodies. Learners at the provider will now be able to access an NVQ at level 2 on street cleansing that is more purposeful than the previous one. The provider has built very good partnerships with colleges and universities designing management courses for its workforce.

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Good: Grade 2

28.The provider meets the current government requirements with regards to safeguarding. The provider has a very comprehensive safeguarding policy with respect to children and vulnerable adults. All tutors in the apprenticeship programme have been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau.

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Good: Grade 2

29.As highlighted in the self-assessment report, the Skills for Life strategy is underdeveloped. Currently there is no formalised process to assess the additional learning needs of individual learners. The provider has a comprehensive strategy to deliver the appropriate level of assessment and further individual support; however, this is not fully implemented yet.

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Good: Grade 2

30.The process of internal verification is thorough and meets the requirements of the awarding body. However, there are some underdeveloped aspects of quality improvement. The provider carries out insufficient observations of teaching and learning. Although observations take place throughout the apprenticeship programme, the provider does not observe teaching and training on the Train to Gain programme. The process for gathering regular feedback is also underdeveloped. The learner and employer feedback has recently been implemented and there is not enough compiled data yet to obtain meaningful information leading to improvements. Auditing processes of internal procedures is also underdeveloped. Although this area for improvement was not highlighted in the self-assessment report, the provider had recognised in their quality improvement plan the need for further development in this area. A dedicated quality improvement manager has been recently appointed.

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Good: Grade 2

31.The promotion of equality of opportunity is satisfactory. The provider has the appropriate equality of opportunity policies. The company privately funds those learners that do not meet the criteria for Government funding.

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Good: Grade 2

32.The provider provides facilities for religious groups to pray. Staff with disabilities or ongoing physical or psychological conditions are supported appropriately with job role changes and flexible working patterns.

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Good: Grade 2

33.Although no targeting of specific groups takes place each site has a representative workforce on the NVQ programme. Learners whose first language is not English have the opportunity to participate in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) training. Participation in ESOL courses is high in London. 34.Assessors and verifiers have recently undertaken diversity training and their knowledge of equal opportunities is satisfactory. However, there is insufficient reinforcement of learners’ knowledge on equality of opportunity and diversity. Learners’ knowledge of equal opportunities is, in general, satisfactory.

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Good: Grade 2

35.The self-assessment process is satisfactory. This is the provider’s first self- assessment report and it appropriately involved staff and management. Although sufficiently self-critical, the report did not make full use of data to describe the outstanding achievement and standards in the area of learning. The report was broadly accurate; however, it was insufficiently comprehensive in describing the quality of the provision aspect. The development plan was very detailed containing specific and measurable actions for improvement Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Good: Grade 2

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What learners like:

 The opportunities available for training and learning  The opportunity to obtain a qualification at an older age  The available job promotion opportunities following the achievement of the award  The good provision of health and safety equipment  ‘The training has given me confidence and makes me feel valued’  The manager and assessor knowledge- ‘ They understand our jobs because they have done them before’

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What learners think could improve:

 ‘Clearer information about the course before it starts’  The excessive amount of information covered at induction  ‘It would have been useful to see a portfolio before I started the course

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