The Greenbank Project

Inspection number 333321 The Greenbank Project

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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................................................................................................. 8

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

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What learners think could improve ............................................................ 13

Information and communication technology..................................................... 14 Preparation for life and work........................................................................... 17

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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

 Information and communication technology (ICT)  Preparation for life and work

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Scope of the inspection

Inspectors sampled provision in hospitality and catering; sport, leisure and recreation; crafts, creative arts and design; and business administration, but did not inspect them in full. These outcomes contributed to the main findings of the report.

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Description of the provider

1. The Greenbank Project (Greenbank) is a registered charity based in south Liverpool. It was established in 1983 to provide education, training, employment, transport, sport and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities, health problems and from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Greenbank operates two fully accessible buildings; Greenbank College and the adjacent Greenbank Sports Academy.

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Description of the provider

2. The Greater Merseyside LSC funds provision in six sector subject areas. Greenbank holds contracts for further education funded, personal and community development learning (PCDL), LSC/European Social Fund co-financed employability training, nextstep , Train to Gain and Liverpool social services provision. Employability provision is both provided by Greenbank and through subcontracts with 12 voluntary and community sector providers. Many learners enrol on more than one course. At the beginning of June 2009, 267 learners made 482 enrolments. During the inspection, there were 532 enrolments: 190 on further education courses; 94 on PCDL; 23 on Train to Gain and 225 on employability programmes. Train to Gain, nextstep and social services provision were not inspected.

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Description of the provider

3. A Chief Executive, supported by a senior management team comprising managers for education and curriculum, work-based learning, academy, sports development, marketing, finance, quality and development, and management information, manages Greenbank. It currently employs approximately 80 staff. A board of trustees governs Greenbank’s work.

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Description of the provider

4. In 2007/08, 62% of Greenbank’s learners declared a disability, 26% classified themselves as belonging to a minority ethnic group and 33% were aged 16 to 18 years old from the ‘not in employment, education or training’ category (NEET). In August 2008, the unemployment rate for Liverpool was 22.6% compared with 14.8% for the North West and 11.9% for the country as a whole.

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Summary of grades awarded

Effectiveness of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Achievement and standards Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Quality of provision Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Summary of grades awarded

Leadership and management Inadequate: Grade 4

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Summary of grades awarded

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

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Sector subject areas

Information and communication technology Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Sector subject areas

Preparation for life and work Satisfactory: Grade 3

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

5. Greenbank’s overall effectiveness is satisfactory. Achievement and standards are satisfactory. Learners develop good skills and confidence and many previously unsuccessful learners make good progress. Overall success rates are satisfactory. Achievement rates are high and almost every learner who completes their course achieves their qualification. Retention rates are low.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

6. The quality of provision is satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall and much teaching is good with learners actively engaged in learning. In less effective sessions, not enough additional learning activities are available for learners of differing abilities. Tutors make insufficient use of learners’ targets to plan and monitor individualised learning. Programmes and activities meet learners’ needs and interests satisfactorily. Good links with employers are in place for the employability programme, but they are less developed in other areas. Support for learners is wide-ranging and particularly effective. The provision of enhanced support to learners identified as at risk of leaving early has contributed to significantly improved retention of the at-risk group.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

7. Leadership and management are inadequate. Greenbank provides a particularly inclusive and welcoming learning environment that underpins all aspects of its work. Partnership working is particularly effective in widening participation. However, arrangements for quality improvement are incomplete. Many processes are not sufficiently formalised. Greenbank makes inadequate use of data to manage and monitor its provision. Arrangements for safeguarding are incomplete.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

8. Equality of opportunity is good and Greenbank promotes it well through the curriculum, and through teaching and learning. Learners understand about, and draw inspiration from, different groups and cultures. They benefit from learning with people of different ages, cultures and abilities. However, equal opportunities data is analysed insufficiently to monitor the achievements of different groups.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

9. Greenbank has an inadequate capacity to improve. Recent structural changes and an enhanced senior team are beginning to lead to improvements. Senior managers have rightly prioritised improving retention. Actions to improve retention show early indications of a marked improvement for 2008/09. The poor support arrangements for learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs, identified at the previous inspection, have improved and are satisfactory.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

10.The self-assessment report is informative, clearly written and presented but is insufficiently critical and judgemental. Staff and learners contribute to the self- assessment process but employers do not. Inspection findings broadly matched the identified areas for improvement, but many of the identified strengths were overstated. The report makes insufficient reference to teaching and learning. The quality improvement plan is appropriate and regularly monitored and updated. Most self-assessment grades are higher than inspection grades.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

11.Greenbank has been slow in establishing quality improvement arrangements, which remain incomplete. The quality policy is not supported by key documents. Performance is not monitored systematically. Many aspects of quality improvement are insufficiently formalised, such as the sharing of good practice, monitoring the work of subcontractors, annual course reviews and moderation of observation of teaching and learning grades. The process for the observation of teaching and learning has improved and is planned well, but places insufficient focus on improving teaching and learning.

