Contents · 3 1. Contextual Information Newham College is a general further education college which...
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Transcript of Contents · 3 1. Contextual Information Newham College is a general further education college which...
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Contents
1. Contextual Information
2. Self-Assessment Summary
3. Overall Effectiveness
4. Safeguarding and Equality & Diversity
5. Careers
6. Quality of Education Intent
7. Quality of Education Implementation
8. Quality of Education Impact
9. Behaviours and Attitudes of Learners
10. Personal, Development and Welfare of Learners
11. Leadership and Management
12. Aspect: Young Adults
13. Aspect: Adults
14. Aspect: High Needs Learners
15. Aspect: Apprenticeships
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1. Contextual Information
Newham College is a general further education college which operates within the London Borough
of Newham from two main sites, at Stratford and East Ham. It also has five community venues,
run in association with Newham Adult Learning across the borough at Beckton Globe, Forest Gate,
Little Ilford, North Woolwich and West Ham. The College owns and manages the London Fashion
and Textile Museum in Bermondsey where it runs a wide variety of short creative courses and
workshops for children, students and small businesses alongside adult learners on full-time
fashion, tailoring and design courses.
The College’s strategic priority is to ‘support local people into great jobs’ and provides relevant
skills and training for local people to ensure they are able to progress to further and higher levels of
study and to employment. The College caters for students of all ages and offers courses from
entry level through to degree level programmes and supports entrepreneurs with new start-up
businesses.
The College attracts a learner population from across East London, but predominantly from within the borough of Newham. The majority of learners join the College without any formal qualifications in English or maths (74%) compared to 32% nationally for GFE colleges. Approximately three quarters of learners who study at the College main sites and community venues are from a black or minority ethnic heritage background. A range of social indices confirms that many of the borough’s residents are faced with extreme socio-economic challenges.
The London Borough of Newham’s projected population for mid-year 2017 is 342,9001; by 2030, the population is projected to be 398,5002 an increase of 64,000 in ten years and by 2040, the population of Newham is projected to be 429,6003 an increase of 86,700 people. This is a projected increase of 25% from 2017 to 2040, compared to 16% in London overall; based on this figure Newham has the third fastest population growth in London with one of the highest increases in current and future growth of 11-18-year olds; 54.1% of residents were born outside of the UK. Newham has a very transient population with a turnover of around 19%. It is estimated that 66,077 people, around 20% of the population, either left or arrived into the borough throughout the year (this does not include births and deaths), which often causes disruption to those in education.4 Newham has the highest proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME)5 residents in London, making up 74% of the population based on projected mid-2017 figures.6 The East London sub-region has a considerably lower proportion of jobholders with higher education qualifications or above (42% compared to 61% across London) and a higher proportion of workers with lower skills. The average salary in East London is £24,449 compared to £31,787 for London. East London has amongst the highest levels of income deprivation for households with children and older people.
Despite these multiple deprivations, it is widely acknowledged that Newham is a dynamic and thriving area.
1 This figure is rounded to the nearest hundred, and for the mid-year point of 2017. The source is the Greater London
Authority’s Data store, available at https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-borough-profiles
2 This figure is rounded to the nearest hundred, and for the mid-year point of 2017. The source is the Greater London
Authority’s Data store, available at https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-borough-profiles 3 This figure is rounded to the nearest hundred, and for the mid-year point of 2017. The source is the Greater London
Authority’s Data store, available at https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-borough-profiles 4 Source: Net internal and international migration, and Natural change, published as part of the Office for National
Statistics mid-2017 population estimates. 5 Please see the definition of BME used for this projection, for example those who define themselves as white other
are grouped with the white British and white Irish categories to make a white group. 6 Source: GLA 2015 Round Demographic Projections, 2016. Trend-based ethnic group projections, long-term migration
scenario, November 2016
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A number of significant regeneration projects in recent years, such as Westfield Shopping Centre Stratford and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, as well as ongoing infrastructural and development opportunities including Cross Rail, and the redevelopment of the Docklands, offer enormous potential for Newham as a place to live, study and work. The College has rebased its curriculum to ensure greater alignment to employers’ needs and skills’ shortages to promote higher aspirations of its learners in order that they can progress to higher skilled and higher paid employment that supports the infrastructural developments within the region.
In 2018/19, the College recruited a total of 11,046 students; the breakdown of these are detailed in
the table below.
Student breakdown by provision type
Table 1: Student breakdown by provision type
Student Type No of 18/19 Students
Study Programmes
16-19 Students (excluding High Needs Students) 1786
16-19 Traineeships 51
19-24 Students with an LDA or EHCP 70
19+ Continuing students (excluding EHCP) 24
Total 1931
High Needs
16-19 High Needs Students 98
19-24 High Needs Students 0
Total 98
Adult Learners
AEB - Other Learning (non-procured) 6956
Advanced Learner Loans 318
19-24 Traineeship 9
Total 7283
Apprenticeships
16-18 Apprenticeship 26
16-18 Apprenticeship (From May 2017) Levy Contract 26
16-18 Apprenticeship (From May 2017) Non-Levy Contract (non-procured 26
16-18 Apprenticeship Non-Levy Contract (procured) 16
19-23 Apprenticeship 72
24+ Apprenticeship 442
19+ Apprenticeship (From May 2017) Levy Contract 52
19+ Apprenticeship (From May 2017) Non-Levy Contract (non-procured) 125
19+ Apprenticeship Non-Levy Contract (procured) 28
Total 813
Other Learners
Non-Funded Fee Payer 203
HE 266
Pre-16 145
EFA Non-Funded Student 307
Total 921
Overall Total 11,046
Data extracted from G:\QUALITY\Funding\2018-19\Monitoring\R14\Monitoring_1819_P14 FINAL.xlsx
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The College Group’s annual turnover for 2018/19 was approximately £40.4m; 38% of funding was
derived from the Education & Skills Funding Agency (Adult); 30.7% from the Education & Skills
Funding Agency (16-18); and the remainder from Higher Education (HE) courses, students’ fee
income, education contracts and other income. Approximately 13% of the College Group’s income
was generated by sub-contracted partners. Around 20% of learners are aged 16-19 (including
apprenticeships, traineeships, and students with high needs).
Table 2: Learners by provision type
Percentage of enrolments by level and age
Table 3: Provision split by age and level
Notional Level
16-18 19+
16/17 % 17/18 %
18/19 % 16/17 % 17/18 % 18/19 %
E 40.5% 36.4% 31.9% 73.8% 72.8% 70.5%
1 26.0% 22.7% 21.2% 13.1% 15.4% 16.8%
2 26.4% 32.4% 34.4% 8.6% 8.8% 9.9%
3 7.2% 8.5% 12.5% 4.5% 2.9% 2.7%
4 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
18%
1%
66%
7%
2% 1% 5%
Study Programmes High Needs Adult Learners Apprenticeships HE Pre16 Other Learners
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College enrolments by subject sector area and percentage of provision
Table 4: SSA starts and percentage of overall provision
SSA Sector Subject Areas
No of
enrolments
2018/19
% of Total
College
Provision
1 Health, Public Services and Care 672 2.7
2 Science and Mathematics 577 2.2
4 Engineering and manufacturing 336 1.3
5 Construction, planning and the built 203 0.8
6 Information and communication 731 2.9
7 Retail and Commercial Enterprise (Hair and
Beauty 285 1.1
8 Leisure, Travel and Tourism
639 2.5
9 Arts, media and Publishing
22 0.08
11 Social Sciences 61 0.02
12 Languages, Literature & Culture 437 1.7
13 Education and Training
46 0.1
14 Total Preparation for life and work -
20,532
-
14.1 Preparation for Learning & Life (ESOL
& SEND)
10,848 42.6
14.1 Functional Skills English and maths
2,103
8.2
14.2 Preparation for Work (ESOL & SEND)
7,581 29.8
15 Business Administration 943 3.7
Total enrolments 25,484
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2. Summary of Self-Assessment
The following grades for 2018/19 have been externally validated and approved by the Governing
Body, in line with Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework.
Table 5: Summary of self-assessment grades for 2018/19
Overall Effectiveness
2018/19 Self-assessment Good
Previous inspection Good
Quality of Education Good
Attitudes and Behaviours of Learners Good
Personal Development and Welfare of Learners Good
Leadership & Management Good
Quality of Education for Young People Good
Quality of Education for Adults Good
Quality of Education for High Needs Learners Good
Apprentices Good
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Summary Self-Assessment for types of provision & curriculum areas
The following grades for overall effectiveness of each curriculum department have been validated
for 2018/19:
Table 6: self-assessment grades by provision type for 2018/19
Curriculum Area by school Self-Assessment Grade % of overall
funded College
starters
% College 16-19s
funded
SEND (High Needs) Good 2.2% 5.3%
ESOL Community Good 19.2% -
ESOL Adult Good 34.1% -
ESOL Young People Good 4.3% 20.4%
Access to HE Good 3% 1%
Centre for Innovation &
Partnerships
Good 3.8% -
Foundation School: Pre-16
School & Year 12
Good 1.3% 6%
Maths Good 3.1% 13.4%
English Requires Improvement 2.9% 13.1%
Health Care and Childcare Good 2.8% 5.3%
Hair, Beauty and Travel &
Tourism
Good 3% 3.7%
Science & Humanities Good 0.4% 1.7%
Fashion, Textiles & Tailoring Good 0.2% 0.9%
Construction & Engineering Requires Improvement 1.8% 4.4%
Business & Sport Good 3% 5.1%
A1 Sports (subcontracted 16-18) Requires Improvement 3.1% 15%
Digital Skills Solutions
(subcontracted 16-18)
Requires Improvement 1% 4.4%
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3. Summary of Overall Effectiveness:
The College has self-assessed the overall effectiveness of quality of education to be good.
The College is good because:
Leaders and managers use their highly effective partnerships to shape and plan the College curriculum to meet the needs of the local and regional economy well
A high level of effective engagement and collaboration with employers leads to very good development of employability skills and successful outcomes for the large majority of learners
Strong overall achievement rates, especially for adult ESOL learners which constitute the large majority of the provision
The quality of teaching, learning and assessment overall is good, with a clear focus on skills development, enabling a very large majority of learners to achieve their qualifications and develop employability skills in order to enhance their employability opportunities
Highly effective quality improvement strategies have led to improvements in key focus areas including 16-18 achievement rates and in particular for level 3
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
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 learning environment
Progression of learners to further and higher study and to employment is good
The College has continued its overall trend of improvement and retained very high achievement rates overall
The College is not yet outstanding because:
Achievement rates require further improvement particularly for level 3, adults and for young people levels 1 & 2 and GCSE English high grades
Attendance requires further improvement, particularly to English and maths classes
Continue to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that it is consistently high across all curriculum areas
4. Safeguarding and Equality & Diversity
The arrangements for safeguarding are highly effective and meet statutory requirements.
Safeguarding is given the highest priority. It covers all aspects of College life including
subcontractors and apprenticeships. Arrangements for keeping learners safe, including the Prevent
agenda, are comprehensive, well planned and regularly reviewed. Links with local agencies are
good and highly effective in sharing good practice.
The College works hard to promote a safe and inclusive learning environment and as a result, the
vast majority of students feel and are safe at College. They know how to report any concerns that
they might have through a dedicated safeguarding email address, phone number or to a
safeguarding lead. Leaders and managers have appropriate arrangements in place to keep the
small cohort of students aged 14 to 16 safe. There are particularly effective procedures for the
most vulnerable learners, for example those with high needs and young people with ‘looked after
children’ status in 2018/19.
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Prevent & Safeguarding training modules and other resources explore extremism and
radicalisation issues through group tutorial delivery, central awareness events and included in
lessons where there are naturally arising opportunities to do so. Teachers discuss safeguarding,
radicalisation and extremism with students in group tutorials and reinforced through online modules
that enable students to consolidate and develop their understanding.
Students have a good understanding of health and safety and they work safely in practical classes
and in workshops and while on work placement. Staff carry out appropriate risk assessments to
ensure that students and apprentices are safe and supported in the workplace.
Leaders have put in place relevant procedures to check that staff are suitable to work with young
people and vulnerable adults. They have met the requirements of the ‘Prevent’ duty and have set
up a rigorous approach to training and updating staff. All staff and governors receive regular
safeguarding training appropriate to their role within the College to ensure that their knowledge is
current. Specialist student tutorial and staff training on knife crime took place in October 2018 and
the College works effectively with several external partners to support learners at risk of engaging
in gang and knife crime. The College is fully compliant with its Public Sector Equality Duty in
shaping and delivering its services. The Designated Safeguarding Lead regularly attends the
NSCP sub-group meetings in Newham and the cross London FE Prevent coordinator meetings
and regularly updates relevant College committees, the College Leadership Team and Governors.
There is a dedicated governor for Safeguarding.
Students feel confident to report concerns and the trend of increasing numbers of learners referred
to the safeguarding team has continued during 2018-19, with 110 referrals involving 89 individual
students with the main areas of concern gang related and potential sexual exploitation.
The College has recognition as an Investor in Diversity Stage 2 Award from the National Centre for
Diversity and is the leading FE college in the country in the LGBT+ Stonewall Diversity Champion
Index.
5. Careers
Section 41 of the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 requires that Ofsted ‘comment’ on careers guidance
provided to students from 16-19 and in receipt of education, health and care (EHC) plans up to the age of 25 in further
education colleges, sixth form colleges and designated institutions in inspections. This section of the SAR comments on
careers advice in line with the Ofsted requirements. It is also covered in the Personal Development, Behaviour & Welfare
section of the SAR.
The College is recognised for its good practice in Initial Advice & Guidance alongside Careers
advice and in March 2019, was successfully accredited with the Matrix standards for the whole
College. The assessor noted:
…..The College sees partnership work as an essential and critical element to working in harmony
with the local community to support and nurture learners to meet their goals, raise their aspirations
and prepare them for their next steps”.
The College was also successful in achieving the AoC Beacon standard in 2018/19 for Careers
and Enterprise. The College is a member of the Careers Development Institute (CDI) and abides
by its code of ethics ensuring that all advice given is impartial and confidential. The impartial
careers guidance and high-quality support from fully qualified Level 7 Careers Advisors ensures
that learners who follow study programmes build on their prior attainment and enable them to
develop clear, ambitious and realistic plans for their future career aspirations alongside support for
Level 3 learners to support progression into university where appropriate. Data recently released
by the DfE on progression to higher education by level 3 students show Newham College to be
10% above the national average comparator.
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The College seeks to enhance its systems by cross-referencing to the Gatsby Standards
recommendations for its Careers Advice & Guidance. In the QDP Learner Voice Summer Exit
Survey 75% of learners stated that “Careers advice received has helped make a decision on
progression when the course ends” - this is 4% higher than the average general further education
(GFE) score from QDP survey. In 2018/19, 449 College learners made applications via UCAS for
university places in 2018/19 this is an increase of +50 applications on 2017/18. Not enough
learners currently apply for higher level apprenticeships as a suitable alternative to further study or
work as a progression option and this is an area for improvement.
6. Self-Assessment of Quality of Education - Intent
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Quality of Education (Intent) N/A N/A Good
Key strengths
Leaders and managers use their highly effective partnerships to shape and plan the College curriculum to meet the needs of the local and regional economy well
Local market intelligence (LMI) data from EMSI is used to consider trends in skills required and job vacancies both nationally and within the region to help inform the curriculum
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 inclusive curriculum offer supports social cohesion and builds confidence in learners Strong emphasis on employability skills within the curriculum supports the development of
employment opportunities for the high number of second language speakers in the borough The study programme for 16-19s is comprehensive including well-managed relevant work
experience placements to enhance learners’ application of skills developed while on course The High Needs offer is tailored well to meet the needs of individual SEND learners from
Newham and its surrounding boroughs Apprentices and their employers benefit from a responsive offer
Key Areas of Improvement
Continue to embed employer engagement consistently across all areas of the curriculum in order to support curriculum and assessment design
Increase the number of high needs learners studying formal qualifications
For 2018/19, the College revised its curriculum provision to better align to skills and employment
within the region which supports the College’s curriculum intent ‘to give our students the
confidence, skills and qualifications that employers need, and that will support local people to get
great jobs’.
