SELF-ASSESSMENT REPORT 2019-20
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Contents GRADING 3 CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION 3 OUR PROVISION AND BREAKDOWN OF LEAVERS 3 WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A LEARNER AT WALTHAM FOREST COLLEGE? 6 SUMMARY OF SELF ASSESSMENT JUDGEMENTS 7 SUMMARY OF OVERALL EFECTIVENESS 7 SAFEGUARDING 8 LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT 10 QUALITY OF EDUCATION 12 BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES 16 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT 18 EDUCATION PROGRAMMES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 20 ADULT LEARNING 23 APPRENTICESHIPS 25 HIGH NEEDS FUNDED LEARNERS 28 SUMMARY OF KEY PERFORMANCE DATA 31
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GRADING
CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION
Waltham Forest College is a medium-sized general further education college in East London. The College provides education programmes for young people, adult learning programmes, apprenticeships and provision for learners who have high needs. There are approximately 1,547 learners aged 16 to 18 following full-time study programmes. Of these, around two thirds were studying courses up to level 2, and the remainder at level 3. Some 5,895 adult learners were attending the college, most of whom were on part-time courses. In addition, by the end of July there were 466 learners on apprenticeships. The college receives high needs funding for 141 learners who are in a bespoke area or are located across the curriculum.
The borough of Waltham Forest is diverse, both ethnically and socially, with 97 languages spoken by learners at the college, the top five languages spoken locally other than English are Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Turkish and Lithuanian. The borough is home to an estimated 271,200 residents and about half the local residents are from a minority ethnic background, with the top five countries of origin being Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Jamaica and India. The significant majority of businesses in the area (93%) are micro-businesses, employing fewer than 10 people. The average salary in the borough is lower than the London average, at £30,900. Waltham Forest is currently ranked 35th most deprived borough nationally according to the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The proportion of pupils at local schools who achieve five GCSEs with high grades is below the national rate, and below the average for schools in London. The significant majority of learners who attend Waltham Forest College have not yet achieved high grades in GCSE English and maths.
OUR PROVISION AND BREAKDOWN OF LEAVERS
We offer study programmes across all curriculum areas at Waltham Forest College as well as a range of adult programmes and apprenticeships. The following table shows the number of leavers in 2018/19, including maths and English, in each provision type.
Table A: Number of leavers in 2018/19, including Maths and English, in each provision type
Study programmes 3,537
Apprenticeships 345
Adult learning 6,828
High needs learners 141
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Leavers by Age
The chart below indicates the percentage of leavers by age.
Chart 1: Percentage of leavers by age
16-18 38%
19+ 62%
Leavers by Level
Chart 2: Leavers by Level
4398
2610 2132
1198
36 68
ENTRY LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 OTHER
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Leavers by Qualification Type
Chart 3: Leavers by Qualification Type
2.0 1.5
17.0
36.2
13.0
6.1
7.8 16.5
Access to HE Basic Skills Maths and English Diploma GCSE Maths and English Award Certificate ESOL Other Non-reg
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WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A LEARNER AT WALTHAM FOREST COLLEGE?
Learners feel part of a supportive community at the college, feel safe, and have a good understanding of how to stay safe through a myriad of awareness raising activities and community events. A strong team of support staff work closely with curriculum so that young learners feel well supported, respected and valued.
Learners on education programmes for young people, including those with High Needs, benefit from high-quality teaching, enrichment and work experience activities, which motivates them to achieve their qualifications and vastly improves their employability skills. For example, Travel and Tourism, Business and IT learners undertook placements in Portugal. As a result, they developed the skills and knowledge sought by employers, as well as developing their understanding of different cultures.
Adult learners, many of whom are from the most disadvantaged and hard-to-reach groups, benefit from inclusive and highly personalised programmes. They gain confidence from the high-quality provision which enables them to improve their life chances and develop personal and social skills, such as helping their children with schoolwork. For many, their experiences are life-changing and enable them to gain or return to employment.
Learners and apprentices feel well supported and develop their confidence, team working skills and self-belief with the support of staff. Teachers and assessors know and care about their learners and work very effectively with support staff need to deal with barriers to learning. For example, this was especially important during lockdown with a marked increase in safeguarding referrals of almost 8% in comparison to the previous year. As a result, learners feel more secure and gain the self-confidence they need to make progress even when dealing with COVID-19.
Most apprentices have suitable access to high-quality, industry standard equipment and facilities. This ensures that apprentices are quick to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to use within the work they do with their employers. Consequently, they successfully complete their apprenticeship within the agreed timeframe and improve their future employment or promotion prospects.
The vast majority of learners develop aspirational plans that staff support them to achieve, which is demonstrated by the marked 10% increase in study programme progression rates in 2019-20. Learners with high needs achieve well and make good progress and participate in work placement opportunities such as with Organic Lea (a nursery) and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation Pathway to Employment programme, which prepares them well for their next steps.
Most learners and apprentices experience very good teaching and support. They develop new knowledge, skills and behaviours that prepare them well for further study or employment. The good and ever improving links that staff have with local employers and higher education providers, such as London Metropolitan University, mean that students gain good exposure to the workplace. Learners feel valued. They appreciate the excellent support and guidance they receive from staff and good resources that help them learn and progress. The vast majority of learners on Education Programmes for Young People have clear career aims, demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and behave well.
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SUMMARY OF SELF ASSESSMENT JUDGEMENTS
KEY JUDGEMENTS
Overall Effectiveness Good
The Quality of Education Good
Behaviour and Attitudes Good
Personal development Good
Leadership and Management Good
PROVISION TYPES
Education Programmes for Young People Good
Adult Learning Programmes Good
Apprenticeships Good
Provision for Learners with High Needs Good
Overall Effectiveness at Previous Inspection Good
SUMMARY OF OVERALL EFECTIVENESS
The College has self-assessed the overall effectiveness of education to be good.
The College is good because:
• Leaders and managers use their effective partnerships to shape and plan the college curriculum to meet the needs of the local and regional economy well • Arrangements with community providers and local agencies are particularly successful in engaging hard to reach groups from within local communities including the unemployed and those at risk of becoming NEET • The quality of teaching, learning and assessment overall is good, with a clear focus on skills development and building confidence, enabling the majority of learners to achieve their qualifications and develop employability skills in order to enhance their progression and employment opportunities • Effective quality improvement processes have led to significant improvements in key focus areas including achievement rates for 16-18 vocational learning (increased by 5.3% compared to 2018/19); and increased achievement rates for level 2 provision by 6.4% and level 3 provision by 5.1%. • A highly inclusive and supportive environment supports social cohesion and builds confidence enabling learners from widely differing backgrounds and abilities to succeed, including those with high needs • Behaviour and conduct of learners is excellent within a safe and inclusive environment
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The College is not yet outstanding because:
• Achievement rates require improvement particularly in entry level and level 1 functional skills and ESOL. These areas were most impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown • Continue to improve the overall quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that it is consistently high across all curriculum areas. • Continue to improve attendance and in particular attendance of 16–18 year olds to English and maths classes which whilst improving is lower than vocational classes and requires further improvement
SAFEGUARDING
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and our Ofsted Safeguarding Monitoring Visit in February 2020 demonstrated that the College had made reasonable progress. Leaders and managers have established a suitable culture for safeguarding. There are appropriate policies, procedures and risk assessments, including in relation to the ‘Prevent’ duty. Leaders have created effective safeguarding roles within the college, referred to as the ‘BeSafe’ team. Learners have a good awareness of this team and its purpose.
Governors have a secure overview of safeguarding. They receive sufficiently frequent reports on referrals and incidents and are well-informed about notifications to external agencies. Safeguarding Papers to governors have been amended to allow Governors to hold leaders to account on progress against next steps and recommendations.
In the academic year 2019-2020, the college received a total of 671 referrals for safeguarding in comparison to 617 referrals the previous year. This is an overall increase of 8%. Although there has been an 8% increase in safeguarding referrals, 19% of safeguarding referrals are received through external agencies and the Safer Schools Officer. This is because of the strong partnerships forged with external agencies working together to prevent safeguarding concerns escalating.
The 671 referrals for 2019/2020 are linked to 320 unique learners, as one learner can be referred multiple times. In 2018/19 there were 617 referrals linked to 375 learners. Although referrals have increased by 8% the actual headcount of learners is reduced by 14%. This highlights the impact of the work undertaken by the BeSafe and curriculum teams on keeping learners safe.
