RNIB Vocational College CONTENTS Basic information about the college Part A: Summary Information about the college How effective is the college? Quality of provision in curriculum and occupational areas How well is the college led and managed? To what extent is the college educationally and socially inclusive? How well are students and trainees guided and supported? Students' views of the college Other information Part B: The college as a whole Achievement and standards Learning and Skills Council-funded students Residential training unit adult students Quality of teaching, training and learning Leadership and management Part C: Curriculum and occupational areas Information and communication technology Vocational studies Independent living skills and mobility Error! Reference source not found. Basic information about the college Name of college: RNIB Vocational College Type of college: Independent specialist college Principal: Tony Warren Address of college: Radmoor Road Loughborough Leicestershire LE11 3BS Telephone number: 01509 611077 Fax number: 01509 232013 Chair of governors: Martin Traynor Registered charity number*: 226227 Name of reporting inspector: Gill Reay Dates of inspection: 15-19 March 2004 *charity or registered business number of the company running the college Part A: Summary Information about the college RNIB Vocational College is owned by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB). In 1989, it moved to purpose-built accommodation on the campus of Loughborough College. The purpose of the move was to enable visually impaired students to gain access to the full range of courses in a general further education (FE) college. RNIB Vocational College has a resource centre, a visual impairment support service team and learning support assistants based inside Loughborough College. RNIB Vocational College has around 60 full-time students. Most students live in the recently built Stan Bell halls of residence that are situated 100 metres from the main campus. The majority of full-time students have a visual impairment. All students have additional difficulties that compound those of sight loss. An increasing number of students have learning difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 24 students are funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and one student is funded by Education and Learning Wales (ELWa) these students are aged between 16 and 25. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) funds 21 adult students under its residential training unit for disabled adults, work preparation, technological updating and employment assessment programmes. In addition, four students are funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and are enrolled at Loughborough College but use RNIB Vocational College's residential accommodation and learning support. The majority of LSC-funded and some adult students attend courses at Loughborough College. Three LSC-funded students are undertaking individual learning programmes based solely at RNIB Vocational College. In total, there were 28 male and 18 female students attending the college at the time of inspection. Some 13% of students were from minority ethnic backgrounds. In addition to its residential provision, RNIB Vocational College provides specialist support to 109 students attending 16 local mainstream education providers throughout the East Midlands. It directly employs staff based in Leicester, Newark and Sherwood colleges. The mission of the college is to `work with others so that blind and partially sighted people can develop the skills and personal qualities they need to progress in their lives'. How effective is the college? The college provides satisfactory teaching and opportunities for learning for most of its students. Provision for information and communication technology (ICT), vocational studies and adults in the residential training unit is satisfactory. Provision in independent living skills and mobility, and literacy, numeracy, communication and Braille is unsatisfactory. This unsatisfactory provision is mainly that for full-time LSC-funded students. The curriculum for independent living skills lacks coherence and literacy, numeracy and communication provision is underdeveloped for LSC-funded students. There is some good achievement of key skills by adult students in the residential training unit. Personal support for all students is good. Learning support assistants based in Loughborough College provide good support that enables students to develop good study skills and achieve their qualifications. The college's key strengths and areas that should be improved are listed below. Key strengths o development of students' confidence and self-esteem o achievement of qualifications at Loughborough College o residential and teaching accommodation at RNIB Vocational College o personal support for students. What should be improved o match between schedule and purchase orders and students' timetables o use of individual learning plans to plan, monitor and record progress o the quality of the extended curriculum o structure of the college day o coherence and management of the curriculum o quality assurance of teaching and learning at Loughborough College. Further aspects of provision requiring improvement are identified in the sections on individual subjects and courses in the full report. Quality of provision in curriculum and occupational areas The table below shows overall judgements about provision in subjects and courses that were inspected. Judgements are based primarily on the quality of teaching, training and learning and how well students achieve. Not all subjects and courses were inspected. Inspectors make overall judgements on curriculum areas and on the effectiveness of leadership and management in the range: Outstanding (grade 1), Good (2), Satisfactory (3), Unsatisfactory (4), Very Poor (5) Area Overall judgements about provision, and comment Information and Satisfactory. RTU contributory grade is satisfactory. There is very communication technology good teaching and learning at Loughborough College with excellent examples of Loughborough College staff working with the RNIB Vocational College visual impairment support service team to adapt their teaching for visually impaired students. All students have access to very good specialist support and resources. There is insufficient curriculum development of the residential training unit provision and students in information technology centre often work for long periods without having their learning checked. Vocational studies Satisfactory: RNIB Vocational College students have access to a wide range of courses at Loughborough College. Students are making progress and achieving qualifications despite experiencing poor teaching that takes little account of their needs. Poor punctuality by students disrupts teaching and learning but there is good support from lesson support assistants and students develop a range of good study skills. Progress is tracked through three different individual learning plans; this leads to a lack of coherence in monitoring and recording progress. Independent living skills Unsatisfactory: Good teaching of practical activities and good and mobility pastoral support contribute to the development of students' confidence and self-esteem. However, monitoring and recording of students' progress, individual learning plans and target setting are underdeveloped. There are insufficient opportunities to develop, practice or maintain skills and the extended curriculum is inadequate. Management of independent living skills and mobility across the college are unsatisfactory. Literacy, numeracy, Unsatisfactory: There is good teaching of Braille and Braille communication and Braille technology and some good skills development. The use of individual learning plans is poor and there is insufficient integration of literacy, numeracy and communication across the extended curriculum. The strategic direction and management of the area are underdeveloped. How well is the college led and managed? Leadership and management are unsatisfactory. Several weaknesses identified in the previous inspection report remain; for example, lack of coherence across the curriculum. Quality assurance arrangements of the partnership with Loughborough College are inadequate particularly in relation to teaching and learning. There is insufficient formal sharing of information between Loughborough College and RNIB Vocational College. Operational management of two curriculum areas is ineffective. Strategic planning is understood by staff and governors and challenging targets are set for staff. Financial management by the RNIB national board of trustees provides satisfactory value for money and uses a policy of best value when purchasing resources. Some procedures for monitoring compliance with schedule and purchase orders are inadequate. There is good management of health and safety and risk assessments for individual students and activities. The college's procedures for self-assessment are clear but analysis is underdeveloped, and several weaknesses were underestimated. To what extent is the college educationally and socially inclusive? The college's response to educational and social inclusion is satisfactory. RNIB Vocational College promotes issues relating to racial equality outlined in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and meets the required anticipatory duty for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA).