University of Derby

This was a multi-phase inspection covering primary and initial teacher education for further education

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Initial Teacher Education inspection report

Provider address Kedleston Road Derby DE22 IGB

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Initial Teacher Education inspection report

Inspection dates Lead inspector 24–28 May 2010 Mark Williams 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. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Initial Teacher Education inspection report

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . 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. www.ofsted.gov.uk Reference no. 080190

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Introduction

1. This inspection was carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors supported by a team of specialist inspectors 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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Explanation of terms used in this report

Attainment is defined as the standard reached by a trainee at the end of their training. Progress is judged in terms of how well a trainee has developed professionally from their starting point to the standard reached at the time of the inspection or at a suitable review point. Achievement is judged in terms of the progress made and the standard reached by a trainee at the time of the inspection or at a recent assessment review point.

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The provider

3. The origins of initial teacher education (ITE) in Derby are long established and may be traced back to 1851. Currently the university offers undergraduate training in primary education via a Bachelor of Education (BEd) honours degree or a post-graduate certificate of education (PGCE). In addition, the university provides training for those who wish to teach in the lifelong learning sector. To assist in its training of teachers the university makes use of an extensive network of partnership schools which extends into neighbouring counties and includes rural, multicultural and inner-city institutions.

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A commentary on the provision

4. The overall effectiveness of the university in securing high quality outcomes for trainees on the two training routes is at least good. It is stronger in primary training, the longest established phase, where it is outstanding. Inspectors found greater variance when judging each phase’s capacity to secure further improvements and/or to sustain high quality outcomes: in primary it is outstanding; and in the ITE for further education phase it is satisfactory. One reason for this variance is that the ITE for further education phase has not fully addressed several areas identified in its previous inspection.

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A commentary on the provision

5. The following are particular features of the provider and its initial teacher training programmes.  The commitment of the trainees to their courses.  The good or better outcomes attained by trainees.  The outstanding procedures for selection found in the primary phase.  The high levels of consistency found in the primary phase.

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A commentary on the provision

6. There are particularly strong features in some programmes that could be applied to other programmes or aspects of the provision.  The consistent approach to assessing trainees’ attainments found in the primary phase should be applied to the ITE for further education phase.

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A commentary on the provision

7. The following areas relating to the ITE for further education phase require further development to improve the quality of the outcomes for trainees.  Regular monitoring and evaluation all aspects of the programme which have an impact on the development and assessment of trainees’ progress.  The timely use of data in quality assessment.  Addressing all issues identified through inspection and quality monitoring.

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Context

8. The University of Derby offers two courses in primary education for some 400 plus trainees year on year, namely the BEd honours degree and the PGCE. A small number of trainees on the BEd course complete after three years while the majority do so after four. The PGCE is a one-year course with credits at Masters level. Trainees on the PGCE course choose one of three pathways: 3 to 7 years; 5 to 11 years; or 5 to 11 years with French.

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Key strengths

9. The key strengths are:  the outstanding leadership and management of senior primary leaders who involve partners very well in refining the partnership’s provision through rigorous self evaluation  the strong commitment of all in the partnership to ensuring trainees make at least good progress through: - open and honest channels of communication and well understood roles and responsibilities - a fully cohesive, consistent and high-quality programme of training at the university and across schools - the personalisation of training to support and challenge trainees - the strong arrangements for assessing the progress of trainees and ensuring that challenging targets are set to secure further improvement  the commitment and enthusiasm of trainees to all elements of the programme  the high-quality arrangements to ensure potential trainees are very well prepared for the demands and benefits of the programmes, including:

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Key strengths

- the considered way student advocates and advertising are used to encourage applications from under-represented groups - the involvement of partnership colleagues in identifying trainees, regardless of their prior academic experience, with the potential to be good teachers  the extremely effective matching of a wide range of resources to trainees’ needs, including: - the excellent quality of school-based mentors and tutors and university link tutors who challenge and support trainees very well - the astute use of funding to train mentors, participate in research projects, and develop trainees’ skills in using a wide range of technology in their teaching  the way trainees are very well prepared to teach in a multi-cultural society.

