Surrey Local Authority EBITT

Initial Teacher Education inspection report

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Provider address Surrey LA EBITT VT4S Head Office & Development Centre Bay Tree Avenue Kingston Road Leatherhead KT22 7UE

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Inspection dates Lead inspector 22 – 26 June 2009 Robert Lovett HMI achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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If you would like a copy of this report in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann’s Square Manchester, M2 7LA

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

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

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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.

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Key to inspection grades

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

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The provider

3. Surrey Local Authority EBITT offers employment-based initial teacher training that leads to qualified teacher status (QTS). Core elements of central training, together with arrangements for quality assurance are provided in partnership with Roehampton University. This year, there are 27 primary graduate teacher trainees. This includes a small number of school- and self-funded trainees.

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The provider

4. The main aim of the partnership is to address teacher shortages and retention difficulties in Surrey’s primary schools through the recruitment of high quality trainees. It works with Surrey local authority and VT Four S as part of a public- private partnership.

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Key strengths

 excellent recruitment procedures which ensure that high quality trainees are recruited who meet the needs of Surrey’s schools very well

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Key strengths

 the high quality, collegiate leadership and management which results in excellent levels of commitment, robust quality assurance of the provision and across the partnership, and good whole school and central training and support for trainees

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Key strengths

 the support and training provided for mentors

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Key strengths

 the good coherence between the initial needs analysis, individual training plans and central- and school-based training

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Key strengths

 the effective procedures which ensures that second placement schools are of good or better quality.

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Recommendations

6. In order to increase the proportion of trainees crossing grade boundaries, particularly from good to outstanding, the provider should:

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Recommendations

 ensure that feedback on assignments and school-based tasks is more formative and makes it clearer to trainees what they need to do to improve

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Recommendations

 ensure that trainees’ lesson observations are more evaluative, with a greater focus on pupils’ learning and subject teaching.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

7. Trainees’ attainment by the end of the programme is good; they make good progress from their starting points.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

8. As a result of their training, trainees have high expectations of themselves and of what learners can achieve. They plan lessons with care, ensuring there is good differentiation to meet the needs of all learners. Appropriate resources are readily available and the roles and responsibilities of additional adults are clear. The trainees’ relationships with pupils are good; strategies to encourage positive behaviour are clear and expectations are made explicit. As a result, pupils make good progress. Trainees are well prepared to meet the challenges of teaching in a range of schools and to meet the diverse needs of pupils and students. They have good levels of subject knowledge.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

9. Because of the high esteem in which the provider is held the number of applications exceeds the number of available places. Recruitment procedures are exceptionally rigorous. Prospective trainees are made fully aware of the high level of commitment required to follow an employment-based route into teaching. There is good guidance to schools on their role in the first stage of the recruitment process and headteachers take this responsibility very seriously. They are rigorous in ensuring only good quality candidates go forward. The EBITT provides detailed and useful feedback to candidates; this encourages unsuccessful applicants to re-apply. Many do and are subsequently successful in gaining a training place. The partnership is very successful in its aim of recruiting teachers for Surrey’s schools and is particularly successful in recruiting men into primary schools and ensuring high completion rates.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

It recruits highly motivated trainees who serve Surrey’s schools and communities and the diverse learning needs of their pupils very well, and who often go on to employment in those same schools.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

10. The quality of training is good and is clearly matched to the QTS Standards. Extensive support materials are provided. The wealth of expertise and experience brought by the support tutors is a significant strength. Centre-based tutors, such as those from Roehampton University, have very good subject knowledge, and a good understanding of the needs of practitioners and of current developments. Trainees’ evaluations and comments about centre-based training are positive: it has clear objectives and is structured and delivered well, providing a good balance of activities. Trainees are effectively engaged through their active involvement in sessions, including frequent opportunities for discussion and exploration of materials and resources. Tutors provide skilled and enthusiastic models of good practice, and trainees are very appreciative of this. The wider professional knowledge of all trainees

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

is developed well to help ensure that they are aware of current developments and proposals; for example, primary trainees are aware of the Williams review of mathematics teaching and the Rose review of the primary curriculum.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

11. The structure and content of training are good; they are coherent and comprehensive. Trainees’ response to their training is very positive; they feel well supported by staff and are provided with excellent models of teaching and learning. Early in the course an initial needs analysis of their knowledge of English, mathematics and science is used to inform individual training plans, which are of high quality. They are regularly reviewed and up-dated to ensure that trainees receive a good range of professional experience and that their training enables them to meet and provide evidence of their progress towards meeting the Standards.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

12. Trainees enjoy full involvement in the life of the school. This makes a significant contribution to their understanding of the professional duties, roles and responsibilities of teachers and the contribution parents can make to learners’ achievement and well-being. Schools are very committed to the partnership and, because they have positive approaches to their own development, provide very good venues for training. Trainees are appreciative of the support and enthusiasm of school-based mentors. Schools are encouraged by the provider to adopt a holistic approach to support trainees’ development. Trainees have opportunities to work with a range of teachers including subject leaders, special educational needs coordinators and inclusion managers, and alongside mentors and class teachers. Mentors are clear about their roles and the expectations for trainees at each stage of the course. Feedback from lesson observations is often highly detailed but is sometimes

