Joseph Priestley College Inspection Report
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Joseph Priestley College Inspection report Unique reference number: 130546 Name of lead inspector: John Dunn HMI Last day of inspection: 4 December 2009 Type of provider: General Further Education College Beeston Campus Burton Avenue Address: Leeds LS11 5ER Telephone number: 0113 3076 160 Published date February 2010 Inspection Number 342295 Inspection Report: Joseph Priestley College, 4 December 2009 1 of 21 Information about the provider 1. Joseph Priestley College is a small general further education college in south Leeds. It contracts with the Yorkshire and the Humber Region Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to offer provision from three campuses based in Beeston, Morley and Rothwell. The Beeston campus was re-built during 2004/05 and opened in September 2005 with an increased range of provision designed to meet the needs of local 14 to 19-year-olds and adults. The Morley campus includes a high street centre with programmes in hairdressing, beauty therapy and early years. This centre also houses the college’s main advice and support centre and an information technology drop-in centre offering a range of training. The college has links with a wide range of community organisations and offers provision in over 40 centres across south Leeds. The college works with Education Leeds and other providers to offer a range of programmes to students aged 14 to 16 from 18 schools across the city. A dedicated Services to Businesses unit works with over 200 employers to provide a range of training across the region. 2. In 2008, the proportion of school leavers in Leeds who achieved five GCSEs at grade C and above was slightly below the national average. Unemployment in Beeston and Morley is higher than the national rate. Approximately 9% of the population are from minority ethnic groups and, of these, around half are of Asian origin. The college offers courses in 12 of the 15 sector subject areas. Three subject areas were graded as part of the inspection and inspection evidence was drawn from the remaining subject areas. The largest areas of provision in 2009/10 were health and social care, preparation for life and work, information and communication technology (ICT), and retail and commercial enterprise. 3. The college provides training on behalf of the following providers: A&R Training Huddersfield University 4. The following organisation provides training on behalf of the college: Chocolate Beauty Academy Type of provision Number of enrolled students in 2007/08 Provision for young students: 14 to 16 204 part-time students Further education (16 to 18) 440 full-time students 110 part-time students Inspection Report: Joseph Priestley College, 4 December 2009 2 of 21 Foundation learning, including: 68 full-time students 23 part-time students Entry to Employment 7 students Provision for adult students: Further education (19+) 215 full-time students 2,408 part-time students Employer provision: Train to Gain 329 students Inspection Report: Joseph Priestley College, 4 December 2009 3 of 21 Summary report Grades: 1 is outstanding; 2 is good; 3 is satisfactory; 4 is inadequate Overall effectiveness of provision Grade 4 Capacity to improve Grade 4 Grade Outcomes for students 4 Quality of provision 3 Leadership and management 4 Safeguarding 3 Equality and diversity 3 Subject areas Grade Health, care and public services 3 Hairdressing and beauty therapy 3 Preparation for work 2 Overall effectiveness 5. The college’s overall effectiveness is inadequate. The college has demonstrated insufficient capacity to improve and has made little progress in improving outcomes for students and the quality of provision since the last inspection. A number of areas for improvement identified at the last inspection still remain. Too many students leave their programmes early without achieving their qualifications. 6. Leadership and management are inadequate. Targets are set at college level but not adjusted for individual subject areas. Targets are often not met. Quality assurance and improvement systems are ineffective. The self- assessment process has not resulted in consistent improvement in outcomes for students or in the quality of provision. The lesson observation system is over-generous in its evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning. There is a lack of consistency in the use and reporting of data within the college. 7. The quality of provision is satisfactory. Provision in preparation for work is good and it is satisfactory in health, public services and care and hairdressing Inspection Report: Joseph Priestley College, 4 December 2009 4 of 21 and beauty therapy. Teaching and learning and support for students have remained satisfactory since the last inspection. Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive good support. Support for other students is insufficiently effective in encouraging them to remain on programme. 8. There have been some very recent improvements in some areas of the college. Of the three subject areas inspected, one was good and two were satisfactory. Staff are highly committed and supportive of the college leaders. Morale is high and there is a clear determination to support the newly- appointed principal to improve the college so that it meet the needs of the local community. Main findings Provision in preparation for work for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good. These students develop personal, social and communication skills through good teaching and learning and effective support. The achievement of qualifications by learners on Train to Gain and students aged 14 to 16 is good. Students feel safe and the college takes appropriate action to ensure that students are safe at the college and at work. Students benefit from strong external partnerships. Links with local community groups are good and the college has productive relationships with employers. Partners value the college’s approach to inclusion and curriculum development. Students produce a satisfactory standard of work. Students in health and social care and hairdressing and beauty therapy develop good occupational skills. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Better lessons provide a good range of interesting activities and use questioning to engage and motivate students. Less successful lessons fail to take account of students’ individual needs and do not challenge or extend students. Support for students is broadly satisfactory. Students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive good support. However, support is less effective for those without disability or significant literacy and numeracy needs. Initial assessment does not identify students’ individual support needs consistently or sufficiently. It does not analyse sufficiently the effectiveness of the support provided. Governance is satisfactory. Governors support the mission and ethos of the college effectively. They have a clear overview of financial management and hold the principal and senior managers to account. Governors do not have such a clear overview of issues related to outcomes for students and the quality of provision. Outcomes for students are inadequate. The number of students successfully achieving their qualifications is unacceptably low. Too many students leave their programmes early without achieving their qualifications. Inspection Report: Joseph Priestley College, 4 December 2009 5 of 21 The numbers of students aged 16 to 18 achieving their qualifications at intermediate and advanced levels are particularly low. The numbers of adults achieving their qualifications at foundation and advanced levels are also particularly low. Achievement of key skills qualifications is particularly low and has declined year on year. There is a well-defined mission to meet the needs of the local community. The college makes good use of local intelligence in planning its provision. However, the strategy for withdrawal of provision is less well considered as the college has recently closed a number of poorly performing courses that catered for significant numbers of students. Leadership and management are inadequate. Governors and senior managers set a clear direction for the college but their actions have not brought about the improvements necessary in outcomes for students and the quality of provision. Quality improvement systems are inadequate. Planning and target setting are weak and there is insufficient monitoring and evaluation of action plans. What does Joseph Priestley College need to do to improve further? Improve retention rates. Make sure that staff in all areas follow up poor student attendance effectively to identify and provide support for students at risk of leaving the programme without achieving their qualifications. Improve the impact that leadership and management have on outcomes for students. Produce reports that use data consistently to state clearly the performance of the college. Work with staff to raise their expectations of students. Set challenging, realistic targets for staff and students and develop and use appropriate systems to monitor their progress towards achieving them. Improve the validation and accuracy of the college observations of teaching and learning. Encourage teachers to consider the individual needs of students and use a wider, more effective range of teaching and learning methods. Improve the initial assessment processes to identify better the support needs of all students. Use the data from initial and diagnostic assessments to plan learning programmes more effectively. Improve