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Recommendations

10. To enhance trainees’ already clear potential to be good teachers the provider should:  sharpen trainees’ ability to meet the wide range of pupils’ needs, particularly for higher attaining pupils, in the lessons they teach.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

11. The University of Derby’s overall effectiveness in securing high quality outcomes for trainees is outstanding. At the very heart of its work is the strong commitment of all in the partnership to ensure trainees make at least good progress. They do this through open and honest channels of communication and by all partners having well understood roles and responsibilities. In addition, the training programme at the university and across schools is fully cohesive, consistent and of high quality. Coupled with strong arrangements for assessing the progress of trainees, this means that training is personalised to support and challenge individual trainees very well.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

12. Trainees are committed and enthusiastic about their training. They recognise its high quality is a key factor in their good attainment and the good or better progress they make in reaching the Standards. Particularly pleasing is the increasing proportion of trainees accurately judged by the provider as being outstanding.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

13. Trainees display many characteristics that mark them out as potentially good teachers. It is not surprising then that over 90% gain employment as teachers on completion of their courses. They are very enthusiastic and conscientious, making for example, many contributions to wider school life such as running clubs, organising visits and sharing new technologies with experienced teachers. To their credit, they are also reflective practitioners considering not only their own teaching but the progress pupils make in their class. They pay particular attention to the needs of less able pupils. To enhance their already good potential the university should consider ways of sharpening the trainees’ ability to fully meet the wide range of pupils’ needs, particularly for higher attaining pupils, in the lessons they teach. In addition to these attributes Derby trainees have good subject knowledge, good strategies to promote positive

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

behaviour and attitudes in pupils, are willing to accept advice, develop good relations with pupils and school colleagues, and have high expectations of themselves and their pupils.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

14. The arrangements for recruitment and selection are outstanding and have, for example, resulted in a 9% increase in the proportion of males on the PGCE 3 to 7 year olds course in 2009/10. In addition, there have been improvements in the recruitment of other under-represented groups, such as minority ethnic trainees and the sharp reduction in withdrawal rates from 21% in 2006/07 to 3% currently. The university and the partnership are creative in their recruitment drives, for example by making use of student advocates to visit schools and community centres to promote teaching as a career with targeted groups and by advertising in a local mosque. Once called for interview, trainees find the university’s systems for selection are very effective and thorough. This is because, if required, adjustments are made for candidates with particular needs such as a hearing impairment. In addition, the involvement of a large

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

number of school-based colleagues and the setting up of group discussions and portfolio-based presentations allow interviewers to gauge very well how insightful potential trainees are. This is particularly astute as the university recruits trainees from academic and non-academic backgrounds. Trainees report how helpful the interview process is, particularly the clear criteria they receive beforehand, the feedback they receive on the day, and the way the information is quickly and very well used to inform their individual training plans to ensure their training is personalised from day one.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

15. Training and assessment are outstanding and enable trainees to meet the Standards well and develop the potential to be at least good teachers with a wide breadth of knowledge of educational issues. The high quality which exists across the partnership ensures trainees build on their experiences in schools and at the university and in doing so develops their teaching skills and subject knowledge very well. This is because all personnel who work with trainees – course leaders, university link tutors, school link tutors and school-based mentors – work in harmony with each other and are entirely consistent in their approach. The quality of support for trainees is excellent and enables them to research and study education theory, put it into practice, and reflect critically on their efforts with a keen eye on how well their pupils learn. The levels of consistency from one school to the next, thereby ensuring assessments of

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

trainees are robust and targets to improve are challenging, are commendable. A key factor in ensuring this consistency is the thorough understanding and common implementation of assessment criteria. The result is that trainees know exactly how well they are progressing and what they need to do to improve.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

16. A further strong feature of training and assessment is the way the programme is personalised to trainees’ needs. The partnership managers, for example, regularly review trainees’ programmes to ensure the range of placements, including those to enhance trainees’ understanding of pupils with additional needs and cultural diversity, are broad. In addition, when situations arise which could affect a trainee’s progress, action is quick and decisive with regular involvement of the university link tutor, sharply focused improvement plans agreed and frequent reviews. In addition, for undergraduate trainees who display outstanding potential and are making excellent progress there is an option to complete the programme early. These features are typical of the programme and are an indicator to why, in common with other aspects of its work, the promotion of equality of opportunity, valuing diversity and elimination of harassment and unlawful discrimination and the effectiveness of