The College’s strategic priority is to support local people into great jobs and so provides the
relevant skills and training for local people to ensure they are able to progress to further and higher
levels of study and to employment as well as progress in work. The College has a broad
curriculum offer from entry level to level 6, designed to meet the needs of the local and regional
economy and has benefited from its highly effective partnerships with employers and the local
authority to help inform the curriculum. Governors play a key role in shaping future developments
and agreeing priority specialist areas within the curriculum to focus on future investment, and
regularly monitor the progress of key strategic partnerships and developments.
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Leaders, managers and staff shape and plan the future of the College curriculum across the main
sites and community centres. They use pertinent information well to plan the curriculum, including
feedback from students, partners and employers and local labour market intelligence. The College
has designed its curriculum offer using EMSI labour market research to identify key training needs
and labour market demand. Furthermore, working with the Department for Work and Pensions and
local Job Centres has enabled the College to identify appropriate courses for learners to develop
digital skills and ESOL employability skills. Curriculum areas consider the needs of SMEs and
micro-businesses which account for many of the local employers, to help meet the needs of the
locality.
“Newham College has developed its strategic focus upon Career and Curriculum….the clarity of
career opportunity relating to qualifications was clear” Matrix (April 2019).
Partnership arrangements for the delivery of adult ESOL employability courses across five
community sites is strong. A memorandum of understanding between Newham Adult Learning
Service (NALS) and regular meetings at local level deliver a cohesive and responsive curriculum to
meet local community needs. A recent Ofsted inspection for NALS praised the highly effective
partnership with the College which has enabled a well-planned and cohesive provision which
meets the needs of the community. Learner satisfaction rates are high in these local venues as a
result.
“Leaders and managers have developed strong and effective partnerships….for example, they
work closely with managers from Newham College to structure a borough-wide approach to ESOL.
This helps create a high-quality programme and good progression opportunities for learners”
(Ofsted, December 2019).
Study Programmes are well-designed to ensure learners are provided with a consistent and
focussed programme of study that includes tutorial, enrichment and further development of English
and maths skills. Working with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA), the College has
adopted the employer competency framework so that young people are able to work towards
developing their employability skills aligned to employers’ needs. Planning and implementation of
16-19 study programmes is good. The planning for work experience is much improved with 94% of
learners being placed. In addition, a cohort of 30 young people piloted extended placements in
line with T level requirements. As part of the Erasmus programme around 100 study programme
learners completed work placement abroad with employers in Seville. Learners gained valuable
experience including increased confidence and independence skills.
At curriculum level, input from local employers and partners foster a positive climate of
collaboration including work with Job Centre Plus. An example is the strategic partnership the
College has developed with Barts NHS Trust which supports the ‘upskilling’ of the NHS workforce
to help fill key skills priority areas. The College is supporting Health Care Assistants to develop
their skills in maths and English so that they can progress onto Associate Nursing apprentices and
Nursing degrees, helping to address the shortage of nurses within the Trust.
Adult ESOL vocational pathways at entry level and Level 1 are well-established in key vocational
areas to support opportunities for employment and skills development in Service Industries. These
include Health & Social Care, Hospitality, Construction and Hair & Beauty. These courses are
complemented by a range of short ESOL in the workplace for local employers including Aspers
and the Good Hotel Company.
A dedicated team within the Apprenticeships, Partnerships and Innovation (API) department
manages and delivers a range of short and local employability focussed programmes for English
Language and Digital Skills development taking referrals from Job Centre Plus and Workplace
(Newham Council’s job brokerage service), supporting the Mayor of Newham’s Community Wealth
Building initiative.
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In 2018/19, API supported 537 long term unemployed adults of whom two-thirds undertook
employability with ESOL courses and one-third attended short courses to improve their sector-
specific work-ready skills. Around half of those who enrolled progressed onto further training or into
work with local companies such as London City Airport and Juniper Ventures Ltd. Leaders and
managers in College apprenticeships coordinate on- and off-the-job training well in line with the
new standards. Off-the-job training at College is planned to ensure that apprentices develop the
appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours before they carry out related tasks at work.
The College delivers a bespoke offer to meet the individual needs of SEND learners. Parents and
carers are engaged wherever possible and as appropriate in the progress of learners and in the
most effective examples, work with delivery teams to ensure that learners are on track with their
studies, enjoying and achieving at College. Whilst learners make good progress, it is recognised
that more learners would benefit from being supported to achieve formal qualifications and this has
been considered in the new curriculum plan. The College has one of the largest supported
internship provisions in the country and has been used as a positive case study to share best
practice within the sector by several external organisations. Well established partnerships with a
variety of employers including Asda, John Lewis, Waitrose, NHS Barts Trust and the London
Borough of Newham, support with the development of key employability skills such as confidence,
independence and communication skills as well as providing valuable real work experience leading
to improved progression to employment.
The College subcontracts AEB and 16-18 provision on a case by case basis to widen participation
and meet local and regional needs, particularly in hard to reach pockets of the community. These
include providers who engaged with a range of learners to develop skills in first steps for the long
term unemployed with Job Centre Plus (JCP) programmes in digital skills from DSS and basic
skills from UCANN, along with specialist vocational skills in fashion and textiles in north London
(Fashion Enter) and business-related & employment qualifications from the Business and Finance
Management School. The College subcontracted with A1 Sports for some 16-18 provision with
specialist facilities in the region, which was particularly effective in engaging young people in
education. A small amount of subcontracting with NewTec was delivered to support entry levels
into next steps for childcare and care sector employment routes primarily into nurseries. The
subcontracted provision (including subcontracting within the College group) accounted for 13% of
the overall College provision.
The College has established partnerships with employers including Barclays Bank Workskills,
Canary Wharf, Higgins Construction, National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure,
Hilton Hotels, Credit Suisse, NHS Barts Trust and local charities including Richard House Hospice.
These partnerships provide a range of opportunities for leaners including curriculum and
assessment design, work experience, and development of employability skills.
7. Self-Assessment of Quality of Education Implementation
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Quality of Education Implementation (TLA)
Good Good Good
Key strengths
The quality of teaching, learning and assessment overall is good, with a clear focus on skills development, enabling a very large majority of learners to achieve their qualifications and develop employability skills in order to enhance their employability opportunities
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Teaching and learning is especially good in the majority of ESOL, Access to HE, Hair & Beauty, Health and Social Care and maths lessons
Learners have access to a good range of learning resources and specialist accommodation that help them develop industry-standard knowledge and skills in preparation for employment
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 practical skills to support their career aspirations
Use of live technical briefs and assignments provide the majority of learners with real-life scenarios preparing them well for the world of work
Teaching, learning and assessment in maths is of a good standard and contextualised examples and practical application of maths skills in the workplace
Assessment of learning is good in most curriculum areas supporting their progress on course well and leading to achievement of qualifications
Use of directed question and answers by teachers are used well in nearly all 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
A majority of 16-18 study programmes benefit from good use of online platforms to support the learner journey
Apprentices benefit from good levels of trainer and assessor feedback supporting them to reach good standards in vocational and work-related practices supporting high completion rates
In sessions for high needs learners, learning support assistants are used well to support individual learners’ needs.
Areas for Improvement
Teaching, learning and assessment require further improvement in the specific curriculum
areas of Engineering and Construction, English and Sports & Business
The quality of formative, developmental and constructive feedback requires further
development to support learners in self-correction of written work
Target setting and monitoring of progress in a minority of areas is not yet consistently good
The consistency of the updating of online targets within Apprenticeships is an area for
further improvement
The College’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy provides a comprehensive framework
that sets out the College’s expectations and standards for high quality teaching, learning and
assessment. All teachers and assessors are formally observed individually at least once a year
along with regular Learning Walks. These observations provide teachers with individual
development plans which support the coaching and performance review processes and inform the
planning of continuous professional development (CPD). This process resulted in a full
programme of teaching, learning and assessment focussed development over several College
CPD days. A team of Advanced Practitioners ensures that teachers requiring support to improve
the quality of their practice have the necessary coaching. As a result, the observation profile of
good or better teaching improved to 88% after interventions with the elimination of the small
number of grade 4 sessions observed in term 1 of 2018/19.