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Key strengths

 Good development of learners’ skills and confidence  Much good teaching  Particularly effective support  Particularly inclusive and welcoming learning environment  Effective partnerships to widen participation

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Key areas for improvement

 Low retention  Insufficient use of learners’ targets to plan and monitor individualised learning  Incomplete quality improvement arrangements  Inadequate use of data to manage and monitor provision  Incomplete safeguarding arrangements

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

12.Achievement and standards are satisfactory, as identified in the self-assessment report. Learners develop good skills and confidence. Learners on vocationally related and employability courses develop good workplace skills. Standards of work are good. For example, clothing and textile learners apply design skills creatively to produce well-made items. Catering learners show good understanding of safe working practices and practical cookery skills, which they apply well.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

13.Overall success rates are satisfactory. The data for 2006/07 shows broadly satisfactory success rates, at 67% and 63% respectively, for long courses at level 1 and 2, and 74% for short courses over five weeks long. Greenbank’s data for 2007/08 shows no significant change. However, achievement rates are high and generally almost every learner who completes their course achieves their qualification.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

14.Retention is low, as identified in the self-assessment report. Overall retention declined significantly in 2006/07, the first year of intake for significant numbers of learners aged 16 to 18 from the NEET category. It fell from 86% in 2005/06, to 69% in 2006/07 for level 1 long courses. Greenbank’s data shows a further decline in 2007/08. Analysis of 2006/07 data shows that at level 1, more young people than adults left early.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

15.Greenbank has identified that poor attendance adversely affects some learners’ progress. Action to improve retention through improved attendance monitoring using an at-risk register, shows early indications of a marked improvement in retention for 2008/09. Around 90% of learners are still in learning, and almost all those who completed have achieved their qualification. It is too soon to assess the longer term trends.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

16.The quality of provision is satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Much teaching is good, as identified in the self-assessment report. In the better sessions, well-planned teaching actively engages learners in a wide range of teaching and learning strategies. Tutors check understanding frequently. They make good use of information and learning technology, and well-designed learning resources. Individual coaching in workshop sessions is particularly effective. Learners are confident to ask questions and are enthusiastic about their learning. In less effective sessions, not enough additional activities are available for learners who work at higher levels, or work quickly. These weaker sessions include too much whole-class teaching. 17.Tutors make insufficient use of learners’ targets to plan and monitor individualised learning. All learners have individual learning plans and targets that tutors review

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

regularly. A minority of tutors set targets for the next session using their own documents, and others provide effective individual tutorial support to ensure all learners complete their portfolios. However, the standard documentation is cumbersome and does not clearly link target-setting, the monitoring of progress and planning learning. Targets are often too big and completion dates are not always set.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

18.Programmes and activities meet learners’ needs and interests satisfactorily. Greenbank offers a satisfactory range of provision with good progression routes. Individual departments have responded well to the changing needs of younger learners and increased flexibility by introducing shorter projects and courses. Vocationally relevant courses such as sports, catering and business administration provide effective learning in real work environments. Greenbank has well- developed plans to extend its sports provision in 2009/10. However, while good employer links are in place for the Routeways to Employment (Routeways) employability programme, Greenbank has identified that these links are incomplete in other areas. Programme delivery models do not sufficiently reflect the introduction of flexible enrolment, and programmes end for a long summer break. Learners do not always return to complete courses in the autumn.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

Greenbank does not have a virtual learning environment to support flexible programme delivery.