Through the well-planned tutorial programme, learners receive appropriate training in safeguarding. They receive pertinent information about being safe at the college and within their own neighbourhoods and the lead Governor for Safeguarding attends regular safeguarding monitoring meetings with the college team.
Senior staff liaise very well with local agencies. They represent the college on important local safeguarding forums. They work closely with, for example, the safer school’s officer, so they are quickly aware of any issues affecting their learners. Leaders and managers use their procedures for dealing with safeguarding concerns effectively. They deal promptly with any safeguarding issues when they arise. They investigate appropriately any concerns raised. These include examples when allegations related to safeguarding have been made about staff. Leaders and managers work effectively with local agencies when necessary.
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Safeguarding managers have comprehensive records of all learners referred for safeguarding purposes. In these, they record and can demonstrate their close work with partners from external agencies. For example, they work well with the youth offending team so that they know of any learners who have previous criminal convictions. They maintain this work, also in liaison with the police, to gain information about learners who become involved in crime or receive cautions. Safeguarding managers make sure that they inform teaching staff fully of any such issues.
All new and existing staff have appropriate and regular training on safeguarding and completion is rigorously monitored. They are required to acknowledge that they have read and understood the Keeping Children Safe in Education Part 1 document annually. Learner services and the BeSafe team have developed an even more effective communication with the curriculum staff, so that when students who may be at risk do not attend this is reported and followed up very promptly. The use of Pro Monitor has been further developed so that concerns are flagged and confidential comments added but restricted to the relevant staff.
Curriculum teams have a very good understanding of their responsibilities in terms of safeguarding learners who may be vulnerable, including and particularly those with High Needs. Each curriculum area now has a safeguarding champion to raise awareness and of safeguarding issues amongst learners and staff. Learners are well informed about how to keep themselves safe, including on-line, through the tutorial process. The tutorial scheme of work has been revised to revisit safeguarding and Prevent at various points mid-year in order to reinforce the information given during induction. A robust Prevent risk assessment is in place. Robust risk assessments have been put in place to mitigate the risks from COVID-19 and meet the differing needs of 16-18 year olds, adults and learners with High Needs. Arrangements to closely monitor and support learners who might have been at increased risk during lockdown were very effective.
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LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
GOOD
Strengths
• Leaders have a strong vision and clear priorities for the College that they communicate well to learners, staff and other stakeholders.
• A clear curriculum intent and revised curriculum planning process has resulted in a curriculum offer that is well aligned to meeting local skills gaps, creating an education for all and clear progression pathways for learners.
• Local community links, including the local authority, are very strong and highly effective in supporting employment and social cohesion.
• Leaders and managers have worked closely with employers and higher education providers to identify the skills, knowledge and behaviours that learners and apprentices need. This ensures that programmes prepare young people, adults and apprentices well for their futures. Learners benefit from excellent industry placements and work related activities that further support progression. In 2019-20 92% of learners progressed onto further or higher study or employment, which has improved significantly from 73% in 2017-18.
• Leaders have high expectations of both staff and learners across all aspects of the college’s provision. They ensure that teachers and assessors support learners’ aspirations and ambitions through developing their knowledge, understanding and employability skills in the classroom or workplace and motivating conversations during tutorials or reviews. Robust tracking and monitoring of learner progress at every level ensures that the majority of students are on track to achieve and know what they need to do to improve.
• Leaders’ and managers were quick to respond to the changing needs of students and staff during lockdown. By surveying learners’ technology needs just before lockdown, they were able to swiftly provide laptops and equipment to the most vulnerable learners. Teachers were supporting other teachers through the transition to virtual learning with additional CPD with the Education Training Foundation blended learning modules and support from the Digital Learning Champions.
• Leaders and mangers have implemented highly effective quality improvement strategies that have led to significant improvements, particularly in the 16-18 year old vocational areas. As a result, achievement in Construction increased by 24% from 66% to 90%, Electrical by 12.7%, from 75.3%to 88%, Beauty by 15.6%, from 83.2% to 98.8%, and Public Services by 20.2% from 75.5% to 95.7%.
• The college has invested in developing managers and staff in order to further improve the overall learner experience. Managers and “future leaders” have benefitted from investment in a bespoke management training programme, which has led to increased ownership and accountability for their areas. In addition, Professional Learning Mentors undertook the Education Training Foundation’s Advanced Practitioner course that enabled them to support their teams in further improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
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• Leaders and managers have focused clearly on continuing to improve teaching and learning by adopting an action research approach through individual or team supported experiments and sharing of best practice with colleagues. As a result, the quality and consistency of teaching, learning and assessment has improved across the college. Considerable and timely work was undertaken to improve teachers’ use of technology to support learning through ETF Blended Learning modules and support from Digital Champions in each area. The positive impact of this was evident during the subsequent lockdown when the majority of students remained engaged in learning and successfully completed their studies.
• Leaders, managers and governors ensure the college is safe and inclusive, with learners and staff well-being the highest priority. They also ensure that safeguarding arrangements are effective for all groups of learners, as evidenced by the Ofsted Monitoring Visit in February 2020. Leaders and managers have ensured that the college’s safeguarding arrangements have kept pace with national priorities and have successfully identified and considered local safeguarding risks. Extensive work was undertaken to support learners to achieve their qualifications as well as providing them with support during the lockdown period.
• Leaders and managers ensured learners received a high-quality learning experience which was demonstrated in the college being ranked as the highest performing college for learner experience in the London for the national student survey for the second consecutive year.
• Leaders and managers were highly supportive of staff and learners throughout lockdown and took decisive actions to monitor their well-being throughout this challenging period, including daily HR updates, regular emotional wellbeing surveys and wellbeing sessions. During lockdown the college continued to motivate and boost staff morale organising informal ‘water cooler’ meetings and sending regular emails with information on how to access help and support if needed. It also included links to external support organisations and even a motivational “song of the day”.
• Leaders and managers ensured that during lockdown all learners were closely monitored by their tutors and learners identified as at risk or vulnerable were swiftly supported with additional intervention, in order to ensure their safety and well-being. Learner services and the college in-house counselling service provided additional support for mental health and wellbeing. Leaders and managers responded swiftly to ensure that learners facing financial difficulty due to COVID-19 were supported; free school meals were extended throughout the holidays.
• Leaders and managers ensure that learners receive good, impartial, careers guidance that prepares them well for their next steps. The college’s well-qualified information, advice and guidance team provides high-quality careers guidance to learners, which complements the sound guidance from vocational teachers.
• Leaders and managers ensure that the promotion of equality and the celebration of diversity are a priority for staff and learners in this inclusive college. They promote high expectations of behaviour so that a culture of tolerance and respect for others is maintained. They ensure that the curriculum prepares learners well for life in modern Britain and enables them to make valuable contributions in the wider community. For example, learners took part in charity events such as Poppy appeal, Jeans for Genes, Children in Need, Dementia Awareness week and the Heat or Eat food poverty appeal.
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• Governors took swift and decisive action to address concerns relating to finances. This included increased scrutiny and oversight from the Board and some changes to the college executive team. This decisive action led to a significantly improved financial position for the college at year end, with an improved financial rating of good.
Areas for improvement:
• Improve overall achievements rates and in particular for 16-18 years olds and functional skills maths
• Ensure that revised strategies for formative assessment are in place to capture earlier achievement in maths and ESOL so that learners are not disadvantaged in the event of further disruption to learning due to Covid 19 restrictions.
• Continue to improve the overall quality and consistency of teaching, learning and assessment.
QUALITY OF EDUCATION
GOOD
INTENT
Strengths:
• Leaders and managers use their effective partnerships to inform and plan the curriculum to meet the needs of the local and regional economy. For example, the curriculum has been adapted to align closely with local and national priorities through the development of good working relationships with employers such as Wilmott Dixon and Higher Education institutions such as University of the Arts.
• The inclusive curriculum offer supports social cohesion and builds confidence in learners. There is a strong emphasis on employability skills within the curriculum that supports the development of employment opportunities for the high number of learners with English as a second or other language.
• Managers and teachers plan effective programmes to meet the needs of learners who have had previous poor experience of education or have significant barriers to learning. They carefully assess the knowledge, skills and behaviours that learners arrive with. They then use the results of the assessment to plan a programme of study with additional activities and pastoral support to meet learners’ needs so that they successfully complete and achieve their programme of study.
• Arrangements with community providers and local agencies are particularly successful in engaging hard to reach groups from local communities including unemployed and those at risk of becoming NEET, such as the Connected Communities Programme, a bespoke project providing mentoring and coaching to learners to help more of them aspire to HE, Sector Based Work Academies and Princes Trust provision.