An increased focus and targeted intervention for improving the quality of teaching, learning and
assessments for teachers delivering 16-18 year old, level 3 provision was highly effective; the
observation grade profile for level 3 teachers improved by 20% and the achievement rate for 16-18
year olds at level 3 increased by 15%. Teachers are well qualified in their subject specialisms and
the College has taken care to ensure that teaching staff are qualified to at least Level 2 in English
and maths, with 98.5% of permanent staff and 85% of hourly paid lecturers (HPL) at level 2 or
above.
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Teachers, tutors and assessors are well qualified in their academic, vocational and professional
areas; 98% of teaching staff, including hourly paid lecturers, have a recognised teaching
qualification, with the remaining being supported to work towards achievement.
Teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) at the College is good overall. In 2018/19, 88% of
observed lessons were graded good or better. This is an increase of 4% compared to 2017/18.
Where inadequate teaching was identified, management have taken decisive actions to support
teachers successfully to improve practice and eliminate poor learner experience. Where
appropriate, contracts were terminated where improvements have not been sufficiently evident or
timely. The quality of teaching and learning reporting has been further strengthened by increasing
the frequency of observer moderation/standardisation activities which takes place regularly in line
with the College quality calendar.
The observation profile is largely in line with formal learner feedback; 91% of all respondents
stated that the quality of teaching and learning was good or better in the summer QDP Learner
Voice Survey, which is 2% above the national benchmark. The College scored an average of 83%
in the annual FE Choices Survey on recommending the College, which is +5% above the FE
sector average of 78% nationally, and 77% approval on quality of teaching and learning, which is
+2.4% above the sector score of 74.6%.
Teachers have strong subject knowledge and/or vocational expertise which they share very
effectively with learners. Schemes of work and lesson plans are widely used; teachers are
empowered to select the style of template they feel suits them best to plan and deliver appropriate
sessions from entry level to Level 6. In the majority of sessions teachers plan to support learners’
individual needs well. An online group profile template from the new online E-Trackr system
enables them to consider the individual needs of learners to support target setting and reviewing,
and this has supported improved Level 3 BTEC external exam pass rates in 2018/19 to 92.8% an
improvement of +10% compared to 2017/18). Overall 16-18 Level 3 achievement rates have
improved by +14.8% compared to 2017/18.
In adult ESOL classes learners improve their communication skills well by participating in activities
that challenge them to listen and speak more clearly and confidently in class discussions and
debates to prepare them well for life and work in London and the UK. Learners in these classes
develop their confidence and personal, social and employability skills well alongside the
achievement of their qualifications.
An enrichment programme for ESOL adults includes speakers from voluntary organisations which
offers a wide variety of opportunities for learners to involve themselves in activities that widen their
knowledge and self-confidence. Long-term unemployed and hard to engage learners are
supported well in first steps through individualised RARPA led programmes to enhance personal
skills and digital skills via JCP related programmes through the Centre for Innovation and
Partnerships and DSS AEB subcontracted provision. Achievement rates on ESOL Ascentis exams
remain very high.
In the majority of sessions checks on learning are frequent through highly effective use of
nominated and probing oral questioning. The vast majority of learners produce work in line with or
above the standard expected for their qualifications, supporting generally high achievement rates
and good pass rates in most curriculum areas. Teachers provide learners with good verbal
feedback both in theory sessions and during practical activities. Students confidently articulate the
new skills they have learned and how to apply them. This is particularly evident in ESOL and in
Access to higher education lessons.
Several courses use online platforms to support effective assessment of learning. ILT to support
learner progress has improved with overall good or better grading in observation for this sub-
category at 81%, which is a 5% increase on the previous year.
16
In Science, Health and Social Care and adult ESOL sessions, teachers plan and use online
programs such as Kahoot, Tryptico and Quizziz programs that are used to check and enliven
learning. Use of mobile phones and interactive whiteboards are used effectively to check and
consolidate learning of new vocabulary especially well in ESOL young adult lessons.
Assessment of learning and summative feedback to students is generally good. Teachers’ oral
feedback in class time is developmental and supportive. This is evidenced by external verification
(EV) reports from awarding organisations. These indicate that learner work is well presented with
clear sign posting to criteria with accurately completed assessor comments providing learners with
detailed and positive feedback with grading decisions fully justified.
Teachers are diligent in monitoring the progress of learners towards their qualifications and the
large majority of learners make at least the expected progress and this enables them to pass their
qualification through varied assessment and constructive and developmental feedback.
In most vocational curriculum areas ‘live briefs’ are used to enhance the relevance and currency of
assessment for learners. These can range from requests for investigations and reports on specific
topics to commissioning learners to have direct responsibility for design or decision-making
projects. For instance, in Health and Social Care learners benefit from high quality assessment
and assignment briefs that apply and contextualise learning in practical situations linked to current
NHS work practices. In Hair & Beauty and Hospitality and Catering local employers are engaged
as guest lecturers and help decide the selection of units to reflect industry needs and expectations.
As a result, learners enjoy their learning, become more confident and gain a clear insight into the
jobs or higher education courses to which they aspire. In Sport, teachers ensure that learners
have a good awareness of healthy lifestyles through lively debates in class, for example, they
discuss how smoking and alcohol can affect their health adversely.
In vocational workshop areas learners develop high quality practical work-ready skills. Learners
practise and apply techniques to demonstrate a high level of expertise in professional fields
coached by knowledgeable and experienced teaching staff and assessors. Professional standards
are high in Hair, Beauty and Catering preparing learners well for the world of work. Teachers have
strong subject knowledge and/or vocational expertise which they share very effectively with
learners who see the relevance of their course and skills development to work and employment.
For example, in hairdressing salon sessions, learners explore the importance of timings when
working on clients in a salon environment and the impact this would have on overall profits,
reinforcing commercially viable practice. In Health and Social Care sessions, learners apply
knowledge from College in work experience and then consider these when writing up assessments
on knowledge of roles within the health care sector workforce.
Learners have access to a good range of learning resources and specialist accommodation that
help them develop industry-standard knowledge and skills in preparation for employment. In
workshops and salons, teachers support students to work to high standards and complete tasks
within industry timescales. This prepares them well for future employment. Maths skills are
contextualised well in these sessions within learners demonstrating safe working practices by
measuring and calculating ratio accurately for hair dyes and beauty products during practical
assessments. The embedding and consolidation of English skills needs further development
across the College to particularly support the very low levels of English language skills that the
majority of learners have at the start of their programmes.
On Access to HE courses learners are supported well with effective support and development in
academic study skills preparing them for next steps at university.
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For instance, Access to Science, learners are supported well to develop their practical laboratory
and research skills through partnership work at London Metropolitan University enabling them to
use Europe’s biggest Superlab with 280 workstations to carry out work in tissue
culture/microbiology laboratories, nutritional psychology and food technology laboratories, and a
psychophysiological laboratory.
The Quality of work in textiles and fashion is of a high industry level standard and the delivery has
a close partnership with the University of the Arts and the London Textile Museum supporting high
aspirations for further study and work. Standards of work and skills in Service Industry Directorate
are good overall. For example, Level 2 Catering students took part in the national competition for
‘Dolmio Professional & Uncle Ben’s’ Foodservice Students Catering Challenge. One of the eight
finalists was from the College, who competed for the title of ‘Best Adult’s Dish’, ‘Best Children’s
Dish’ and a special award for ‘Overall Best Casual Dining’, in front of a live audience. This
competition was judged by a team of five industry experts and was to prepare, cook and serve two
dishes within industry standards. The College students received a Merit certificate in the final.
The College has successfully been awarded the status of DfE Centre of Excellence for maths and
is the only FE college in London to be accredited. In GCSE maths and Functional Skills maths –
mastery techniques are prioritised to support and engage learners to enable them to achieve. In
nearly all maths classes observed a good range of tactile and kinaesthetic activities engage
learners and support and enliven learning well. The maths team engaged in a collaborative project
with the Education Training Foundation and Abingdon and Witney College to explore methods of
digital feedback to learners and tracking of progress. This has been a beneficial project in
supporting the maths team in improving the quality and methods of feedback to learners and is
being cascaded across the College and the sector.
In the summer QDP learner survey, 93% of learners in maths stated that feedback helped them to
improve. Achievement rates in GCSE maths are improving and high grades GCSE maths for
learners on College study programmes remain above the national rate for GFE at 20.1% (+4.9%
above the published GFE average of 15% for 16-19 year olds in 2017/18). On direct College
provision functional skills maths pass rates improved to 68.5% (+2.9% compared to 2017/18) for
16-19 year olds, and remain above national achievement rates for this cohort.
Tutors who teach learners with high needs have appropriate qualifications and they are skilled in
supporting learners with their educational, health and care plan requirements.
They set and review individual targets using tactile and visual stimuli to review personal progress.
Visual prompts and ILT are used well to enrich and enliven the learning experience in class and
help learners make good progress.
The use of learning support assistants to support learners with declared learning difficulties and
disabilities is especially strong in SEND classes. Learners receive good support in lessons from
learning support assistants (LSAs) and other specialist delivery staff while in College, and as a
result overall achievement rates remain high at 94% for 2018/19. Progress against personalised
goals in SEND classes are good.
The cross-College group tutorial scheme of work is focussed on significant enrichment themes
including Safeguarding and Prevent as well as sessions on specific curriculum topics to
accommodate themes around British Values and Equality and Diversity E&D. Teachers in Health
and Social Care successfully devised and used their own materials on E&D and Mental Health to
challenge learners’ misconceptions, gender stereo typing and language with clear links to
employability and vocational focus. Within SEND and ESOL elements of multi-culturalism, mutual
respect and life in multicultural London are highlighted and developed well across courses.
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The observation subcategory grade profile for promoting Equality and Diversity and British Values
in lessons improved by 9% when compared to 2017/18.
In apprenticeship provision, the large majority of teaching, learning and assessment is judged good
or better. Most apprentices at all levels receive effective feedback to assist them to improve their
knowledge, skills, understanding and behaviours.
8. Self-Assessment of Quality of Education (Impact)
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Quality of Education (outcomes/impact) Good Good Good
Table 7: Data Summary overall
Overall College 2018/19
All ages
2017/18
All ages
2016/17
All ages
2017/18
National
Average
GFE
All ages
+/- 2017/18
National
Average
All ages
Starts 25,548 24,100 23,697 - -
Leavers 25,548 24,100 23,697 - -
Retention 96.8% 94.4% 91.9% 92.8%
Pass 93.8% 95.3% 97% 92.6% +1.2%
Achievement 90.8% 89.9% 89.1% 85.9% +4.9%
Table 8: Data Summary 19+ learners
Overall College 2018/19
19+
2017/87
19+
2016/17
19+
2017/18
National
Average
19+ GFE
+/- 2017/18
National
Average
19+ GFE
Starts 20.258 19,025 18,802 - -
Leavers 20,258 19,025 18,802 - -
Retention 97.9% 95.4% 93.2% 94.5% +3.4%
Pass 95.2% 97.3% 98% 94.3% +0.9%
Achievement 93.3% 92.8% 91.4% 89.1% +4.2%
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Table 9: Data Summary 16-18 learners
Overall College 2018/19
16-18
2017/18
16-18
2016/17
16-18
2017/18
National
Average
GFE
16-18
+/- 2017/18
National
Average
16-18
Starts 5,290 5,075 4,895 - -
Leavers 5,290 5,075 4,895 - -
Retention 92.4% 90.5% 86.6% 91.2% +1.2%
Pass 88.2% 87.3% 92.6% 90.8% -2.6%
Achievement 81.5% 79.1% 80.2% 82.1% -0.6%
Key strengths
The College has continued its overall trend of improvement and retained very high achievement rates overall
The very large majority of learners studying with the College develop their skills and achieve their qualifications
A very large majority of adult learners achieve their qualifications from entry level to Level 2 learners
Adult and 16-18 year old ESOL learners make good progress from their initial starting points and achieve very well
Achievement rates on Access to HE for adults are good Pass rates for 16-18 year olds for RQF Level 3 BTECs are much improved GCSE maths high grades remain above the sector average for learners on study
programmes Overall Functional Skills rates for young adult learners are improved and now above
national rates for all levels from entry to Level 2 Achievement rates for Apprentices remain significantly above the national rate Progression into higher education for learners from Level 3 courses is high Improved target setting and monitoring of progress as well as targeted support for teachers,
has led to an increase in learner pass rates in Level 3 exams Internal progression into further training and studies is high Progression into employment for learners on supported internships is good
Areas of Improvement
16-18 overall achievement rates have improved by 2.4% and are now in line with London
GFE rate but are just below the updated national achievement rate and require further
improvement
English GSCE high grades and achievement rates require further improvement
High grades at Level 3 require further improvement
Timely Achievement rates for 16-18s year olds and 19-23 year olds on Apprenticeships
require improvement
The College overall achievement rate and pass rate remains high. The vast majority of adult
learners achieve very well with a College overall adult achievement rate of 93.3% (an increase of
+0.5% compared to 2017/18).
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Adult learners at entry, Level 1 and Level 2 achieve well above the national rates while adult
learners at Level 3 (3% of adult starts) achieve less well than the national rate at 77.9% although
achievement rates on adult Access to HE (93% of Level 3 adult starts) are improved to 82.7% (an
increase of +0.4% on 2017/18 and +2.4% on NART for Access at 80.3%).
Learners on adult ESOL and 16-18 study programmes for young ESOL learners (which account for
approximately two-thirds of College starts) achieve very well passing qualifications and resulting in
overall achievement rates at 97% for 19+ learners and 92.8% for 16-18 year olds learners. Pass
rates on ESOL Ascentis exams remain very high. At Level 2 ESOL adult achievement rates on
exams are at 98.1%, at Level 1 adult ESOL achievement rates on exams are at 94.4% and at entry
level ESOL Ascentis exams overall achievement rates are at 96.8%.
Pass rates on Level 3 BTECs for 16-18 year-olds are much improved at 88.6% (an improvement of
+9.3% on 2017/18) with 18.6% high grades. Overall achievement rate for 16-18s at Level 3 are at
83.9% overall (an improvement of 14.8% compared to 2017/18). The number of 16-18 year-old
learners with high grades requires further improvement in 2019/20. Young adult learners (16-18)
on entry level qualifications achieve well 91% overall (+9.5% national rate and +1.4% on College
2017/18).
Overall College GCSE maths high grade pass rates for study programmes are higher than the
national average at 20.1% (+4.9% above the published GFE average of 15% for 16-19 year olds in
2017/18) and an overall College achievement rate of 78.9% which is a +3.6% improvement on
2017/18 College, but remains below the national rate achievement of 82.5% from 2017/18.
Overall College GCSE English high grades pass rate for study programmes are at 20.1% for
2018/19 which is lower than the national average of 23.4% for GFE for 16-19-year olds and an
overall achievement rate of 75.3% which is below the national rate of 82.4%.
The College is ranked in the lowest quartile nationally (Mides, 2019) for students who have
previously achieved GCSEs in English and maths grades 4-7 before starting at Newham College
(ranked 242 out of 243 colleges); only 5% of learners join the College having previously achieved a
GCSE in English and maths compared to 44% nationally for GFE colleges. From a low starting
point, the College has been able to secure some good progress. Progress scores for study
programme learners re-sitting GCSE English and maths are positive with grade improvement from
entry. For GCSE English 16-year-old learners were more successful at attaining a grade 4-9
having not achieved a 4-9 grade previously (20.4%), 17-year-old learners were the least successful
at attaining a grade 4-9 having not achieved a 4-9 grade previously (13.7%); 18-year-old learners
had the largest number of learners where the grade increased (35.2%).
For GCSE Mathematics 18-year-old learners were more successful at attaining a grade 4-9 having
not achieved a 4-9 grade previously (18.3%); 17-year-old learners were the least successful at
attaining a grade 4-9 having not achieved a 4-9 grade previously (7.9%) and 16- year- old learners
were the second most successful at attaining a grade 4-9 having not achieved a 4-9 grade
previously (13.9%).
Overall Functional Skills achievement rates for English and maths for 16-18 year olds is now above
the national rate at 68.8% (an increase of +2% compared to the national rate for GFE 2017/18).