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

19.Support and guidance are good. Support for learners is particularly effective, as identified in the self-assessment report. Tutors provide consistently good support in sessions, supplemented by effective support from trained volunteers. The enhanced support for learners identified as at risk of leaving early has contributed to the much improved retention of the at-risk group who may otherwise have left. However, Greenbank has only recently begun to analyse the effectiveness of additional support through the introduction of the at-risk register. Learners have good access to specialist advice on a range of disability, employment and welfare rights topics. Learners with disabilities have ready access to good specialist personal and technical support and routinely produced clear information about programmes and support in accessible formats. Arrangements for impartial advice and guidance are comprehensive and planned well. Systematic referrals from

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Satisfactory: Grade 3

tutors to information, advice and guidance at the end of courses support progression. Well-qualified advisers plan guidance interviews carefully and make prompt referrals to avoid delay following interviews.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

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Inadequate: Grade 4

20.Leadership and management are inadequate. Greenbank provides a particularly inclusive and welcoming learning environment. It has a particularly strong focus on disability that underpins all aspects of its work. Learners benefit from learning with people of different ages, cultures and abilities. Some aim to work with people with disabilities following their experience at Greenbank. Mutual respect, and expectation of achievement for people of all abilities, permeates Greenbank’s activities. Greenbank’s buildings provide excellent access for wheelchair users and those with restricted mobility. Specialist resources are good. Innovative approaches and planned developments particularly promote sporting activities for people with disabilities.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

21.Partnership working is particularly effective in widening participation. Greenbank has a wide range of partnerships across the area. Productive links with special schools help provide progression opportunities for learners with learning and physical disabilities. Regular marketing events target voluntary and community sector organisations that specialise in work with people with disabilities or those living in disadvantaged circumstances. Greenbank is a key partner in developing and providing the new sports and active leisure diploma, planned to start in September 2009. The wide range of partnerships related to sport and vulnerable learners successfully supports the expansion of the curriculum and encourages the participation in learning of people in the NEET category. Effective staff participation in a wide range of networks ensures that Greenbank is well informed of national initiatives and curriculum developments. The Routeways programme is

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Inadequate: Grade 4

beginning to promote good partnerships with employers.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

22.Equality of opportunity is good. Equality and diversity is promoted well through teaching and learning. Learners understand the implications of equality and diversity and apply it in their work. For example, in sport, learners adapt exercises to meet the needs of people of different ages and fitness levels. Textile and clothing learners frequently use inspiration from many different cultures in their designs. In the last couple of years, Greenbank has successfully attracted a significant number of young people from the NEET category. Those who stay in learning make good progress and are successful.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

23.Greenbank has an appropriate equality of opportunity policy and staff have attended training related to equality and diversity. Greenbank’s well-designed promotional literature depicts a balanced range of learners that are widely displayed throughout buildings. Participation data contributes to management decisions. The at-risk register has been analysed in detail to identify the particular groups most vulnerable to leaving early. Although Greenbank has no participation targets, effective strategies have been devised to attract women into sport and ICT, and men into textiles. However, although the equality of opportunity policy states that equality and diversity advisers will be appointed and supported, this does not happen in practice. Greenbank does not have an equality and diversity group or person monitoring the implementation of the policy or a specific equality and diversity action plan. Generic equality and diversity training and regular

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Inadequate: Grade 4

updating for all staff or council members is insufficiently systematic. Equal opportunities data is not analysed sufficiently to monitor the achievements of different groups.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

24.The strategy to provide additional learning support for learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs has improved since the previous inspection, and is now satisfactory. All learners now receive an appropriate initial assessment, support needs are identified and appropriate support is provided. However, the provision of additional learning support on the Routeways programme is too reliant on self-disclosure.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

25.Greenbank’s new organisational structure, supported by new senior appointments, has improved communication and support for staff. The compliments, comments and complaints system works well. Managers deal with complaints quickly and appropriately. Staff are valued and well informed. Their development needs, identified through appraisal and the observation of teaching and learning, are linked to organisational priorities. Greenbank supports its staff with appropriate training and development to meet their continuing professional development needs. However, no systematic arrangements exist for tutors to complete industrial updating. Greenbank does not have an overall staff development plan and its training records are insufficiently systematic. The quality of curriculum management is inconsistent.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

26.Arrangements for quality improvement are incomplete. The process for the observation of teaching and learning has improved. It is generally planned well, but it places insufficient emphasis on learning. Some grades awarded do not match the comments. Comments are not always sufficiently evaluative. The outcomes of the process place insufficient emphasis on improving teaching and learning. The findings are analysed to identify good practice, but not to produce an annual report on the quality of teaching and learning.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

