Truro & Penwith College 2019/2020 Annual Report Outstanding Education in challenging times Outstanding Education Inspiring Futures The first tertiary or further education college in the country to be awarded ‘Outstanding’ status by Ofsted. The College was established as a tertiary college in 1992 and As our student curriculum offer Truro was officially opened in and numbers have grown, 1993. The growth and success That status was confirmed in we have continued to expand of the College have been 2016 when Ofsted made it the our facilities and the College’s & Penwith remarkable. In 2008, Truro first college nationally to be financial position remains College merged with Penwith graded “Outstanding” under the strong. College. That merger built upon common inspection framework. College Truro College’s successful These external judgments are For a very large percentage of foundations to expand the based on the success of our the young people in Cornwall, delivery of high quality Further students, their experiences, their study at a Truro and Penwith and Higher Education, which achievements and progression College campus is their first Annual benefits the economy and social into employment and higher choice. We are also confidently life in the communities we serve. education, and on the value expanding the range of The College now recruits from that employers and businesses skills training and support Report across the whole of Cornwall. place on our work. Other recent opportunities we offer to local We continue to grow, investing public recognition of the quality businesses and employers. We in new buildings and resources of the College’s work have come are determined that this growing for all our learners. We have in the form of its TEF (Teaching area of work will show the same now developed as sponsors a Excellence Framework) Gold outstanding quality that has major new post-16 free school rating for Higher Education, the been identified in respect of campus at Callywith, Bodmin, AoC National Beacon Award our work with students in full- to serve the north and east of for Leadership and Governance time academic and vocational the county. The first students (2016), and The AoC National learning. began their studies there in Beacon ‘Leading Light’ Award September 2017. Growth for Mental Health and Wellbeing National policy continues to there has been rapid and in (2017). generate a range of reforms 2020 Callywith College was and challenges in further inspected and rated Ofsted Our reputation locally and education. We are determined to Outstanding in all categories. nationally is excellent. It has maintain our clarity of vision, our Following our recognition as a earned us new designations and commitment to our tertiary role Beacon College, the College roles to support improvement and, above all, our commitment was the first tertiary college across all phases in education; to do everything we can to meet in the country to be awarded these include our work in the needs of individual students. ‘Designated Outstanding’ partnership as a Maths Hub, as status. a cross-phase Teaching School, and within a pre-16 Academy Trust. 02 A Connected College: Facing the Covid-19 challenge March 2020 saw the first national lockdown imposed by Government due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the College extremely quick to respond as certainty of enforced closure became apparent. A large-scale plan and rollout of specialist IT equipment including laptops and webcams was actioned, enabling thousands of staff and students to teach and learn from home, with the full College timetable delivered online from day one. Truro and Penwith Academy Trust Truro & Penwith Academy Trust was established in April 2014 A Connected College initiative was fostered to help staff and and initially sponsored three schools - a secondary school and students face the scale of the challenge together. Requests from two primary schools - with Truro and Penwith College. The Trust headteachers saw the creation of Digital Campus, a web-based is aligned in terms of ethos and vision with the College and is platform that gave Year 11 pupils access to self-study tools and committed to improving the life chances of the children and young resources to prepare for College in September. Liaison events were people in schools within the Trust. transitioned onto digital with fully interactive, 3D virtual tours of every College building and Subject Spotlight videos produced and hosted The Trust has grown over the last four years with schools choosing online. Support was also offered through live health and fitness to become academies within the Trust, establishing distinctive sessions, the creation of online support groups and live chats with geographic hubs of schools in Penwith, around Truro and in the Clays key support staff, while the business community was offered access area to the east and now encompassing 25 primary schools and to free, online masterclasses on a range of relevant topics. three secondaries. At the heart of the Trust’s vision is a commitment to developing and supporting high quality teaching and leadership in all schools, and to the professional development of teams through close partnership with Cornwall Teaching School. The Ofsted inspection of the trust published in January 2019 cited a main finding as “the unwavering focus on achieving their key strategic priority, to improve the life chances of all children and young people in our schools” and went on to say The Trust is one that schools want to join. “They value the high-quality support within the Trust”. Cornwall Teaching School The College is the only FE college with a cross-phase Teaching School. Its role and remit continue to expand with participation in its activities having now reached 90% of all secondary and 82% of all primary schools in Cornwall. The Teaching School continues to develop a growing induction programme for newly qualified teachers throughout the County, with more than 150 trainees participating. It provides a wealth of professional development courses and training across all phases of education. Ongoing courses have changed to an online delivery format during the recent lockdowns, including the Annual NQT Conference, the Women into Senior Leadership Programme, a newly developed school improvement coaching Our Wider Remit course for senior leaders, a behaviour management course to support teachers returning post lockdown, a development course for recently qualified teachers and a comprehensive programme of NQT Callywith College CPD sessions. In September 2017, as a sponsor the College opened its third campus in Bodmin, with Callywith College, a 16-19 Free School The Teaching School’s Sport England Project was also extended to with capacity for 1,280 students, at its heart. In only its second year, include a further five schools and will provide support to improve Callywith College is already home to 1100 students with a broad participation in physical activity, resulting in the involvement of curriculum offer including 28 A Levels and a range of Level 2 and almost every secondary school across Cornwall. The Teaching 3 vocational diplomas. Callywith College aims to bring the Truro School supports school improvement and deploys Specialist Leaders and Penwith College experience to young people in North and East of Education to provide bespoke packages of support targeted to Cornwall, seeking to significantly raise achievement and revitalise the a school’s development needs, building on specialist skills within community. schools and sharing expertise within and across schools. The Teaching School works closely with the College’s Science Learning Partnership, Cornwall and West Devon Maths Hub and the Computer Hub. 03 Student Enrolments & Experience Although falling demographics have resulted in a lower student • The College’s outstanding results and the progress made by population, full-time student enrolments were strong in September students. 2019. In 2019/20 there were 6,300 full-time and 3,450 part-time • The College’s responsiveness in providing a wide range of students in total. courses. • Continued development of new courses, in particular Full and part-time enrolments were stable at both the Truro and occupational training and Level 6 opportunities. Penwith campuses. Our Higher Education enrolments remain • High quality teaching that is stimulating, encouraging and positive in a challenging environment. The range of part-time supportive of students. opportunities in particular has expanded significantly to provide • Students’ access to exceptionally high quality resources and higher level skills both for people in employment and for the facilities. unemployed. • The student experience, personal support and a wide range of opportunities provided. We believe that our successful level of enrolments are due to a • Excellent relationships with partner schools and employers. number of factors: Our intention is to provide the best possible experience for our students. This means creating an environment in which students feel a sense of ownership and identity with both the College and their courses. The structure, content and style of teaching are designed to provide a stimulating, purposeful and well-organised setting within which people of all ages and with differing learning needs can thrive. Learning in an attractive setting and having access to the use of excellent equipment and other high quality resources are important aspects of our students’ experience. During 2019/20 the College continued