Achievement rates on Functional Skills English at Level 1 for 16-18 year olds is at 66.5% (an
improvement of +21.1% on GFE 16-18 NART rate) and for Functional Skills English at Level 2 at
54.8% ( an improvement of +9.8% national GFE 16-18 NART) and entry level at 77.3% (in line with
the GFE 16-18 NART). Achievement rates on Functional Skills maths at Level 1 for 16-18 year
olds is at 53.1% (an improvement of +1.5% GFE 16-18 NART) and for Functional Skills maths at
Level 2 66.8% (an improvement of +27.4% GFE 16-18 NART) and entry level at 87.2% (an
improvement of +1.5% GFE 16-18 NART).
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From the level 3 cohort, 449 learners made applications via UCAS for university places in 2018/19
this is an improvement of +50 applications on 2017/18. For the UCAS application cohort, the most
successful destinations were: 26% on Biomedical or science related degrees, 13.3% gained a
place on a Computer Science or IT related degree, 9.1% gained a place on a business or related
degree, 5.3% gained a place on a nursing or related degree course, 3.5% gained a place on
criminology or law related degree courses, 3% in accountancy or finance. The latest DfE data for
progression to higher level education or study, shows that Newham College has an added value of
+10% above the national comparator rate for level 3 learners progressing to higher education.
For 16-19 year old learners at entry level to Level 2, the college internal progression rates to a
higher level is at or above the national comparator data of 38% from Mides in 2017/18. Internal
progression onto further study within the college for young people successfully completing their
programme of study is very positive overall with just under 60% of young people progressing to
further study in 2019/20 with the majority studying at a higher level and 44% progressing to a
Level 3 programme within the college and a further 14% into employment. Nearly half of adult
learners (48.7%) progressed internally onto a higher level course into 2019/20.
Overall achievement rates for Apprentices remain high. The achievements for overall
apprenticeships in-year is 78%, which is above the national rate of 67.7 by +10.3%. Timely overall
achievement is at 63.9%, which is above the national timely rate of 59.4% by +4.5%.
In-year overall achievement rates for 16-18 apprentices is at 68.2%, which is just below the
national rate of 69.9% by -1.7%; timely achievement is 58.6%, which is 10.5% below the national
timely rate of 62.9%.
Overall achievement rates for 19-23 year old apprentices is 72.4%, which is +2.8% above the
national rate of 69.6%; overall timely achievement for 19-23 year old apprentices is 57.1%, which
is -5.1% below the national rate of 62.2%.
Achievement for 24+ apprentices is 79.8%, which is +14.5% above the national rate of 65.3%;
overall timely achievement for 24+ apprentices is 66%, which is +10.5% above the national timely
rate of 55.5%.
Overall achievement rates for learners self-declaring an additional learning need (5.8% of
enrolments) are below the College achievement rate of 90.8% by –2% at 88.8% in 2018/19.
Overall female learners at 92.9% achieve better than male learners at 87.5%. 16-18 male learners
achieve less well at 80.8% than female 16-18 learners at 82.7% in 2018/19.
The small cohort of ‘Looked After Children’ are retained less well (88.9%) than the College 16-19
average of 92.3% and as a result achievement rates are lower for this cohort at 76.7% overall.
The following ethnic groups achieve less well than the College average of 90.8% (25,548 starts):
Black Caribbean 83.1% (428 starts), black African 88.2% (3,359 starts), other black 82.3% (781
starts), other 89.5% (1,526).
The achievement rate for learners in receipt of high needs funding is 91% which is 7% above the
national rate and +1.8% above the College average.
The achievement rate for learners eligible for free school meals is 91%, which is +7% above the
national rate and 7.4% above the College 16-18 year old achievement rate.
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9. Self-Assessment of Attitudes and Behaviours
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Behaviour & Attitudes NA NA Good
Key strengths
Learners’ and apprentices’ behaviour in lessons, around the College and at work is very good
Learners and apprentices adopt and demonstrate safe working practices in salons, workshops and in the work place
Learners listen and respond respectfully to the views of their peers and tutors in class time, during discussions and in enrichment activities
Attendance rates on a large majority of adult courses and all SEND courses are good
Areas for Improvements
Attendance on study programmes although increased, needs to further improve, especially in English and maths sessions
Learners’ and apprentices’ behaviour in lessons, around the College and at work is good. Learner
knowledge and understanding of ‘staying safe’ are good. The College promotes the ethos that
good behaviour and safety is paramount. All learners attend a central student induction which
reinforces the College expectations at an early stage in the learner journey, this is further
supported by guidance in the student welcome, handbooks and student charter and through group
tutorial. Prior to work placement, preparation for work experience workshops are delivered to all
study programme learners focussing on the benefits of the experience, preparation for placement
and essential employer mindset qualities. This ensures that all learners are clear on the
expectations and benefits of work experience and reinforces expectations around behaviour and
essential health and safety. Employer feedback is positive with a number of local companies and
organisations, working exclusively with the College for placements as a result. In addition, several
students were offered permanent employment with their placement employers following successful
work experience.
A robust disciplinary procedure makes students aware of what is expected of them and means
students experience an environment which is safe, secure, tolerant and respectful. Staff actively
challenge prejudice, bullying behaviour and inappropriate language in and out of the classroom
and the expectation is that all staff, students and visitors will comply with the Single Equality
Scheme in line with the College’s Investors in Diversity and Stonewall Champion kitemarks. In a
very small minority of instances, leaders, managers and tutors take immediate and effective action
to challenge learners and apprentices where their behaviour is not of the expected standard.
In salons, kitchens and workshops including Business classes, learners across all age groups
demonstrate good work-ready behaviour, they dress appropriately for work settings with good
levels of personal appearance and standards in personal protective equipment (PPE). For
example, in Business classes young learners wear shirts, ties and smart trousers to reflect real
work expectations. Salon and cabin crew learners have a ready to work, ready to learn approach
in identifiable uniforms adopting work practices.
Leaders and managers have invested in a large range of initiatives to ensure that learners attend
their lessons regularly and on time. These include positive rewards as well as commitment to
study expectations and in-year contracts.
23
The initial stages for poor attendance, academic performance or behaviour via the College
disciplinary process are supportive in order to take account of the challenging circumstances that a
significant proportion of the College students face outside of College and this has had positive
impacts for individual learners.
In Access to higher education courses, learners aspire to become nurses, midwives, lawyers and
engineers and other business professionals. Support from a dedicated College Careers team
making learners aware of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and the
necessary points that they need to achieve for each pathway. As a result, they strive to achieve
the necessary grades and are largely successful. Learners are good at taking part in class
discussions and relevant and analytical whole and small group activities prepare them well for
future academic study.
Across the College, class discussions, enrichment activities and group tutorials encourage
learners to demonstrate good levels of mutual respect and understanding. They demonstrate
British Values well by listening to each other respectfully when agreeing or disagreeing and take
turns well in debates about life and work in London and in College as part of the College Learner
Voice Strategy.
Adults in vocational contexts develop a good awareness the application of work-related
behaviours and practices. For instance, in Level 1 Health & Social care, classes develop work-
related knowledge and skills well, developing awareness of application of work-related health and
safety practices in context of a variety of vocational settings.
In adult ESOL provision across the College and in the community high expectations are set for
learners in raising awareness of real-life work expectations for attendance and punctuality
preparing them well for the world of work.
10. Self-Assessment of Personal Development and Welfare of Learners
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Personal development, behaviour and welfare:
Good Good Good
Key strengths
Learners gain improved levels of self-confidence developing their personal, social and employability skills well while with the College
Adult learners especially rebuild their confidence after significant time away from education Learners feel safe and know how to report concerns Learners from diverse ethnic backgrounds treat each other with high levels of respect and
tolerance, with good understanding of British Values Learners take pride in their work and achievements from their time in College Learners benefit from a wide range of work experience and placements, linked to their
courses and career aspirations, to develop their skills for employment and future work Learners are supported to stay fit and healthy during their time at College through a wide
range of sport and exercise activities Learners are supported well through an effective careers and progression strategy to
support them into further training or higher education The use of Learner Voice is well developed to enable learners to engage in discussions
with managers to develop and improve aspects of College life
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Learners with high needs and specialist support engage well in learning and enrichment activities to enhance their experience while in College
Areas of Improvement:
Further develop the consistency and delivery of the College wide group and online tutorial programmes for 16-18 learners on study programmes
Further improve the early identification of LAC learners with the relevant local authorities in
order to highlight those at risk earlier for effective support and intervention
Ensure relevant learner work experience references and feedback from employers are
captured
Learners on study programmes benefit from supportive student services as well as a curriculum
group tutorial and personal reviews on their timetables to capture and record wider skills
development from their time in College. These employability skills align to the ELBA (East London
Business Alliance) Employability Competency Framework.
The College has a dedicated Student Experience team including Student Support Advisors who
have a caseload of learners to support from referral as “high risk” based on their status, such as
those at risk of gang/knife related crime and Looked After Learners. The team within Student
Experience, including library and I-learning staff, offer a broad range of services to develop
personal skills, academic research, digital awareness and employability skills for learners. A
dedicated Sports Engagement team supports young learners and hard to engage groups in
keeping healthy and fitness activities throughout the year.
All learners are actively encouraged to undertake a range of enrichment and wider activities, and
personal development and welfare of learners are supported via a central College induction, group
tutorials and online modules. These aim to raise awareness of physical and emotional wellbeing,
rights and responsibilities as learners linked to British Values and safeguarding related matters
including safe work place practices.
Learners benefit from developing their wider social skills through citizenship activities, such as
funding raising across the year and partnership with West Ham United Players Community Project
to provide support for the residents of Newham; for example, 16-19-year olds on Hair & Beauty
Study Programmes carry out mini manicures and hand massages to the local community who may
not get the time or space to be treated as such due to challenges with mental health issues or
homelessness.
Young learners and adults benefit from taking additional qualifications and learning to support their
main vocational studies to develop their work skills. For instance, learners studying on Cabin Crew
courses take part in swimming lessons and gain certificates to improve their employability skills
with the airline industry. Learners in Hair, Beauty & Catering benefit from embedded online British
Learning Consortium vocational specific modules to deepen and consolidate work-related
knowledge.
Adult learners, engaged in learning via work with Job Centre Plus or from community venues
develop their self-confidence and preparation for the labour market well through a range of short
bespoke courses in confidence building, interview skills, volunteering opportunities and digital skills
awareness. In Community venues, conversation cafes and volunteering opportunities further
develop adult ESOL learners’ fluency and self-confidence, preparing them to become active
citizens in their local community.
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Partnership links with East London Business Alliance and high-profile Canary Wharf employers are
strong, enabling learners to gain valuable insights into the world of work and develop their
employability skills and social skills.
Regular workshops for mock Interview preparation and inclusion events such as “Ethnic Minorities
and Culture in Banking” from Credit Suisse at Canary Wharf raise learners’ aspirations and
consider progression into prestigious employers.
Learners benefit from work experience and a wide range of employability activities which has
resulted in positive progression to employment. For example, in Young ESOL and Childcare
students with high needs developed confidence and gained part time employment as a result of
work placements. Around 100, 16-19 year olds across a variety of study programmes benefited
from an international work placement in Europe via Erasmus in a range of roles gaining valuable
skills in customer services, communication, speaking and listening skills, self-confidence and
experiencing overseas culture for the first time.
Learners’ reading, digital literacy skills and academic study skills are developed and consolidated
well through effective work of the College’s Learning Resource Centre Teams who engage
learners in a wide variety of activities including the Reading Ahead Challenge and Academic
Research and Study Skills workshops; 200 learners participated successfully in the annual
Reading Ahead campaign in 2018/19.
Learners from across all curriculum areas enhance their communication skills and confidence by
acting as ‘ambassadors’ to welcome visitors to the College and take part in open day events and
Learner Voice events along with acting as Course Representatives as part of the College Learner
Voice Strategy. The College is highly responsive to views of its students and is committed to
ensuring that it hears and acts upon a range of student feedback. Feedback from students is an
integral and highly valued element of our quality assurance process. Learner views are gathered
through a range of mechanisms including surveys and questionnaires, discussion through tutorial,
learner representative meetings with senior managers, student consultation meetings with
governors, focus groups and one to one meetings. The QDP Learner Voice summer survey data
for “the college listens and responds to my views” is 84% which is +1% above the national
benchmark.
The College’s dedicated work experience team works closely with a range of employers including
Hilton Hotels and NHS Barts Trust alongside local employers from the East London Business
Alliance to source meaningful and relevant work experience and as a result 94% of study
programme learners were placed. Moreover, following successful placements, a number of
learners were offered permanent employment.
Learners are encouraged to keep fit and healthy through an extensive sport, fitness and
competitive team sports programme in cricket, volleyball, basketball, football, swimming lessons
and specialist sports offer for learners with LDD. The “This Girl Can” campaign” champions
fitness and sports activities well within young female learners in the College. Learners also
benefit from additional funding from Sport England’s Tackling Inactivity project enabling further
classes in futsal, yoga, boxing, Pilates and women only Zumba and yoga which widens
participation to include adult learners and increase participation rates for hard to engage groups.
There is a dedicated summer sports day for the Young Learners within ESOL and Foundation
Learning.
Learners are supported well through an effective Careers advice and progression strategy. The
College obtained full Matrix accreditation in spring 2019. The Matrix accreditation for the whole
College validates the high quality and impartial IAG delivery throughout the College, the final
report identifies the widely embedded employability programme and the meeting of quality
standards for careers and progression advice. The report states:
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“Career advice and guidance has been effectively integrated within the curriculum, group tutorials
about careers are provided and there are also opportunities to receive one-to-one sessions
ranging from careers interviews to telephone advice. Access to careers advice can also be
accessed via the college’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and in the LRCs” (Matrix, 2019).
The College’s own specialist team of careers advisors supports learners effectively with suitable
levels of progression into higher education. Learners are offered access to a wide range of careers
activities during the year including an internal HE fair, external guest speakers from partner
universities and access to internal guest speakers from local and national employers along with
external careers events such as Excel Skills Fair in Docklands. From the level 3 all ages cohort
449 College learners made applications via UCAS for university places in 2018/19 this is an
improvement of +50 applications on 2017/18. Just under 11% of UCAS successful applicants
were accepted into Russell Group Universities for 2019/20, an increase of 3% compared to
2018/19, with 3.5% at Queens Mary’s University, 3% with King's College London, with the
remainder at universities, such as Bristol, Brunel and University College London.
The College provides good support for students with an increasingly diverse and complex range of
needs including those with disabilities and learning difficulties; identifying students’ needs on
application and pre-enrolment allows appropriate support to be put in place in a timely fashion.
The College is the largest delivery partner of supported internships in London with close working
links with high profile employers including Newham Hospital, Newham Council, Asda, John Lewis
and Waitrose.
Looked After Children’s (LAC) support is good and there are strong links with Children and Family
Services in Newham. A total of 85 students declared their status as LAC. Strong liaison with a
range of statutory bodies resulted in the College’s Student Support officers working closely with
local authorities for the purpose of monitoring students, providing information and attending 15
Child in Need meetings. Further work is underway, working in partnership with local authorities to
identify LAC learners earlier to ensure additional support mechanisms are in place from enrolment.
The College has a dedicated team of mental health counsellors. The Newham NHS waiting list for
accessing mental health services is approximately ten months and providing an in-house service
allows students to receive interim support and treatment for mild to moderate conditions and to
support young people and adults’ mental health and well-being and develop resilience. The
College counsellor works closely with local NHS Mental Health Service, Newham Talking
Therapies and MIND to deliver workshops during mental health awareness month. Over 107
students received support in 2018/19. Alongside its mental health professionals the College is
developing a mental health ambassador’s programme for learners.