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• Leaders and managers have developed highly successful strategic partnerships with the London Borough of Waltham Forest Adult Community Provision and surrounding boroughs to standardise the initial assessments and support for the community to further improve the access to ESOL provision across all ACL and GFE providers in the sub-region.
• Study programmes for 16-19 year olds are comprehensively planned and include well-managed relevant work experience placements to enhance learners’ application of skills developed while on programme.
• Apprentices and their employers benefit from a responsive offer, that is adapted to suit the diverse needs of students and employers.
• Leaders and managers have high aspirations for all learners, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and apprentices. They have worked very effectively with staff to turn these aspirations into concrete curricular plans, demonstrating clear curriculum intent across the organisation which has been shared with governors.
Areas for Improvement:
• Leaders and Managers will need to continue to adapt and be reactive in this current ever changing environment (COVID-19) and ensure our mode of delivery is flexible enough and has capacity to embrace new initiatives to fully support the emerging needs of the community during and post pandemic.
• Continue to embed employer engagement consistently across all areas of the curriculum in order to support curriculum and assessment design.
IMPLEMENTATION
Strengths
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment overall is good, with a focus on skills development, enabling the majority of learners to achieve their qualifications and develop employability skills to enhance their employability skills.
• Learners have access to a good range of learning resources and specialist industry equipment at the college. During lockdown leaders and managers invested in further resources to ensure learners had the resources they needed for online learning. For example; in creative arts learners were given access to Photoshop and video-editing software so that they could carry out practical tasks at home. Students not able to study virtually were provided with packs sent to their home addresses to support their studies.
• Most teachers plan vocational lessons effectively. They build on prior learning and link theory and practice effectively and as a result in practical and workshop sessions, learners are supported well to develop and apply their practical skills to support their career aspirations.
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• Apprentices benefit from good trainer and assessor support and feedback helping them to reach good standards in vocational and work-related practices supporting high completion rates.
• Use of directed questions and answers by teachers are used well in the majority of sessions to check learners’ progress and understanding of key theory, knowledge and skills.
• Teachers make effective use of planned and unplanned opportunities to develop students’ appreciation of equality and diversity and British Values.
• Leaders and Managers have adopted an action research approach to developing teaching and learning through individual or team supported experiments which has been highly successful in encouraging teachers to be more innovative. The Blended Learning Project involving Health and Social Care, Early Years, Sport and Public Services was an excellent example of supporting teachers and learners to engage with a new way of delivery. This was also timely as it took place in the autumn term just prior to lockdown.
• Leaders, managers and teachers adapted their delivery quickly and used on-line learning very effectively to ensure that learners engaged throughout the period of lockdown. Teachers worked to upskill themselves and the college used external resources such the Education and Training Foundation’s Digital modules and the Blended Learning Consortium to further support staff.
• The vast majority of teachers are using their vocational expertise well to plan and sequence programmes. They ensure that underpinning knowledge is delivered early in the programme so that learners can build on what they know and can do. Tutors skilfully use recall activities to reinforce learning. They plan and deliver training activities that allow learners on education programmes for young people to apply their practical skills and reflect on knowledge gained from theory lessons. Teachers use their good subject and industry knowledge to help students develop up-to-date industry-related skills. For example, Construction radically changed practical delivery so that learners complete a whole project rather than disparate tasks e.g. a complete bathroom installation.
• Teachers in the vast majority of areas use assessment very well to understand learners’ and apprentices’ progress and to intervene in a timely fashion to support them when they fall behind.
Areas for Improvement:
• Teaching, learning and assessment requires further improvement in the specific areas of Automotive, IT and Creative.
• Target setting and monitoring or progress in a minority of areas is not yet consistently good.
• The quality of formative, developmental and constructive feedback requires further development to support learners in self-correction of written work.
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IMPACT
Strengths
• The college has continued to improve the quality and achievement rates for 16-18 year old learners. Achievement improved by 1.3% compared to 2018/19 and with a growth of 4% in 16-18 enrolments.
• Vocational achievement on Education Programmes for Young People has significantly increased by 5.3% to 90 and this has improved progression rates, supporting young people to progress with their career aspirations
• The majority of adult learners achieve their qualifications, leading to enhanced social cohesion and improved employment opportunities. Adults in most vocational areas achieve very well and this is increasing; for example, Beauty 84.8% to 98.3%, Creative Arts 81.6% to 88.5%, Hospitality and Catering 86.2% to 90.9% and Construction 78.8% to 86.7%. Teacher training and Childcare both succeeded in gaining 100% achievement.
• Achievement for high grades for GCSEs is good and above sector benchmarks. Learners undertaking GCSEs, especially those aged 16-18, have made significant improvements in comparison to previous years with increases of 7% in English and 9% in maths 9-4 grades respectively. Overall achievement in these areas is now over 90% sitting at 91% for English and 94% for maths.
• Construction has had a significant improvement in outcomes for young learners after a period of sustained decline and is now running at 96%. Hair and Beauty have increased dramatically and have both hit 100%.
• Health and Social Care, Early Years, Hospitality and the Culinary Arts have consistently maintained excellent achievement rates over a three-year period which remain significantly above national rate. Very good improvements have also been seen in Public Services increasing by 20% to 95.7%.
• Achievement rates for apprentices is high and well above national benchmarks and as a result apprentices increase their confidence at work and are able to carry out the tasks asked of them by employers to a high standard.
• The large majority of learners successfully progress from their studies and this has significantly improved by 19% to 92% compared to 2018/19.
• Learner feedback from the Student Council, which was themed around improving the learner experience, is very positive. Learners stated that, “studying in lessons is organised and structured”. They commented that teaching has improved their skills and they enjoy their sessions. They also value highly one-to-one feedback from their teachers that helps them to improve.
• Teachers assess high needs learners’ abilities well when they come to the college. Staff use learners’ educational and health care plans to develop meaningful individual targets. They effectively link these to the main aims of learners’ learning programmes. Teachers ensure that learners participate well in vocational classes. Students contribute to whole-class discussion effectively. As a result, learners successfully build their subject knowledge, academic and life skills. High needs learners’ achievement was 82.2% compared to 79.1% across all direct provision.
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Those who are taught discretely in Foundation Learning did particularly well at 93.6% overall.
Areas for improvement:
• In a small minority of areas such as Automotive, IT, STEM and maths assessment planning has not been done early enough ultimately impacting on a minority of learners’ outcomes and progression opportunities.
• Achievement rates are not yet at national average and need to improve. The impact of COVID-19 has been significant for adult provision, especially in ESOL where family and digital access issues, as well as low levels of English, have been major barriers to accessing remote learning. As such, outcomes for learners on Entry and Level 1 provision has been lower than is usual for this area, which has impacted on overall achievement for the college.
• In a small minority of areas, learners do not receive feedback on their written work that supports them to achieve their fullest potential to secure higher grades.
BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES
GOOD
Strengths
• Learners’ behaviour in classes and in communal areas of the college is exemplary. Staff set high expectations for learners throughout the induction period and these behaviours are strongly correlated to the College values and code of conduct. Staff continue to reinforce and readily challenge any rare occurrences of poor behaviour or bad language.
• The college is clean and tidy and provides a good learning environment. Staff and learners take pride in the college campus and being representatives for the college externally. For example, catering students felt privileged to be invited to be part of the Queen's Anniversary Trust prize dinner event where they were involved in front and back of house hospitality operations.
• Learners’ attitudes to learning are good and learners take pride in their achievements and personal development. More learners have progressed internally, an increase of 10% in comparison to 2019/20.
• All apprentices have a mentor in the workplace, and as a result this helps them model exemplary professional behaviour as well as supporting them with developing further employability skills required for their chosen profession. All apprentices have remained in employment upon completion of their apprenticeship.
• Learners build resilience, are resourceful and show respect for each other and play a part in creating an environment that nurtures difference. During the lockdown period this was especially clear with how well learners engaged with their learning despite the significant challenges many of them faced.
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• Overall attendance at the college is improving and has significantly increased by 11% from 73% in 2017-18 to 84% in 2019-20. Successful attendance strategies included attendance awards for 100% attendance, attendance ambassadors and area specific incentives. Both Health and Social Care and Early Years maintained consistently high attendance above 90%, with Hairdressing improved to 90%, an increase of 4% compared to 2018/19. Teacher Training was also consistently high at 90%, which increased by a further 2% compared to 2018/19. Public Services improved from 82% in 2018/19 to 89% in 2019/20. Other improvements were made in Sport WFC, increasing by 6% to 87%, Foundation Learning also improved by 5% to 95%. In addition, Beauty learners increased their attendance by a notable 7% to 90%. Managers in vocational areas are now more accountable for attendance to English and maths with good success in some areas, although this remains inconsistent.
• Learners have a strong voice throughout the college community, through a diverse network of student representatives, student ambassadors and the student council. Using these groups, learners have a positive influence in contributing to their learning experience. For example, The Student Conference in November 2019 had a central theme of “Improving the Learner Experience”, with a specific focus on attendance. As a result, it highlighted that a high proportion of learners at times had to strike a balance between study, work and family commitments Feedback from learners was considered such as making timetable changes where possible to accommodate work, childcare and family commitments.
• Learners feel safe and confident in reporting incidents of bullying, harassment or discrimination, knowing that staff will take swift and appropriate action. There has been an overall decrease of bullying reports by 57% compared to the previous year, which indicates that a heightened focus on expectations of behaviour and swift intervention where identified, is having a positive impact across the college.
• Learners build confidence in the practical skills they learn which prepares them for the next stage in their development linked to their chosen careers.
• In addition to their planned work experience, learners on vocational courses have frequent opportunities to take part in work-related projects involving local businesses and employers. For example, ‘Teens, Tots and Forget-me-Nots’ is Health, Care, Early Years and Public Service’s four-part intergenerational skill-swapping project which helps to overcome social isolation and provide meaningful interaction opportunities for older people and children. Students entertain older people within the community for lunch and entertainment at the college, provide activities for people with dementia at a local centre and run story and rhyme activities for young children at a local library. These activities strengthen learners’ understanding of community cohesion and prepares them well for being an active British citizen.
Areas for improvement:
• Attendance in a minority of areas, whilst improving, is still not consistently high across the college and this was particularly noticeable for some areas that found it more difficult to engage during lockdown such as ESOL.
• Attendance of 16–18 year olds to English and maths classes, whilst improving is lower than vocational classes and requires further improvement.
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
GOOD
Strengths
• Leaders and managers ensure that learners receive good, impartial, careers guidance. The college’s well-qualified information, advice and guidance team provides high- quality careers guidance to learners, which complements sound guidance from vocational teachers; 93% of learners in 2019-20 progressed onto further or higher education or employment, which is a marked increase of 20% since 2017/18.
• A total of 74% of learners (221) who had applied to university were successful, this is a marked improvement by 2.5% compared to the previous year. The vast majority of learners were placed at their university of choice, with more progressing to Russell Group universities than in previous years, for example King’s College London, to undertake Nursing courses and Durham University for Criminology.
• The College works closely with the Careers and Enterprise Company and has achieved 100% across all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks. The evaluation of the careers provision is conducted via the Compass Evaluation Tool that measures impact and performance.
• Learners, including apprentices, are very aware of how to remain physically and emotionally healthy. Learner Services work with curriculum areas and external organisations on cross college events such as Protect Your Mate week, Safer Learner Week as well as the new “Get Support” enrichment package. Through tutorials, learners are well informed about topics including personal welfare, stress management, exercise, healthy eating and sexual health.
• The College has continued to work closely with external partners that support the delivery of this work, including Safer London, LEAP (challenging behaviour), Ashiana (domestic violence), CGL (substance misuse) the Children’s Society, the Sexual Nurse Advisor and the Safer Schools’ Officer.
• The college has a dedicated in-house counselling team which, as well as signposting to external support where appropriate, supported 133 learners throughout the year, including crisis sessions that required immediate interventions. This has resulted in learners being provided with immediate support where needed, staying in education and developing in confidence and resilience.
Learner feedback:
Client A “The counselling really was one of the best things I done this year. I learned so much about myself and how to look at situations from a different point of view. Also, while at college I went through some really stressful personal situations and many emotions as a reaction, knowing that I was going to be able to speak them through with (Counsellor name) somehow made things more manageable and my anxieties to feel less of an urgent issue. I could put them to the side and deal with them at a suitable time.”
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Client B “Helped me in different ways, and I can’t thank her enough for making my life better. Without (counsellor name) I don’t think I would be as strong as I am now. For example, she made me feel comfortable, she listened to my problems and never once gave me a bad response it’s always a response I’m waiting for. She laughed with me and made me feel better. It wasn’t always an emotional session.”
• Leaders and managers have developed closer links with industry and learners are benefitting from excellent industry placements supporting their progression into further training or employment. The new employability team have strengthened and forged links with industry such as Watkin Jones and Morgan Sindall. Employer feedback has been positive.
Watkin Jones: “It has been fantastic having your students complete their work experience. The students came across polite and have enjoyed the experience. They came across keen and eager to learn and develop their understanding of the roles offered by our organisation.”
Morgan Sindall: “I am so glad the students enjoyed their time with us, we honestly loved hosting them, a really solid group, good attitude, time keeping and enthusiasm.”
• High quality, meaningful work experience is planned across the year aligned to the relevant vocational area and students’ career aspirations; by February just under 79% of study programme students had completed their work experience and 64% had completed their extended industry placements. This is a significant improvement from the previous year. The final completion of work experience was interrupted by lockdown.
• The development of employability skills is embedded throughout learners’ studies with learners being able to reinforce and develop skills including being independent, communication, digital skills resilience and confidence through dedicated workshops delivered via employers and staff.
• Learners further extend their skills through visits from guest speakers and planned insight days with leading employers. Over time, this data provides evidence for the impact of college work-placement, tutorials, enrichment, careers and employer engagement activities undertaken by learners.
• Learners and apprentices have a good knowledge of how to stay safe. They wear the correct protective equipment, and adhere to safe working practices, in practical sessions and at work. Teachers ensure that learners understand the ‘Prevent’ duty in relation to the local issues of gang culture and potential radicalisation and proactively and reactively promote British values.
• Through the induction and ongoing tutorial programme, learners receive appropriate training in safeguarding and receive pertinent information on how to keep safe at the college and within their own neighbourhoods. The large majority of learners have a good understanding of how to stay safe online and managing risks associated to e- safety.
• Learners feel well supported with their pastoral and welfare needs. Learner Services provides a comprehensive service that works in tandem with curriculum areas, meeting the welfare needs of individuals and cohort profiles. There is a well- 19
developed approach to safeguarding and the BeSafe team have improved working- relationships with external partners.
For example, the BeSafe team work well with the youth offending teams by developing service level agreements with Youth Offending Teams and information is shared about learners who become involved in crime or receive cautions so that intervention and support can be swiftly put in place.
• Learners who have been under local authority care achieve well as a result of dedicated support structures and robust monitoring. Since 2018 there has been a 6% overall increase to 87% in the achievement of learners in these high risk vulnerable groups which include care leavers, looked after children and SEN looked after children. In addition, learners who achieve free school meals achieve 4.5% better than their counterparts indicating the additional wrap support has a positive impact.
• Learners from diverse ethnic backgrounds treat each other with high levels of respect and tolerance, with good understanding of British Values.
• Learners are empowered to respond and use their voice, taking part in discussions linked to issues relating to college life as well as regional and national contexts. These included Voter Registrations, Stand up to Racism and Black Lives Matter.
Areas for improvement:
• Continue to develop the tutorial programme with an emphasis on mental health and wellbeing due to COVID-19.
• Further develop online tutorial programmes for 16-18 learners of study programmes.
EDUCATION PROGRAMMES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
GOOD
In 2019/2020, study programmes were delivered in all of the main curriculum areas at Waltham Forest College, ranging from Entry Level to Level 3. The largest volumes of learners on study programmes were in Automotive, Creative Arts, Construction, ESOL, and Travel and Tourism. Managers ensured that the principles of the study programme were met by including maths and English, work experience, a tutorial programme and enrichment, alongside the vocational programme. A central team was responsible for the delivery of maths and English in the large majority of curriculum areas.
Strengths
• Leaders and managers have ensured that a higher proportion of learners on education programmes for young people achieve their vocational, functional skills English and GCSE qualifications than in previous years, and even more than when the last inspection took place in February 2018. This is particularly notable given the proportion of pupils at local schools who achieve five GCSEs with high grades is below the national rate, and below the average for schools in London.
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• Achievement of young people in their vocational courses was high from Levels 1 – 3 and significantly above national averages. For example, at Level 2 achievement was 91.6%, which is above NA by +7.7% and up +8.3% from 2018/19, achieved with a significant increase in enrolments. Level 3 achievement was 91.5%, above NA by +3.5% and up +3.2% from 2018/19.
• Many curriculum areas significantly improved their achievement of young people from 2018/19. For example; Construction 96% from 66%, Electrical 93.7% from 63.4%, Beauty 100% from 80%, Business 87.5% from 83%, Creative Arts 96.6% from 90% and Public Services 95.7% from 75%. This was achieved through improvements in teaching and learning, rigorous tracking and monitoring and improved assessment planning. The proportion of high grades has been maintained or improved in the majority of curriculum areas. For example, for three tier qualifications Public Services improved from 57% to 77.8% and Creative Arts 60% to 64.3%.
• Achievement of GCSE English and maths is high, even though the significant majority of learners have not yet achieved high grades in GCSE English and mathematics at school. Maths is 14.9% above national average and English 4.3%. High grades have improved from 31% compared to 29% in 2018/19.
• Learners achieve well on Entry Level English and both Level 2 English and maths, with cohorts achieving significantly above national average. For example, 62.4% at Level 2 English compared to 51.3% NA. This was achieved in English by revising the assessment schedule to ensure that learners had assessment opportunities earlier in the year. Consequently, when Centre Assessed Grades were required as result of COVID-19, sufficient assessment was available and very few grades were disputed.
• Leaders and Managers have adopted an action research approach to developing teaching and learning, through individual or team supported experiments which has been highly successful in encouraging teachers to be more innovative. The Blended Learning Project involving Health and Social Care, Early Years, Sport and Public Services was an excellent example of supporting teachers and learners to engage with a new way of delivery. This was also timely as it took place in the autumn term just prior to lockdown. Furthermore, areas such as English and the Vocational Industries, undertook practitioner led action research projects for the first time. The impact of which can be seen in learning walks and sharing best practice with colleagues. As a result, the improved quality and consistency of teaching, learning and assessment has led to improved achievement in the vast majority of subject areas.
• The large majority of teachers set interesting, relevant activities which motivate and engage learners who play an active part in lessons. Teachers skilfully enthuse learners to contribute to discussions; they ask questions that deepen learners’ understanding and encourage them to take notes on salient points. Most teachers set learners work and adapt it successfully to meet learners’ differing abilities and needs.
• The large majority of teachers provide feedback to learners that helps them improve the standards of their work. They track learners’ progress closely and their assessment of learners’ completed work is timely and thorough. For example, during the Travel and Tourism NCFE EQA visit in March 2020, it was highlighted that assessment practices were of an excellent standard. Management systems and IQA
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processes were deemed as excellent and fit for purpose and we were requested to share good practice with other colleges.
• Teachers organise for learners a good range of activities such as informative presentations from visiting professionals, visits to industry, projects with external clients and volunteering opportunities. These help learners gain insight into different careers in areas. For example, Hobbs, a company with numerous branches around East London, did an industry expectation talk to Hair and Beauty learners in order to prepare them for the world of work and offered a number of students work Experience opportunities. Travel and Tourism students visited British Airways ‘Safety Emergency Procedures’ department at London Heathrow where they learnt about safety and health regulations in the Aviation industry.
• Learners develop a good understanding of the demands and nature of work within their vocational areas. Through the tutorial programme, student services and engagement with employers, they receive a good standard of information, advice and guidance and make informed choices about their next steps. Consequently, a high number of learners progress to positive destinations; 93% in 2018-19 a marked increase of 12%. Since 2017-18 there has been an 8% increase in internal progression to 53%, with the vast majority of learners progressing to Level 2 and 3 study programmes.
• Teachers prepare their learners very well for higher education through setting high aspirations for learners, highlighting progression pathways, meaningful tutorial activities and robust information, guidance and support. This is complemented by the college’s well-qualified information, advice and guidance team. In 2019-20, 69 study programme learners expressed an interest in applying for university and 100% of these progressed onto higher education. This is especially notable in light of the national drop in young people taking up university placements due to COVID-19.
• Arrangements to ensure the safety and well-being of young people are good. Teachers ensure that learners know how to keep themselves safe in college, the community and when using technology. Learners feel safe in college. They gain a good understanding of the threats they face from radicalisation and extremism. Managers have revised the tutorial programme to ensure that it contains topics that are highly relevant to learners, for example knife crime and gang culture.
Areas for Improvement:
• Too few young learners achieved their maths functional skills qualifications particularly at Entry Level. This was the first year of implementation of the new qualifications which were impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown, as learners were unable to take mock exams that had been planned for the following week. Consequently, insufficient evidence was available to inform CAG for a significant minority of learners.
• Entry level achievement was negatively impacted by ESOL learners. ESOL achievement overall for young people declined from 84.4% to 76.6% largely due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on that particularly vulnerable group of learners. Those with very low levels of English, family caring responsibilities and lack of access to the required IT equipment and connectivity struggled to remain engaged despite the support offered by the college.
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• A small minority of learners are not making the progress of which they are capable. For example; Automotive declined from 86% to 81% and IT from 92.8% to 83.2%. In these areas not all teachers were consistently using target grades as drivers for progress in year and this needs further improvement
ADULT LEARNING
GOOD
There were 6,828 leavers on adult learning programmes during 2019/20. Learners study a broad range of programmes across different areas of Waltham Forest College and its partners. 15.7% (1,073) of these learners are studying as part of sub-contracted provision with the remainder being 5,755 learners on onsite direct delivery.
ESOL represents a significant proportion of the adult provision with 1,981 leavers, just under a third of the total cohort. However, English and maths is by far the largest area and is 43% of the total number of adult learners, with learners split almost evenly between partners and the college. There is also Access to Higher Education provision and other adult learners are mainly in the following areas Teacher Training, Fashion, Childcare, Hairdressing, Beauty and Hospitality and Culinary Arts.
Strengths
• Despite the significant impact of COVID-19 on adult provision, overall adult achievement has been maintained to within a small margin of the previous year, 86.2% against 88%. Many adults struggled to engage remotely with the challenge of juggling work, childcare, home-schooling, family responsibilities and their own studies. However, through careful planning and pro-active approaches by staff, in many areas achievement was maintained or improved. For example, Beauty 84.8% to 98.3%, Creative Arts 81.6% to 88.5%, Hospitality and Catering 86.2% to 90.9% and Construction 78.8% to 86.7%. Teacher training and Childcare both hit 100% achievement.
• Access and pre-Access provision is strong. This is a large cohort of 154 learners and in 2019/20 achievement improved to 85.7% from 77.4% the previous year despite all the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions. The diverse curriculum is directly linked to the local and Capital need for employment. Health and Social Care, Business and Nursing all contribute to local business and social needs. Provision has two start dates in September and January and flexible delivery remote and in college, which supports very well the needs of adults wanting flexibility due to working and family commitments. Progression rates are 100% for Access courses.
• Very effective subcontracted provision meets a niche market carefully tailored to local and regional demand and utilises resources that are not easily available within college. For example, back into work programmes in Railway engineering delivered by Train’dUp, Floor covering delivered by Floortrain and Fashion and Textiles delivered by Fashion Enter. Success rates for these courses are excellent and have up to a 90% rate of progression into work. For Railway provision, employment is offered to learners at the start of the course on the proviso they achieve the course, attend every session and pass relevant tests, hence this course has been extremely successful in ensuring learners secure employment as soon as they complete.
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• Subcontracted providers MTC and DTK meet the needs of hard to reach pockets of the community as they find the community setting more accessible. They offer entry level English, Maths and ICT. This is often taught in smaller groups and also takes place in the evenings and weekends to support those learners already in entry level employment to build up their skills and secure better paid work.
• Teaching and learning is good. Teachers use a wide range of effective teaching techniques to develop learning. In English and maths, teachers use contextualisation in their teaching well which helps learners to provide more accurate responses to non-fiction assessment questions in GCSE and Functional Skills English exams. Teachers continuously develop their skills in order to enhance learning. For example, Catering staff joined the Chefs Forum which offers CPD for staff as well as future exciting collaborative online projects with state of the art trained chefs and other colleges.
• Teachers successfully use a wide variety of assessment methods and questioning techniques to monitor learners’ understanding. In the majority of areas, learners are well-prepared for assessments, for example in Beauty very good sequencing and formative/ summative tracking of learner work means that learners know exactly what they have already achieved and what is outstanding to complete their course
• Staff responded extremely quickly and innovatively during lockdown to expand their range of effective teaching and learning strategies to maintain a high-quality learning experience for learners so there was no break in their learning. Staff and learners worked remotely with TEAMS and Moodle and where learners’ English and / or digital skills prevented them from engaging online successfully (for example with ESOL and learners with SEN), teachers sent out paperwork packs to learners and supported and monitored them by phone. As a result, the vast majority of learners who were able to engage in learning (online or over the phone) achieved their qualification. ESOL achievement was 78.7%, a decline compared to the previous year but the vast majority of those who were able to continue to access learning during lockdown passed their qualification.
• Attendance for adults was 85%, which is a 2% increase on last year, and is a good achievement for learners who have significant barriers to learning. Curriculum areas like AAT, Beauty and Teacher Training consistently demonstrated attendance of 90% and above.
• Teachers effectively develop learners' employability skills and expose them to industry standard learning areas. This significantly improves their employment prospects and enables them to progress either to a higher-level job or one in a different field. For example, In Hairdressing teachers link classroom activities to industry requirements. This builds learner confidence and develops their skills to the highest standard. In Childcare, learners are able to give confident presentations and have real life experience of placements and share their experiences from these placements within the group as the course progresses which increases the group’s knowledge as a whole and enriches the learner’s own experience.
• Adult programmes are well planned to meet the needs of the local community, disadvantaged groups and employers and to give learners every opportunity to improve their life chances. The curriculum is well-structured to develop learners’ knowledge as well as study skills. When learners start their courses at the college, teachers analyse and assess their needs well. Teachers then use this information effectively to plan for the wide range of skills and abilities in lessons. As a result,
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learners meet deadlines, work professionally and are clear on what they need to do to achieve.
• During COVID-19 the College was able to be responsive and support sectors such as Health and Social Care with their recruitment and training needs for both existing and new staff. The College managed to secure the opportunity to deliver contextualised English and maths to support both employed and unemployed learners with an interest in entering the Health sector through provision specifically ring-fenced for this purpose
• The support given to learners is very good. Teachers are skilled in identifying risk and potential barriers to learning so learners receive the support they need promptly and learning maximised. In addition to their teachers, most adult Access to Higher Education and ESOL learners had access to regular 1:1 in-class support which enabled them to further develop skills and address particular individual needs. Specialist information, advice and guidance staff provide a broad range of personal, welfare, counselling, interpreting and careers guidance to help learners remain on programme and ensure that they are suitably prepared for their future career choice.
• Learners feel very safe at college. They appreciate the security on the main campus. They have a good understanding of how to stay safe online, and of the dangers of radicalisation and extremism. A well-established safeguarding team responds swiftly to learners’ concerns.
Areas for Improvement:
• Adult achievement rates have dropped and need to recover rapidly. This is particularly the case for ESOL down from 91.2% to 78.7% where some learners were considerably affected by lockdown.
• Continue to drive the positive trajectory of attendance since the last inspection by continuing robust monitoring and prompt actions by teachers and managers where attendance of individual or groups is a concern.
APPRENTICESHIPS
GOOD
In 2019/2020 there were 464 live apprentices on programme, 175 of these learners are supported through subcontracted delivery with the remaining 289 learners supported through the Business Innovation and Partnerships team or the relevant curriculum area. Out of the 464 live apprentices, 145 were in scope for achievement with an end date within the academic year, 102 of the 145 were through subcontracted delivery. A total of 27 learners were on an apprenticeship standard and in scope for achievement in year, of the 464 total live apprentices, 228 learners are undertaking an apprenticeship standard. Apprenticeships are delivered across a number of subject sector areas with the largest cohorts on programmes in healthcare, construction. The provision consists of a mixture of standards and frameworks. The majority of apprenticeships are managed through the Business Innovation and Partnerships team.
The college continues to build capacity internally to deliver more apprenticeship provision directly, subcontracted provision is only present for carry over learner are primarily in flooring within construction. The college may subcontract in very niche areas if required locally.
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Strengths
• Achievement rates for apprentices are high and above national averages. Overall achievement rate for 2019/2020 was 76.3% which is 9% above national rates and an improvement of 10.2% against the previous year, the total number of leavers were 177.
• Timely achievement rate (standards removed) was 75.9% which is 16.8% above national rates and an improvement of 13.5% against the previous year, the total number of leavers were 137. The improvement in achievement rates are due to robust monitoring and tracking of learners and learner by learner action plans were any are identified as at risk of leaving the programme.
• Good leadership of apprenticeship programmes has seen the majority of programmes improve to a good standard. A clear focus on the better tracking of progress and higher expectations around the quality of learning have been important factors in achieving this. Assessors check apprentices’ progress on a frequent basis and plan suitable individual work programmes with each apprentice. Revisions have been made to the information advice and guidance (IAG) process to ensure all learners are supported with the correct advice before embarking on an apprenticeship, IAG is always provided throughout the programme to facilitate in work progression. Learner destinations help to inform any revisions to the IAG process.
• Tracking and monitoring of apprentices’ progress is good. The majority of learners not in scope for achievement this academic year are on track to achieve their apprenticeship by the planned end date. Apprenticeship delivery is monitored by the team to ensure that learners are on track and a high-quality learning is visible. Action plans are implemented if any apprentices are identified as being at risk. Functional skills are front loaded to allow learners to achieve their functional skills with the opportunity to progress onto higher levels, exam preparation workshops and mock exams are used to ensure learners are well prepared to sit exams. No learners were prevented from achieving their apprenticeship due to functional skills. English and Maths is delivered externally in the workplace where needed to ensure high engagement and attendance levels. Functional skills delivery is also contextualised to ensure learning is embedded in the workplace and real example used to teach learners.
• More than 90% of learners that achieve their apprenticeship progress into full time employment either with their current employer or a new employer. The college has introduced an apprenticeship progression week for learners on study programme to promote internal progression.
• Learners receive an effective three-day induction in which they complete knowledge and guidance on Safeguarding and Prevent. This is also revisited through tutorials and progress reviews and has British values embedded. A termly learner voice is conducted that covers these topics and asks the learners about their knowledge and experience. Apprentices feel safe at work and when they are learning; staff deal with any personal concerns from learners promptly and effectively. Apprentices also employ safe working practices whether at work, college or another learning environment. They use appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Apprentices are very well supported. During lockdown the department was quick to adapt support for learners and delivered theory of the vocational qualification and English and Maths. This allowed learners to continue progressing on their
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qualification even if there was a break in their employment. Learners were set up on Microsoft Teams and were posted materials where required. Learners were given access to laptops and WIFI dongles if needed to ensure they could continue learning. Online safety training was also deployed and re-iterated regularly to keep learners safe.
• Mentors in the workplace are highly effective in maintaining the personal development of learners and their attitude towards learning. Learners have regular meetings with mentors in the workplace and online through Microsoft Teams. Employability skills through all programs have been a focal point. Fashion Apprentices experience working environments from tailoring to supply chains. Learners have guest speakers and networking events that help to them to build on key skills such as communication, leadership, and problem-solving. Flooring Apprentices gain experience from using products that are being prototyped in the industry. Speakers inform them of the need for the product and then learners form focus groups and feedback back to the speaker.
• The vast majority of apprentices make good progress and produce work of a high standard. Apprentices work autonomously for much of the time and receive effective assistance from their assessors, mentors and employers where required. They develop a wide range of skills both vocationally and also soft skills such as the ability to interact well with customers, deal with difficult situations well particularly in a customer facing role. Apprentices also learn how to use relevant systems and databases which are often bespoke to the business they are based in.
• Vocational specialist resources are good, and staff maintain strong partnerships with employers. Fashion learners benefit from access to a garment production factory. As a result, apprentices develop effective professional standards and practical skills. Managers ensure that the apprenticeship provision meets regional training needs well. For example, they have ensured that programmes are well matched to the local demand for training in construction, creative arts, health and social care and manufacturing.
• Teaching, learning and assessment is good for the majority of apprentices. Programmes and planning are informed by apprentice and employer need, and assessors use their vocational competence to ensure relevant delivery supports apprentices, therefore adding value in their workplace. The large majority of assessors have high expectations of apprentices. The use of verbal feedback supports apprentices to improve, but the standard of target setting requires further improvement to ensure it supports apprentices to develop beyond the standards of a qualification. The delivery team has adapted well to new teaching methods and programme designs to ensure individualised and independent learning. Teachers and assessors are experienced industry specialists. They are well-qualified, and regularly maintain their expertise through suitable continuous professional development activities. This training helps them contextualise apprentices’ learning well in relation to their chosen industries. CPD was delivered to the delivery team to ensure an increase of quality on all progress reviews.