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

insufficiently evaluative to allow trainees to improve their understanding of subject development or approaches to pupil learning. Trainees are not always clear, for example, on how they can move from being satisfactory to good or from good to outstanding. Trainees value the opportunity to take part in school-based in-service education and training, which they say makes a valuable additional contribution to their progress. Mentor training is thorough, responsive to current issues and is highly valued by mentors.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

13. The provider’s response to individual needs is good. Selection processes are effective in establishing the strengths and areas for development in trainees’ subject knowledge. The initial needs analysis is clear and detailed, and effectively supports trainees in developing their subject knowledge. Pre-course materials prepare trainees very well for the start of the course. Trainees are expected to assume a high degree of responsibility for identifying and meeting some of their training needs, although appropriate guidance and support are also provided. A subject knowledge log enhances trainees’ appreciation of the links between subject knowledge and pedagogy. Centre-based sessions are interactive and responsive to the needs of particular trainees and groups. In schools, trainees have regular opportunities to meet with their support tutor, mentor and class teacher. Trainees are very positive about

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

the effectiveness of the support that they receive, especially those who experience professional or other difficulties during the year.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

14. Trainees’ assessment of their own progress against the Standards is generally good. Progress is reviewed weekly with the school mentors and evidence is carefully collated. Trainees are very aware of the need to provide evidence of progress and almost all maintain high quality personal portfolios. Trainees also complete a progress tracker which records achievement against the Ofsted grade criteria. These are monitored by their mentor and support tutor. Feedback on assignments and school-based tasks, whilst helpful in summarising trainee’s achievements, does not always provide sufficiently clear guidance on how trainees can improve.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

15. The provider makes good use of its resources to ensure trainees make good progress and attain well. Centrally based staff are knowledgeable and readily accessible. It is very successful in meeting its main aim of making a significant contribution to the supply of teachers to Surrey’s schools.

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Grade: 2

16. Schools are highly committed to the development and continuing improvement of the provider. They see it as a valuable source of professional development for their staff, and a potential source of skilled and highly motivated teachers. The provider’s record of improvement, coupled with the committed leadership and effective management, results in a good capacity to improve

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Grade: 2

17. Self-assessment is detailed and accurate with good evidence of progress on identified priorities such as working more effectively with special schools. A wide range of partners is involved in the provider’s self-evaluation; groups of tutors, mentors and trainees make detailed assessments of the quality of all areas of provision. This assessment is then subject to rigorous scrutiny and quality assurance by the school’s liaison group and others. As a result, the provider knows itself well and has identified appropriate priorities for the future. Quality assurance procedures are very robust and are a strong feature of the provider’s work. Regular visits to schools by the EBITT manager and very experienced support tutors involve joint observations, interviews with trainees and mentors and detailed scrutiny of trainees’ files. Because it is forward looking and self-confident, the provider greatly values

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Grade: 2

wide scrutiny of its work. All contributors to the work of the provider are committed to continuous improvement . It actively promotes an open and collegiate style of leadership and management. This results in high levels of commitment to its work and a strong sense of shared ownership and joint responsibility. The EBITT manager is held in very high esteem by everyone involved in its work. He has played a pivotal role in its development and progress. The provision of exemplars of initial needs assessments has resulted in trainees more accurately evaluating their individual training requirements and, with their mentors, drawing up effective training plans to ensure these needs are met. The provider has also been successful in its aim of ensuring trainees’ second placements are as great a contrast as possible to their base school. The second placement ensures that trainees have good opportunities for planning, observing and teaching in two key stages and in at least two

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Grade: 2

18. The provider has responded quickly and effectively to changes in requirements and to current national initiatives. Trainees are well prepared to teach letters and sounds and have a good understanding of the use of mathematics skills across the curriculum. They are familiar with the relationship between the different strands of Every Child Matters and the impact of pupils’ well-being on their learning. In response to concerns regarding the depth of trainee’s subject knowledge, the provider gave greater prominence to subject-specific knowledge in central training and introduced subject knowledge logs. This provides trainees with the opportunity to reflect and record the impact of training on their understanding and application of subject knowledge, particularly in English, mathematics and science. As a result, the trainees’ subject knowledge has improved and they are confident teachers.

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Grade: 2

19. Trainees are overwhelmingly positive about the good quality support and training they receive. The provider’s detailed analysis of the feedback from former trainees indicates high levels of satisfaction, with unanimity with regard to the good quality of central training. The most recent analysis indicates that all respondents judged the overall quality of training at least good and almost half judged it very good. Particular strengths include the quality of assessment and the overall quality of support and guidance. Trainees provide feedback to tutors after all taught sessions and following school placements. The schools liaison group committee, comprising support tutors, mentors, trainees and former trainees, affords opportunities for the voices of all partners to be heard and to contribute to the management of the EBITT.

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Grade: 2

20. The provider has good improvement plans in place, with a clear focus on raising trainees’ attainment and increasing the proportion of trainees judged to be outstanding by the end of the training programmes. Like much of its work improvement planning is a widely shared responsibility. It derives directly from detailed and thorough self-evaluation and is regularly monitored by both tutors and the school’s liaison group. However, much of the improvement planning is short- term. The ability of the EBITT to engage in long term strategic planning is hampered by continuing uncertainty about its future funding.

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Summary of inspection grades 1

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

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Overall effectiveness

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

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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 To what extent are available resources used effectively and efficiently?

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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

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

Employment- based routes 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 outcomes? 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

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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.

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