27.Greenbank has an appropriate commitment to quality improvement and a suitable quality policy. However, current practices do not reflect the policy, which is not supported by key documents such as a quality manual, quality calendar, audit and meetings schedules and curriculum plan. Performance is not monitored systematically. The retention strategy is not written down. Activities such as sharing good practice, monitoring the work of subcontractors, moderating observations of teaching and learning grades and annual course reviews are insufficiently formalised. Greenbank’s document control is weak. Arrangements for the collection and use of feedback are not systematic. The arrangements are generally satisfactory for learners, but recent attempts to collect employers’ feedback were unsuccessful. It is too soon to use the recently formed employer forum for this purpose.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

28.Greenbank has identified that its use of data to manage and monitor the provision is inadequate. Senior managers found it difficult to provide reliable data for 2007/08 or 2008/09. Trustees, managers and staff do not receive useful summary information about key performance indicators on a regular basis. Staff are not set clear targets for retention, achievement and success rates. They do not know the current and historical rates for their subject area and have no confidence in the data. Some maintain their own database. Arrangements for monitoring attendance are inadequate. Managers have begun to monitor attendance, but have not set improvement targets. Greenbank has insufficient data about progression and learners’ destinations.

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Inadequate: Grade 4

29.Procedures for safeguarding learners do not meet current government requirements. Arrangements for safeguarding are incomplete. Greenbank has clear policies for child and adult protection and includes safeguarding in learner and staff induction. A central record of background checks is in place for all staff and volunteers. Many staff and council members have received safeguarding training, but Greenbank does not systematically offer the training programme for staff or council members. Greenbank has no formal procedure for reporting safeguarding matters to the trustees. It has not carried out risk assessments for staff awaiting the results of their background checks. Arrangements to record work experience employers’ understanding of safeguarding are insufficient. No process is in place to ensure that subcontractors carry out backgrounds checks on their staff. Not all staff are aware of the names of the nominated protection

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What learners like:

 ‘I’ve been to other colleges, but have achieved far more here’  All the staff are very approachable and supportive  ‘Good confidentiality: it’s a secure environment’  ‘The facilities are great’  ‘I enjoy learning with people of different ages; it’s a mature learning environment’  The good support from staff and other learners  Flexible courses that you can do at your own pace  ‘Feeling part of one large family where people are valued and respected as individuals’  ‘Without Greenbank’s support, I wouldn’t have grown in confidence to get a job that 250 other people applied for’

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What learners think could improve:

 It takes too long to get drinks during break times  ‘There’s no summer school’  ‘There’s no learners’ council’  The computer room is too small

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Context

30.Greenbank has 125 learners working towards accredited and non-accredited ICT qualifications from entry level 3 to levels 1, 2 and 3 on office applications courses and courses that focus on electronic applications, such as interactive media.

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Context

31.Teaching takes place during the day and on one evening each week. The range of learners is diverse, with some of them having a disability. The maximum class size is 12 and many classes are below this number. This sector subject area is managed by a co-ordinator and sessions are taught by three full-time tutors.

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Strengths

 Good standard of learners’ work  Good accommodation and resources  Particularly good support

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Areas for improvement

 Low attendance in some sessions  Low retention and success rates for information technology qualification (ITQ) level 1 in 2007/08  Ineffective planning for individual learning  Insufficient work-placements

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Achievement and standards

32.Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall. Learners use a wide range of software to produce work of a good standard. Those preparing for office-based qualifications produce good quality text, spreadsheets, graphs, and presentations. Learners working towards a multimedia qualification at level 2 produce good quality CD-based interactive media projects with moving images and sound effects. Learners on a short introductory course are justifiably proud of their photographic stories based on good digital photographs that they enhance with suitable titles and background music. Learners’ confidence improves considerably as their skills develop, especially on courses for beginners who have little or no previous computing experience.

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Achievement and standards

33.Success rates are improving considerably, although it is difficult to identify precise success rates from Greenbank’s data. Between 2004 and 2007, success rates on long and short courses fluctuated but, with the exception of ITQ at level 1, they are now at least satisfactory. Data for 2008/09 indicates generally high retention and success rates.

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Achievement and standards

34.In a minority of sessions, low attendance adversely affects learners’ progress. In 2007/08, retention and success rates on ITQ level 1 were low at 39% and 21% respectively, with a possible success rate of 39% if the five learners who have yet to complete their qualification do so successfully.