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

17. Also outstanding is the management and use of resources. The university makes wise use of a range of personnel from its own resources, schools and local authorities, in addition to representatives from key services such as libraries, museums and pupil support agencies, to deliver a range of sessions. For example, in response to the Lamb report, trainees have benefited from input from key inclusion professionals to learn about the teacher’s role in identifying pupils’ needs and making referrals when necessary. The provider also makes shrewd use of funding to support the use of technology in trainees’ teaching. First year BEd trainees for example, in developing their linguistic skills in preparation for the requirement of primary schools to teach a modern foreign language, used stop-frame animation to sell a French product in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ type exercise. Funding has also been utilised to break down the

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

implications of the Rose Review into early reading, to create clear indicators for trainees, mentors and schools of what constitutes satisfactory, good or outstanding teaching of phonics.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 1

18. Further examples of the excellent resource opportunities include: the organisation of placements to ensure all trainees, by the time they leave, have had quality experience of pupils from culturally diverse backgrounds and additional needs; the funding of six high quality mentors to train others to be so; the availability of resources and artefacts to support foundation subjects such as history and religious education; the university-based school hall and dance studio; the virtual learning environment (VLE); and investment in modern foreign languages, such as the teaching placement in Corsica for students taking French.

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Grade: 1

19. This is a provider which knows itself through and through. Outstanding leadership by senior primary leaders ensures the partnership evaluates performance, anticipates and responds to change and plans and takes action for improvement outstandingly well.

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Grade: 1

20. Leaders involve schools and trainees very well and match their findings against a range of commonly understood criteria which have outcomes for trainees at their very heart. Schools, for example, are actively involved in monitoring and moderating the programmes through a range of evaluations and meetings, while mentors and tutors supplied evidence of the provider’s effectiveness in preparation for its self-evaluation document.

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Grade: 1

21. Senior leaders have developed an open culture of sharing strengths and areas to refine; as a result, self-evaluation is honest and rigorous. The overarching result is trainees make at least good progress and the trends in trainees graded as outstanding are rising. Further examples of the impact of the provider’s outstanding evaluations are evidenced by: the revalidation of its courses; senior leaders’ and the partnership’s decisive responses to already positive external examiner reports; and the development of enhanced placements for trainees to experience pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and English as an additional language. In addition, the provider has enhanced opportunities for mentor recruitment and training through mentor fairs in partner schools. Particularly for trainees, their subject knowledge has improved and, in response to the Williams report into the teaching of mathematics, over

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Grade: 1

50 are being prepared to be specialists when they take up their teaching posts.

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Grade: 1

22. Such examples demonstrate why, in common with so many other features, this provider’s ability to anticipate and respond to change is outstanding. In addition, all recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed. Features already demonstrated highlighting the provider’s very strong performance include its creative approach to recruitment and selection, its training and preparation of partners to meet the needs of each cohort of trainees, and its response to national reports and priorities such as Rose, Lamb, Williams and modern foreign languages. Regionally, the provider has taken the lead with the Training and Development Agency’s projects to support those with additional needs. Its collaboration with other providers in the Midlands to develop common assessment criteria has impacted strongly on the high levels of consistency across the partnership in training and assessment.

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Grade: 1

23. The whole university ethos is one of reflection and critical self-evaluation leading into actions to improve. In its clear and well-communicated plans for improvement, the provider has high expectations of all in terms of trainees’ ability to: teach phonics and early reading; become leaders in mathematics and literacy; use and develop technology in schools they teach in, including developing the confidence of existing staff in schools; be reflective practitioners; and be well prepared to teach in a culturally diverse society. Partners are very clear what their roles and responsibilities are when implementing these plans.

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Context

24. The University of Derby works in partnership with three colleges and one private training organisation to provide initial teacher education for teachers and trainers in the further education system. Two colleges are long established partners with the university in post-compulsory teacher training and one has joined the partnership within the past two years. Courses lead to the university’s Professional Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) and Graduate Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (GDTLLS). These qualifications meet the statutory requirements and are endorsed by Standards Verification UK. The GDTLLS course is offered at the university as full-time pre-service provision, and both the GDTLLS and the DTLLS are offered across the partnership as in-service programmes. The university has not recruited new trainees to the in-service programme at the Buxton campus in 2009/10.