• The vast majority of apprentices gain added benefit from relevant enrichment activities. For example, music apprentices have attended specialist masterclasses in the creative industries, and fashion apprentices have visited the Victoria and Albert Museum.
• Managers carefully review the performance and quality of provision delivered by subcontractors. They hold monthly meetings at which they carefully review
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apprentices’ progress and consider the views of learners. Staff working with subcontractors have good access to the college’s programme of continuous professional development. This also creates opportunities for sharing good practice between partners and college staff.
• The delivery team has recently started the process of standardising e-portfolio systems. One file has been selected as the e-portfolio system; staff training has taken place to ensure staff are able to effectively use the system.
Areas for improvement:
• Progression from study programmes into apprenticeships are low and a key area for improvement. Progression into higher level apprenticeship could be improved as the majority of learners progress into work but do not continue on a new apprenticeship at a higher level to continue with professional development.
HIGH NEEDS FUNDED LEARNERS
GOOD Strengths
• Retention and achievement rates are high and numbers have increased in recent years. Learners have a wide range of mild to moderate learning difficulties and / or disabilities. The majority of High Needs learners live in Waltham Forest although learners have come from 9 other boroughs including Essex, Redbridge and Haringey. In 2019/20 there were 88 funded allocated spaces for EHCP learners and a total of 123 learners enrolled. Retention was 96.7% and only 4 learners failed to achieve their main vocational qualification giving an achievement rate of 93.6% overall. Learners in discrete provision achieved 94% and 100% in Project Search. Those on mainstream programmes achieved their vocational qualifications on a par with their peers at 92.2%. English and maths achievement rates for discrete SEND were good at 86.4 and for Project Search were excellent at 100%.
• Partnership working is strong. The College is part of the NEL (North East London) EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan) Group, that meet quarterly to ensure consistent quality of EHCP’s and Annual Reviews in the area. The Head of Additional Learning attends both the SEND Board and the Preparing for Adulthood Panel so informed decisions can be made around the suitability of College programmes for applicants through early awareness of learner needs. In 2019/20 a SENCO group was formed, hosted by Waltham Forest College and attended by 5 local feeder schools.
• Very efficient communication between feeder schools, families and carers ensures a smooth transition for learners. School specific open days are held where the SENCO brings their learners into College and a tailored presentation is given, focusing on the particular courses of interest to their learners and with appropriate specialists speaking. Staff also support in all the College open events and are highly visible and proactive in signposting support for EHCP learners. These relationships continue throughout the tenure of learners’ time at the College with staff attending annual review meetings and being an integral part of each learner’s choice of next steps.
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• Support given to learners and their families during a very atypical year was outstanding. The Head of Foundation Learning, who is the curriculum Deputy Safeguarding Lead, was onsite throughout lockdown to act as an emergency point of call for any learner needing help. During lockdown learning support staff continued to support learners in their lessons by accessing the learning virtually and also contacted learners daily and their parents / carers weekly to provide the necessary academic support, to check on learner engagement and to identify any potential concerns for example around learners’ mental and emotional well-being. A RAG rated daily tracker was shared between support staff and the BeSafe team to identify at-risk learners and ensure interventions such as counselling were immediately put in place. For example, when one young person was in extreme distress due to the illness of his mother the police and ambulance service were called and family support was arranged for the boy and his brother. Daily support and contact continued for 5 days, including food bank deliveries, until the mother returned from hospital. the learner went on to successful pass his course, progressing to level 2 this year. The mother is due to start an English course at the College later this academic year.
• Very effective use of technology was used to ensure that learners continued with education and were supported in lockdown. The college provided laptops where needed and the Assistive Technology Specialist delivered virtual Teams and 365 training to learners, families, and staff regularly to support use of the College systems virtually. For some pre-entry learners, where digital literacy was an issue, work-packs were distributed. In May, when small classes resumed onsite for those most in need to provide important skills development and opportunity for social interaction, other learners joined remotely to enable them to maintain essential friendships and peer- support networks. Additional holistic workshops were put on to support learners with mental health issues at a time when they felt most isolated, including an art and craft session and a podcasting session. Learners and families were signposted to mental health support from local agencies, particularly KOOTH (an online mental support tool that supports teenagers with free counselling via its app and website) with whom the College has a close working relationship.
• Teaching, learning and assessment for learners with high needs is good. The team adopt a personalised approach to learning to enable learners to address targets from their EHCP and to set and meet other individual goals. As a result, a large majority of learners make significant progress towards being independent in preparation for adulthood, towards further study or towards the world of work.
• Learners in discrete SEN provision, ranging from Pre-Entry to Entry Level 3, benefit from smaller group sizes and specialised teaching to equip them with study skills, academic skills including English and maths. They develop independent living skills, such as making the bed or simple snacks, through the use of a simulated living space complete with kitchen area. Together with travel training for those who need and are ready to undertake this, this prepares learners well for their future lives. This year there has also been a strong focus on digital literacy and keeping themselves safe both with regards to online safety and healthy living.
• Learners develop good employability skills through classroom activities, and excellent work experience opportunities. For example, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation work with a group of learners to develop work-related skills and provide a variety of valuable work experience opportunities; Pre-Entry learners spend one day a week at a local nursery, to enrich the curriculum and enable the learners to broaden their skills and all learners have the opportunity to work in the College’s
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retail shop or Café. As a result, learners’ confidence and skills increase and they are better prepared for future employment opportunities.
• Managers have developed an excellent supported internship programme in partnership with the local hospital trust. This creates good opportunities for learners to progress into employment. While many learners find the transition from college to the work environment very challenging, good support from staff helps them adjust well. As a result, interns develop a very good range of work and communication skills, become much more confident and enjoy their work. Even in such a challenging year over 50% of learners have or are moving into employment: 3 learners have already progressed into paid roles and a further 2 are currently being supported to take up bank staff positions.
• Approximately half of high needs learners (60) infill into mainstream vocational programmes including Level 1 Plumbing, Level 2 Public Services and Level 3 Art and Design. Achievement on their vocational course is high at 92.2% and in line with non EHCP learners. A high level of wraparound support is provided for those in mainstream provision, for example a homework club and small group English and maths workshops.
• In 2019/20 an exciting and innovative new course at Level 1 was developed called Bridge the Gap to better facilitate the transition for learners from discrete SEND to mainstream. The course was built very much around the individual learners and responsive to their needs, interests and life goals. Learners discussed and chose projects to undertake, for example, stock animation, cookery and local graffiti. Taster sessions with vocational areas were also included to guide and inform learner progression options.
• Progression onto further study and employment is good. 84 learners moved onto a higher level of study in further education, 72 at Waltham Forest College. 2 learners progressed to Higher Education, 2 into an apprenticeship and 12 into paid employment. One learner started in discrete SEND on an Entry 2 course, progressed through Entry 2 and 3 in one year and is now on a mainstream programme studying BTEC Level 1 in Business Administration and Introductory Certificate in IT. Another learner also joined at Entry 2, progressing to Entry 3 and is now undertaking a supported internship with Mencap and has successfully progressed to be an independent traveller from being a non-independent traveller because of the travel training included as part of her programme at the College.
Areas for improvement:
• There has been a dip in Functional Skills English and maths for High Needs learners in mainstream provision, from 63.8% the previous year to 41.9% (compared to overall English and maths for 16-18s at 55.5%). Learners with learning difficulties and disabilities struggled with the jump between levels and this was exacerbated by the lockdown. English Level 1 and 2 and Maths Entry 2 and Level 1 were particularly low and the non-calculator paper was particularly challenging for some of the students. This is an area to address for 2020/21 and additional small group support has been put in place.
• Further develop partnerships with a wider range of organisations to complement and further enrich the learner experience.
• Continue to provide targeted CPD for staff to develop and share consistent and excellent practice in terms of the support given.