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Quality of provision

35.The quality of provision is satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Learners have access to good accommodation and resources. The ground floor rooms are spacious, light, well laid out and particularly suitable for wheelchair users and learners with restricted mobility. The wireless-enabled, industry- standard computers process information quickly. Height-adjustable desks have good working space. Tutors use information learning technology well for teaching and demonstration purposes. A good range of adaptive technology is available to learners with physical and sensory impairments. Tutors use their own range of good instructional workbooks well to facilitate independent learning, enabling learners to work at their own pace. However, the room used for interactive media training is too small and some of the computers are in need of replacement, as Greenbank has identified.

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Quality of provision

36.Tutors plan their teaching and learning well and use information learning technology effectively. Lesson plans are detailed and often contain information about each learner’s intended learning outcomes. Individual coaching is particularly good. Learners use their time productively to extend and practise their computing skills and they make good progress. Tutors assess learners’ work satisfactorily to meet awarding body criteria, and satisfactorily review and record learners’ progress. Learners’ ICT knowledge and skills are satisfactorily assessed before they join a course. This information is used effectively to place learners on appropriate courses and provide literacy, numeracy or language support, if needed. However, tutors give insufficient attention to improving inputting techniques and sometimes to healthy and safe computer usage, such as adjusting chair heights, back supports and keyboard positions. Tutors do not routinely

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Quality of provision

evaluate their teaching and learning sessions to continually improve their practice.

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Quality of provision

37.Planning for individual learning is ineffective. The many separate learning and action plans are time consuming to compile and not effectively reconciled or used to support and monitor individual learning. Learning targets are often too broad and not analysed sufficiently to be of use in guiding and monitoring learning in the teaching sessions. Although learners have access to their learning plans, they cannot easily make effective use of them.

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Quality of provision

38.Overall, the range of courses meets learners’ needs satisfactorily. The provision offers progression from beginners’ up to vocationally relevant levels of courses. Learners make good use of opportunities to attend additional sessions to develop other ICT skills, such as electronic image production. Greenbank plans to develop a more extensive range of courses in other applications, such as digital photography, webpage design and electronic communication. However, the number of work-placements is insufficient. Many learners are developing computing skills to improve their employability but have too few opportunities to experience computer usage in industry, commerce and the professions, and to collect authentic evidence for their portfolios. Greenbank has identified the need to increase employer engagement and the number of work-placements as an area for improvement.

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Quality of provision

39.Support and guidance are good. Support for learners is particularly good. Individual learning support is particularly effective in helping learners to develop their computing skills and to become confident computer users. Tutors know their learners, and their abilities, well. Learners receive particularly good pastoral and personal support that helps them to feel valued and to achieve their main learning goals. Learners who are at risk of failing or dropping out are now quickly identified and additional in-class and other support is provided to encourage them to remain on their course and to complete it successfully. Helpful course information for learners is available in a range of formats. Information, advice and guidance are readily available.

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Leadership and management

40.Leadership and management are satisfactory. The co-ordinator and tutors meet regularly to review the provision, deal with strategic and operational matters, discuss learners’ progress and share good practice. Staff have clear roles and responsibilities. Staff development is satisfactory. Internal verification and moderation are good. Equality of opportunity is good and is promoted particularly well through widening of participation and targeting under-represented and disadvantaged learners. Learners are treated fairly and equitably. Management information is systematically collected but is not sufficiently reliable to enable managers to use it to monitor the provision effectively. The observations of teaching and learning are not fully effective in continually improving the quality of teaching and learning. The self-assessment process is inclusive, but strengths were overstated and not all areas for improvement were identified in the report.

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Context

41.Currently 225 learners are on the Routeways employability programme that seeks to tackle the under-representation of young people and adult learners with a learning disability in employment. Greenbank leads the consortium of 12 partner organisations that deliver the programme. Currently 97 learners attend Greenbank’s discrete Skills for Life provision; 89 in literacy and numeracy from entry level to levels 1 and 2. A further eight learners attend an English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) for work programme.

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Context

42.A co-ordinator manages the discrete Skills for Life provision that is staffed by two full-time tutors; one for mathematics and one for literacy. The ESOL tutor is employed on a fractional contract. Greenbank’s additional support team, volunteers and the Routeways job coaches provide additional literacy, numeracy and other support in employability training and other sector subject areas.

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Strengths

 High retention on Routeways  Good development of workplace skills on Routeways  Effective use of a wide range of resources to enrich and support learning  Wide range of work-placements through Routeways  Good support

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Areas for improvement

 Weak monitoring and recording of learners’ progress against targets  Weak management of Skills for Life

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Achievement and standards

43.Retention on the Routeways programme is high. The programmes for Greenbank, Alt Valley and Mencap have retained 90% or more of the learners who started. It is too soon to comment on overall employment outcomes. So far, 28% of learners have obtained sustained work, which is satisfactory at this stage of the programme.