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Context

25. Currently, 322 trainees follow these courses, of which 47 are pre-service, 234 are in-service delivered through partner colleges and 41 are in-service trainees delivered directly by the university at the main campus in Derby, at the Buxton campus of the university or at the partner private training provider’s site. Approximately 9% of trainees are from minority ethnic backgrounds and 62% are female.

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Key strengths

 trainees who are highly reflective, take responsibility for, and make good progress towards their professional development  strong operational partnership working  the delivery of taught elements which model good practice  thorough written assessment practice which supports trainees’ professional development, relates theory to practice and provides trainees with helpful and detailed feedback  the provision of programmes in the community and in the workplace which increase access to ITE  the good resources which support independent learning and development.

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Required actions

27. In order to improve the quality of provision, the provider/partnership must:  regularly monitor and evaluate all aspects of the programme which have an impact on the development and assessment of trainees’ progress  improve the timely use of data in quality assessment, including the analysis of the performance of different groups of trainees across the partnership  use the above to identify good practice and potential solutions within the partnership to drive improvement.

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Required actions

28. In order to improve the quality of improvement planning, the partnership must:  involve all partners in planning for and monitoring improvement  agree milestones and priorities to ensure that all issues identified through inspection and quality monitoring are addressed. The following issues identified at the previous inspection must be prioritised: - the consistency of mentoring - the opportunities for in-service trainees to gain experience of a broad range of provision - the extent to which the value of individual learning plans to the learning process is made explicit and is fully embedded in the training programme - the effectiveness of mentor training in ensuring that roles and responsibilities are clearly and confidently understood by all.

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Recommendations

29. In order to improve trainees’ progress and attainment, the partnership should:  agree a common method of assessing trainees’ attainment  ensure the literacy and numeracy needs of all trainees are identified and supported early in the programme.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

30. The overall effectiveness of the partnership in securing high quality outcomes for trainees is good.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

31. The attainment of trainees is good. Trainers across the partnership are accurate in their assessment of trainees’ achievement. However, the partnership has not yet developed a common method of accurately assessing trainees’ attainment. Trainee success rates are high although there is some variation. For example, while pre-service trainees’ success rates are very high, as are in-service success rates in most partner colleges, success rates are lower on the in-service programme delivered at the university. Here trainee withdrawals in 2007/09 were high amongst first year trainees although retention has improved in 2008/10. Attainment and success rates are lower for trainees at the university’s Buxton campus. The progression of pre-service programme trainees into teaching or onto higher levels of study is high. The standard of course work assignments and group activities is good with some exceptionally high standards and innovative work evident in one college.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

32. Trainees, often from varied starting points, make good progress. Typically they demonstrate the ability to: be highly reflective and apply the taught theoretical knowledge to their own practice; take responsibility for their own professional development through evaluating their performance, setting challenging targets, and critical reflection; and explain how and why they use particular teaching and learning approaches. They also have a sound awareness of different learning contexts, have very good subject knowledge, are committed and enthusiastic, and have good classroom management skills. Many trainees develop skills of critical analysis well. Trainees plan their lessons effectively to engage learners’ interest; they make creative use of resources and are responsive to the individual and collective needs of learners.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

33. The arrangements for recruitment and selection are good, generally rigorous and contribute to the achievement of high quality outcomes. For example, in partner colleges and in recruitment to the bespoke training course for a partner organisation, the demands of the job role are fully explored when deciding the appropriate course of study. All trainees on the pre-service programme at the university and on in-service programmes in most partner colleges undertake an initial assessment for numeracy and literacy skills which informs their individual learning plans; however this is not consistent. Most trainees, including those from under-represented groups, make good progress. There is, nonetheless, limited evidence of monitoring of success of trainees from identified groups to evaluate the effectiveness of selection procedures.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

34. Training and assessment are good. Taught lessons model good practice well, including the effective use of information and communication technology. The taught and work-based elements of the programmes combine very effectively to enable trainees to develop their teaching and professional skills, grounded in a good knowledge and understanding of theory. The programme is well designed. Modules and assignments enable trainees to secure effective improvements in their professional practice. Support for subject specialism has been built into the programme and the team continue to review and develop this aspect. Tutors and mentors generally provide good academic, personal and subject specialist support for trainees, with some well co-ordinated diagnosis and support for specific needs. Induction, however, is not consistent. Part-time trainees at the university and in one partner college would value greater study