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SUMMARY OF KEY PERFORMANCE DATA
Table 1: All Ages Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 10,365 10,289 9,433 2,071,720
Achievement % 83.6 85% 85.6% 86.7%
Table 2: 16-18 Achievement
Overall
Waltham Forest College Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 3,537 3,392 2,916 1,023,390
Achievement % 78.8% 77.5% 77.9% 83.4%
Table 3: 19+ Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 6,773 6,987 6,517 1,048,340
Achievement % 86.1% 88.7% 89.1% 89.9%
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Table 4: Overall By Level and Age
Education & training achievement rates by Leavers rate Achievement 19 2018 Diff. vs Rate National Diff. vs rate Retention rate Pass level
-
Entry Level Vocational 1,871 80.7 -10.5 -10.9 88.6 91.1 Level 1 Vocational 1,027 86.1 -0.8 -2.6 91.2 94.3 Level 2 Vocational 1,615 89.7 2 3.6 94.2 95.3 Level 3 Vocational 1,146 92.8 5.1 6.3 96.9 95.8 Total 16-18 1,627 90 5.3 3.2 96.6 93.1 Total 19 plus 4,058 85.5 -5 -4.7 90.7 94.2 Total vocational 5,685 86.8 -2 -1.9 92.4 93.9 Entry Level all qualifications inc M&E 4,081 85.9 -6.1 -5.6 93.8 91.6 Level 1 all qualifications inc. M&E 2,061 71.4 -5.6 -17.1 93.6 76.3 Level 2 all qualifications inc. M&E 3,051 85.2 6.4 0.5 95.6 89.1 Level 3 all qualifications inc. M&E 1,146 92.8 5.1 6.3 96.9 95.8 Total 16-18 all quals inc. M&E 3,537 78.8 1.3 -4.6 97 81.3 Total 19 plus all quals inc. M&E 6,828 86.1 -2.6 -0.6 93.5 92.1 Total 10,365 83.6 -1.4 -3.1 94.7 88.3
Table 5: High needs headline data
OVERALL inc. M&E Leavers Ach. rate (%) Diff. vs. 19/20 (enrolments)
Overall 382 82.2 -5.
Vocational and Vocational Functional Skills GCSE Maths & M&E separated out Achievement % English & Maths % English 1-9%
Mainstream 92.2 41.9 100 (14)
SEN 94 86.4 -
Project Search Overall 100 100 -
Overall 93.6 76.9 -
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APPRENTICESHIP ACHIEVEMENT
Table 6: Apprenticeships Overall Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 177 345 573 412,190
Achievement % 76.3% 66.1% 71% 67.3%
Table 7: Apprenticeships Timely Achievement (standards removed)
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 137 237 566 393,350
Achievement % 75.9% 62.4% 52.1% 59.1%
Table 8: Apprenticeships Achievement Overall by Level
Apprenticeship achievement rates Leavers rate % Achievement 18 Diff. vs NA Diff. vs
-
19
Advanced 53 75.5 5.1 - Standard 11 9.1 - - Higher – Level 4 - - - - Higher – Level 5 9 100 - - Intermediate 104 81.7 11.1 - All provision 177 80.7
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Table 9: Apprenticeship Achievement Overall by Age
Apprenticeship achievement rates Leavers rate % Achievement 18 Diff. vs NA Diff. vs
-
19
16-18 37 81.1 20 12.9 19-23 33 63.6 0.2 -4.1 24+ 107 78.5 6.4 17.9 All provision 177 76.3 12
MATHS AND ENGLISH
Table 10: All Ages Functional Skills Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 3,334 3,946 3,896 304,780
Achievement % 72.2% 79.4% 83.2% 72.6%
Table 11: 16-18 Functional Skills Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 1,089 1,237 1,089 160,170
Achievement % 55.5% 65.6% 66.5% 66.6%
Table 12: 19+ Functional Skills Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 2,035 2,709 2,807 253,180
Achievement % 82.9% 85.8% 89.7% 79.3%
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Table 13: GCSE Achievement Rates Summary
Leavers rate Achievement 18 Diff. vs NA Diff. vs 9 18/19 Diff. vs
GCSE achievement rates -
4 Rates 4 Rates
-
19
GCSE English All Ages 422 91.2 4.6 8.7 32.2 6.9
GCSE English 16-18 344 90.7 5.9 8.1 27 6.3
GCSE English 19+ 78 93.6 -0.2 12.1 55.1 13.6
GCSE Maths All Ages 341 94.1 10.2 11.7 38.1 10.6
GCSE Maths 16-18 275 94.5 13.3 11.2 30.2 9.6
GCSE Maths 19+ 66 92.4 -3.6 10 71.2 13.2
Table 14: GCSE English All Ages 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 422 328 317 133,960
Achievement % 32.2% 25.3 27.1% 32.2%
Table 15: GCSE Maths All Ages 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 341 273 211 136,600
Achievement % 38.1% 27.5% 30.8% 18.5%
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Table 16: GCSE English 16-18 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 344 263 252 112,940
Achievement % 27% 21.3% 22.6% 22.7%
Table 17: GCSE Maths 16-18 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 275 223 177 111,770
Achievement % 30.2% 20.6% 23.7% 15.3%
Table 18: GCSE English 19+ 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 78 65 65 21,020
Achievement % 55.1% 41.5% 44.6% 39%
Table 19: GCSE Maths 19+ 9-4 Achievement
Overall
Provider Full Year National Rates %
2019-20 2018-19 2017-18 2018-19
Leavers 66 50 34 24,830
Achievement % 71.2% 58% 67.6% 33.9%
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Table 20: VOCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT BY CURRICULUM AREA
All Ages Achievement (NB 16-18 Achievement (NB 19+ Achievement (NB The National Rate is
The National Rate is 89.7%) National Rate is 86.8%) 91.9%) Curriculum Area All Leavers 2019- 2018-19 2017- 16-18 Leavers 2019- 2018- 2017- 19+ Leavers 2019-20 % 2018-19 % 2017-18 % 2019-20 20 % % 18 % 2019-20 20 19 18 2019-20
AAT 32 78.1 66.0 44.4 1 100.0 - 33.3 31 77.4 66.0 45.2 Access (Inc Pre) 186 82.8 76.1 70.8 32 68.8 68.4 60.0 154 85.7 77.4 71.5 Automotive 119 81.5 83.6 71.2 100 81.0 86.00 68.8 19 84.2 75.0 81.8 Beauty 84 98.8 83.2 92.4 24 100.00 80.0 89.7 60 98.3 84.8 93.7 Business 97 87.6 80.7 87.5 96 87.5 80.5 86.6 1 100.0 100.0 100.0 Childcare 99 99.0 94.6 88.6 64 98.4 97.5 86.5 35 100.0 91.2 91.7 Construction 171 93.6 69.2 78.8 126 96.0 66.0 76.1 45 86.7 78.8 88.0 Contracts and Partnerships 207 94.7 96.1 95.8 - - 100.0 60.0 207 94.7 96.1 97.6 Creative Arts 173 95.4 88.1 83.9 147 96.6 90.0 82.0 26 88.5 81.6 88.6 Electrical 102 88.2 75.5 81.6 63 93.7 63.4 67.5 39 79.5 84.9 93.6 Employer Services 1,113 95.8 94.2 89.6 16 87.5 100.0 - 1097 95.9 94.00 89.6 ESOL 2,150 78.5 90.8 89.7 145 76.6 84.4 93.4 2005 78.7 91.2 89.5 Foundation Learning 178 96.6 95.1 91.4 85 95.3 93.2 78.9 93 97.8 96.2 94.3 Hair 101 92.1 93.1 90.3 44 100.0 92.1 85.5 57 86.0 93.8 94.9 Health and Social Care 63 85.7 98.3 83.1 50 98.0 98.3 84.2 13 38.5 - 50.0 Hospitality and Catering 83 94.0 91.1 87.9 50 96.0 95.7 95.1 33 90.9 86.2 78 IT and Digital 129 83.7 92.7 90.3 125 83.2 92.4 90.1 4 100 100.0 100.0 Princes Trust & Emp 60 71.7 93.0 93.2 55 72.7 79.3 92.9 5 60.0 92.3 94.1 Public Services 70 95.7 75.5 90.0 70 95.7 75.0 89.7 - - 100.0 100.0 Sport Leyton 95 89.5 76.0 87.8 90 90.0 76.0 87.1 5 80.0 75.0 100.0 Sport WFC 73 90.4 89.2 82.9 69 91.3 89.1 83.8 4 75.0 100.0 50.0 STEM 44 84.1 86.4 75.0 41 85.4 85.7 84.6 3 66.7 100.0 33.3 Teacher Training 26 100.0 93.9 95.8 - - - - 26 100.0 93.9 95.8 Travel and Tourism 147 97.3 95.4 94.3 134 97.0 95 93.9 13 100.0 100.0 100.0 Overall 5,602 87.1 88.7 87.6 1,627 90.0 84.7 85.1 3975 85.9 90.4 88.7 37
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