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Achievement and standards

44.Routeways learners develop good practical workplace skills during their training and work-placements. Appreciative employers and customers recognise and value learners’ progress and skills. Some learners with learning disabilities obtain full- time work against high odds. Greenbank’s support helps learners to develop effective work skills that improve employment prospects. Learners’ success creates new opportunities for others. One employer now employs four adults with learning disabilities. 45.Retention and achievement are satisfactory on Skills for Life programmes. Evidence of in-year early achievement and progression for 2008/09 includes 50 learners achieving Skills for Life qualifications at level 1 or 2. So far this year, 124 learners have achieved National Open College Network qualifications at entry level, level 1 and level 2.

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Quality of provision

46.The quality of provision is satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. In the better sessions, tutors plan their sessions well and use a wide range of resources effectively to enrich and support learning, as identified in the self- assessment report. They use interactive whiteboards well to enhance teaching. Learners regularly use information learning technology resources and websites to support their learning and are at ease with the technology. In one session, the tutor successfully integrated information learning technology for an ESOL learner to support their understanding of vocabulary. Paper-based materials are generally of good quality and include current articles from publications. The presentation of most resources reflects learners’ specific learning needs well, such as in the use of coloured paper for handouts for learners with dyslexia. In weaker sessions, tutors plan insufficient additional activities, to meet the needs of learners who

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Quality of provision

work quickly, and do not use resources effectively.

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Quality of provision

47.All learners have targets and learning objectives in their individual learning plans, but the recording of their progress is weak. The timing of reviews is not clear. Where comments exist, they tend to be too general, for example, 'reviewed at the end of term’. Learners are unable to monitor their progress. Some tutors keep separate weekly records of learners’ activities, but do not clearly link them to targets in individual learning plans.

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Quality of provision

48.The provision meets learners’ and employers’ needs and interests satisfactorily. The Routeways team maintain links with a wide range of work-placement opportunities, at local reputable employers, that support learners to obtain part- time and full-time work. Some employers motivate learners with the offer of an interview for a permanent part-time or full-time post on successful completion of their work experience. The range of provision in discrete Skills for Life is satisfactory. Learners receive satisfactory additional learning support in other sector subject areas, where initial assessment indicates the need. However, on Routeways, the provision of additional learning support is over dependent on self- disclosure by learners.

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Quality of provision

49.Support and guidance for learners are good. Greenbank responsively provides a wide range of support services. Personalised support is very effective and promotes mutual respect. Job coaches provide particularly effective support in Routeways, in particular for work-place support for learners on work experience or in the first few weeks of a new job. Greenbank effectively draws on the expertise of specialist external support organisations that meet learners’ specific disability needs. Tutors generally provide good support in sessions for Skills for Life learners. All Greenbank’s learners have good access to impartial advice and guidance planned throughout their courses. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Quality of provision

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Leadership and management

50.Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. Equality of opportunity is good. Greenbank’s particular focus on meeting the needs of learners with physical and learning disabilities effectively raises their goals and challenges the perceptions of others about their potential.

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Leadership and management

51.The monitoring of contractual performance on the Routeways programme is effective. Greenbank’s communications and regular contact with its partners and employers are good. Managers carry out thorough and systematic monitoring against contractual targets each month and improvement targets are set and monitored. However, quality assurance across the partnership is insufficiently established, as identified in the self-assessment report. The processes to identify and provide literacy, language and numeracy support, are insufficiently formalised.

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Leadership and management

52.The self-assessment process is broadly satisfactory, but the judgements are insufficiently critical. Inspection findings generally match the judgements about the Routeways programme in the self-assessment report. However, although one area for improvement was partly identified, the strengths identified for Skills for Life were found to be normal practice.

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Leadership and management

53.The management of Skills for Life discrete provision is weak. Staff meet each month to discuss quality topics, but do not use data effectively to monitor performance.

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Leadership and management

54.The strategic plan for 2003/06 has not been updated. Managers and staff have no clear vision for the provision and little evidence exists of coherent curriculum planning based on analysis of the target groups’ needs. Few planned opportunities exist for shared staff and curriculum development between the discrete Skills for Life team, the additional support team and Routeways partners who support literacy, language and numeracy.

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