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

skills input early in the programme – an aspect to be provided at the university in September 2010. High levels of support for academic writing are offered. However, some trainees continue to struggle with their academic writing because of the late diagnosis of their support needs.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

35. Pre-service trainees benefit from varied placements such as a block placement and supplementary short placement in different settings. They receive relevant subject specialist placements, which enable them to apply their knowledge, develop their professional and practical skills, and work with a range of learner groups and at different levels. Nonetheless, a small minority of in-service trainees do not gain experience of a sufficiently broad range of teaching and learning contexts. The university has not prioritised action planning with individual trainees in this position sufficiently in order to secure improvements in the breadth of their experience. 36. Assessment practice in relation to assignments is good. Informative and detailed feedback effectively supports trainees’ professional development. Feedback from tutor and mentor observations is generally helpful and supportive but in a minority of cases it is insufficiently detailed. Trainees in one

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

partner college use reflective journals very effectively to self-assess their teaching and agree targets for improvement. However, this is not consistent across the partnership. There is too much variation in the quality of target setting and reviews with trainees, so that trainees’ work-place development and functional skills are not brought together in a coherent way.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

37. Resources are good overall and in two partner colleges are outstanding, including the specialist resources for teachers in one college. Staff delivering the programmes are well qualified, committed and experienced; they continuously update their skills and make good use of guest speakers on specialist topics. The library at the university is well resourced, with books, e- books, and journals, many of which can be accessed remotely. It is an extremely valuable resource. The further education teacher education section of the university’s VLE is at an early stage in development. Trainees studying at partner colleges access the college’s own systems in preference to those at the University.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

38. The quality of provision in each partner college and within the university is good. Standardised policies and procedures have been implemented across the partnership. Regular programme review meetings and annual development sessions combine to improve the quality of provision. The colleges collaborate well with each other. The provider has supported a new partner college effectively enabling its trainees to achieve high standards. A strong moderation process for written work ensures consistency in trainees’ standards of assessment although systems for the moderation of teaching observations are not robust. Mentor training and the joint observation of teaching are designed to ensure consistency. However not all mentors have attended training or have had experience of joint observations, including some mentors who are new to the role.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

39. The promotion of equality and diversity in teaching and learning is good. Most trainees have a good understanding, both in breadth and depth of understanding in relation to equality and diversity and the promotion of equality and diversity with their learners. This includes meeting individual learner’s needs, adapting resources to meet individual needs, considering gender issues, working with learners with a wide range of learning difficulties, and/or disabilities, and the promotion of cultural diversity and community cohesion. Some mentors have a particularly good understanding of equality and diversity, which impacts well on their trainees.

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Overall effectiveness Grade: 2

40. The partnership provides training in initial teacher education for a very diverse student body, which includes some preparatory provision in the community designed to encourage access. Trainees share their experience of teaching a very wide range of subjects in a wide range of settings. Although most trainees make good progress and success rates are generally high, the university does not carry out sufficient, formal analysis of the achievement of trainees by gender, ethnicity, disability, or by specific groups such as full-time, part-time and external trainees.

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Grade: 3

41. The provider has satisfactory capacity to sustain high quality outcomes. The provider’s self evaluation of the programme, and of performance across the partnership, provides a generally accurate assessment of overall effectiveness. However, it does not focus sufficiently on the outcomes for trainees or on the need to monitor and evaluate all aspects of the programme and the performance of different groups.

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Grade: 3

42. The partnership has developed a range of effective quality assurance processes. The internal verification process, for example, is thorough and enables quality issues to be addressed. In addition, regular meetings throughout the year bring together staff and trainee representatives from across the partnership. Trainee feedback is encouraged through these meetings and through module evaluations and exit interviews. Partner colleges also have effective course-based review and evaluation processes and make good use of trainees’ feedback to secure improvements. However, the university does not evaluate trainees’ feedback from questionnaires sufficiently.

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Grade: 3

43. External examiners’ reports are used appropriately to assess the quality of provision, for example concerning programme and assessment design, standards of trainees’ work, and the quality of internal moderation of assignments. Recommendations have been addressed. The provider is proactively seeking benchmarking partners, but this is at an early stage of development and is not yet impacting on quality improvement. In addition, the newly-appointed link tutor role is at an early stage of development.

