Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

Mr Peter Tavernor Principal The Manchester College Ashton Old Road Openshaw Manchester M11 2WH

p.1

women’s achievement

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, during my visit on 7 October 2009, to examine the causes of girls’ and young women’s underachievement and long-term economic well-being and the good practice that effectively supports them.

p.1

women’s achievement

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national survey report. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

p.1

women’s achievement

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: discussions with staff; observation of part of two lessons; discussions with two groups of young women; feedback from local employers; relevant documentation provided by the college.

p.1

women’s achievement

Overall, your work on promoting the achievement of young women, and in developing their future economic well-being is good. Young women have a general awareness of future career opportunities and develop good personal and employability skills. The college has a strong focus on social inclusion and supports young women well. The majority of young women choose stereotypical vocational courses and the numbers of young women following construction and engineering courses at the college is still low.

p.1

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 good recruitment and retention of particularly vulnerable young women

p.1

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 good development of personal and employability skills  well-planned and delivered teaching sessions which effectively engage and motivate young women

p.1

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 good focus by college on designing the curriculum around the needs of local communities and employer needs

p.2

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 strong collaborative and partnership working with community organisations and employers to develop targeted and flexible programmes for hard to engage groups, for example, provision for young people not in education, employment or training and teen parents and the vocational carousel programmes

p.2

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 strong strategic focus on recruiting, supporting and retaining both males and females with multiple social and personal problems from deprived wards of the city to promote economic well-being

p.2

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 coherent, well-integrated and highly effective arrangements for care, support and guidance

p.2

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 early identification of at-risk groups, followed by timely and well-tailored support

p.2

Features of effective practice observed, include:

 A clear college strategy successfully designed around social inclusion.

p.2

Areas for further improvement, which we discussed, include:

 the recruitment of more young women on to construction and engineering programmes

p.2

Areas for further improvement, which we discussed, include:

 further development of materials and teaching and learning activities to challenge stereotypes

p.2

Areas for further improvement, which we discussed, include:

 further development of the college’s good liaison work with schools to increase girls’ and young women’s awareness of vocational courses and career opportunities.

p.2

Areas for further improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to promote achievement and develop the economic well-being of girls and young women.

p.2

Areas for further improvement, which we discussed, include:

As I explained, a copy of this letter will be sent to the local Learning and Skills Council and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

p.2