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Grade: 3

44. The provider does not have a sufficiently clear strategic overview of the quality of provision, through effective evaluation of all aspects of the provision and through the effective analyses of data on outcomes for all trainees. The use of data for quality assessment is under-developed. The provider does not routinely analyse cohort data over the two years of the programme. There is insufficient evidence of routine and on-going internal review and evaluation at partnership level. Too much is left until the end of the year. Some key aspects of provision, such as the training of mentors, the quality of mentoring, the assessment of trainees’ teaching by tutors and mentors - including grading and the quality of feedback, which impact on trainees’ attainment and progress, are not monitored sufficiently and are not evaluated by the partnership. There is insufficient monitoring of the system across the partnership to measure

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Grade: 3

45. The provider’s ability, nonetheless, to anticipate change and prepare for and respond to local and national initiatives is good. The partnership is very responsive at curriculum and course level. An annual development day involves all partners - with the agenda driven by partner colleges - to implement changes to programmes, share good practice and develop aspects of teaching and learning. The annual partnership conference is well established and its wide ranging agenda focuses strongly on learning, teaching and on current research. However there is insufficient longer-term development activity specific to the ITE in further education team, with too great a focus on current operational matters in partnership working.

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Grade: 3

46. University staff engage in appropriate external work and networks, research and publications, which inform the programme through a range of methods. Some modules and processes, such as the subject specialism module and reflective practice processes, have arisen in this way. Programme content and delivery is regularly reviewed and amended in the light of the changing environment. Trainees are well aware of requirements and good practice in safeguarding, equality and diversity, and inclusion. However, the partnership approach to trainees’ understanding of functional skills is underdeveloped. Nonetheless, the university has responded positively to local need through the development of bespoke courses for teachers in private training organisations and the delivery of a preparatory teacher education course in the community which is enabling Asian women to enter teaching.

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Grade: 3

47. Planning for action is satisfactory across the partnership. The partnership has addressed a number of quality issues effectively. Recent improvements include changes to the timings of modules as a result of trainees’ feedback, the piloting of the subject specialist individual learning plan with pre-service trainees, and the planning of a new in-service induction at the university in September with an increased focus on skill development. The University responds rapidly to specific issues identified at programme level by colleges. However several areas for attention raised at the last inspection have not yet been fully addressed. These include opportunities for in-service trainees to gain experience of a broad range of provision; the centrality of target setting and the use of individual learning plans within the programme; the effectiveness of mentor training in ensuring that roles and responsibilities are clearly and confidently

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Grade: 3

understood by all and the consistency of mentoring.

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Grade: 3

48. Colleges develop and monitor their own programme action plans effectively; some have an outstanding approach to quality improvement. The partnership improvement plan includes appropriate objectives, but lacks milestones to support planning and monitoring. There is a lack of formal monitoring through the partnership board. Overall, the provider’s satisfactory capacity to improve does not focus sufficiently on the impact of developments on outcomes for trainees.

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Annex: Partnership colleges

49. The partnership includes the following colleges.  Loughborough College  Stephenson College  West Nottinghamshire College

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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

How effective is the provision in securing high quality outcomes for trainees? 1 2

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Overall effectiveness

Trainees’ attainment How well do trainees attain? 2 2 To what extent do recruitment / selection arrangements support high quality outcomes? 1 2 To what extent does the training and assessment ensure that all trainees progress to fulfil their potential given their ability and starting points? 1 2 Factors contributing to trainees’ attainment

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Overall effectiveness

To what extent are available resources used effectively and efficiently? 1 2 The quality of the provision To what extent is the provision across the partnership of consistently high quality? 1 2

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Overall effectiveness

Promoting equalities and diversity To what extent does the provision promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and eliminate harassment and unlawful discrimination? 1 2

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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? 1 3

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Capacity to improve further and/or sustain high quality

How effectively does the management at all levels assess performance in order to improve or sustain high quality? 1 3 How well does the leadership at all levels anticipate change, and prepare for and respond to national and local initiatives? 1 2 How effectively does the provider plan and take action for improvement? 1 3

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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. set out in the guidance ‘Complaints about school inspection’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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