11. Self-Assessment of Leadership & Management
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Leadership & Management Good Good Good
Key strengths
Leaders, managers and governors have a clear and ambitious vision for the College Governance arrangements are good and have been further strengthened with the
appointment of a new Chair and several new board members with finance specialisms, following a skills review of the board
Leaders, managers and governors ensure the College is safe and inclusive, with learners and staff well-being the highest priority
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Strategic partnerships and employer links are highly effective and well developed Local community links, including the local authority, are very strong and highly effective Leaders and managers are successful in maintaining high achievement rates overall Leaders and managers have been successful in ensuring and monitoring effective actions
have been taken leading to the removal of notices to improve from the previous year Leaders and managers understand the key strengths and weaknesses in the quality of
teaching, learning and assessment and put in place effective mechanisms to support and further develop good classroom practice
Leaders and managers are supportive in their management of staff morale and workload Leaders have pursued a focused strategy of securing growth aligned to the College’s
strategic plan. Key successes in the year include the Accountable Body role on the London
City Institute of Technology; a £7.5m GLA procured AEB contract; and a £900k growth in
16-18 lagged learner numbers.
The College continues to improve its outcomes for learners within a highly cost effective
delivery model. Staff costs as a % of turnover remain low against sector averages.
Areas for Improvement
Improve the financial health score back to good
Whilst strategies to improve value added at level 3 have improved, they still require further improvement
Continue to improve the achievement rates for 16-18 learners which still require further improvement
Leaders, managers and governors have a clear vision for the College with high aspirations; 96% of
staff feel that the vision, strategic direction of the College and management expectations are well
communicated (staff survey 2018). Leaders, managers and governors value and celebrate both
learner and staff achievement through incentives such as learner competitions and staff and
learner awards and celebrations.
This was reinforced during the Matrix accreditation for the whole College, where the assessor
noted:
The focus upon course, career, college and community encompasses the ethos of Newham
College. Evidence was established that illustrated clear leadership and direction from the top.
Managers and staff spoke about the opportunity to contribute to the development of the College
and how they all felt truly engaged with the vision and direction of the organisation. They
confirmed that there is a focus upon embracing change and that they were not afraid to try new
things even if they were unsuccessful. All were proud of what Newham College achieves and
considered that the open and encouraging style from top down engendered the ongoing, “can do,”
mentality. Evidence was found in respect of how the vision was cascaded and how staff and
Learners were all included in the review process. (Matrix, April 2019).
Governors know the College and the community well and have adapted to meet the changing needs of the College. The Board undertook a skills audit at the start of the year, recruiting new governors with finance skills, and reframing the terms of reference of the Finance & Resources Committee in order to further focus on financial oversight. The Board has a diverse range of skills and experience including Education, Finance, SEND specialism, Business and Audit expertise that enable them to provide challenge and support to the College Executive and Leadership team.
Monitoring is at sub-committee level and then to the full board. Governors engage well in learner consultative meetings throughout the year. Leaders, managers and governors value and celebrate both learner and staff achievement through staff and learner awards and celebrations.
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Leaders, managers and governors are proud of the inclusive and supportive environment within
the College that celebrates its diversity and encourages learners to flourish. Students from a
diverse community, with significant social and economic difficulties, study and socialise well
together with a respectful and tolerant environment exemplifying the values of the College.
For 2018/19 the College Values were revised and leaders and managers ensured that the wider
College community including students, staff, governors, managers and stakeholders contributed to
the new values which were cascaded across the College.
Leaders and managers and staff shape and plan the College curriculum across the main sites and
community centres well. They use EMSI labour market research to identify skills gaps and labour
market demand along with feedback from employers, students and partners in designing its
curriculum. Work with the Department for Work and Pensions and local Job Centres enables the
College to respond effectively to demand for short courses for learners to develop digital skills and
ESOL employability skills. College leaders have made the decision to end subcontracting of
Apprenticeships to meet local employers needs more effectively in 2019/20.
The College has successfully developed a range of effective strategic partnerships and works
closely with employers to inform and shape the curriculum. The College is one of only 12 projects
in England to be awarded Institute of Technology status by DfE. Working with Queen Mary
University of London, Newham College will be leading a range of higher level, employer endorsed
programmes to support local people into great jobs in the transport and engineering industry.
During 2018/19, the College was successfully reaccredited for the Mayor's Construction Academy
(MCA) quality kitemark.
The College has been awarded the MCA Quality Mark by demonstrating its work with employers
who are providing employment, apprenticeship and work experience opportunities. The College
has a proven track record of engagement with construction companies and evidence of the
responsiveness of training programmes to employers' needs and learner positive work and
progression destinations to attract this kite mark.
The College has developed a strategic partnership with the National College of Advanced
Transport and Infrastructure. This collaboration better enables NCATI to deliver on its national
college remit; and gives College learners Newham College learners access to specialist equipment
and training. This collaboration is evidence of the College’s leadership in aligning national, sub-
regional and local training policies and provision.
The College’s strategic partnership with Barts NHS Health Trust, the sub-region’s largest
employer, has flourished over the last 18 months. Barts chose the College as its hub partner for a
successful capital bid to the GLA. Under this project, Barts will place part of its HR and recruitment
team at the College, who will support entry-level community employment and upskilling for the
Trust’s workforce.
Leaders and managers work in partnership with a number of organisations such as Newham Adult
Learning Service (NALS) and Job Centre Plus, external agencies and the local authority to offer an
inclusive and diverse curriculum offer to meet local needs, particularly for hard to reach pockets of
the community. This includes a responsive and flexible High Needs offer and a 14-16 year old
provision for new arrivals funded by Newham Council. This provision for younger learners is
designed to include studying full-time a range of English, maths, ICT and vocational tasters as well
as a range of GCSEs and supports their academic development as well as social cohesion.
The College carries out its Prevent & Safeguarding duties well. All staff receive training in Prevent
and Safeguarding. All the Governing Body are trained in Prevent and Safeguarding and actively
promote British values and citizenship by attending key College events. The College has a robust
policy and procedure for supporting and promoting the safeguarding of learners.
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Safeguarding is given the highest priority and covers all aspects of College life including
apprenticeships and sub-contractors.
Respect and tolerance are promoted throughout the College in its inclusive approach to staff and
students. The College is a recognised holder of external ‘kite marks’ from Investors in Diversity &
the LGBT charity Stonewall. All staff and governors receive training and guidance on equality and
diversity.
Leaders and managers regularly communicate with and update the staff and student body on key
themes and key celebrations, for example Black History Month, Holocaust Memorial Day, LGBT
history month, International Women's day and local election voter registration events.
The College actively promotes sharing best practice across the organisation to further improve the
quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment. An example of this is joint learning walks across
curriculum areas, which are then explored in College and team management meetings and
showcasing of good practice teaching and learning at whole College CPD events. The College
has been successful with its submission bid to the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) to
develop its own teachers in shortage areas of Construction and Engineering. The programme is
supporting professionals from the construction and engineering industry into teaching. The College
also hosted two undergraduate placements from Talent to Teach in FE programme in 2018/19 to
foster work routes into the sector alongside its own graduate trainee scheme, one has applied to
the College Teacher Training Programme for 2019/20 as a result. The College is a recognised DfE
Centre for Maths Excellence and this is proving beneficial to developing staff practice in ‘mastery’
across the FE sector.
Leaders and managers provide resources to maintain and improve the quality of teaching and
learning. A dedicated team of Advanced Practitioners support staff development through
development observations and mentoring to eliminate inadequate teaching and raise standards.
Strategies to maintain improvement of the quality of teaching and learning have been effective in
most curriculum areas. Following support and intervention from Advanced Practitioners, the good
or better grade profile improved by 15% and the outstanding grades by 5%. Teachers who were
graded 4 have improved their grade following support or no longer work at the College. The overall
good or better grade profile remains consistently good and has increased by 4% on the previous
year. The implementation of cross department learning walks has been effective in sharing good
practice between curriculum areas. Managers use observation records well to identify areas that
need to improve and this information is used to plan CPD activities and staff understand what their
individual priorities are for improvement from an annual appraisal process.
Interventions and support from leaders and managers have been highly effective resulting in the
two formal notices to improve for Apprenticeships and Level 3 being removed. A relentless focus
on quality improvement has had a positive impact for example: significantly improved Level 3 16-
18 achievement rates, continued to improve apprenticeships and an improved work experience
offer for study programmes with 94% of these learners now completing an external work placement
in 2018/19.
Staff well-being and morale is reviewed routinely. Leaders and managers meet with unions and
staff bodies via regular informal and formal consultative meetings. There was a joint well-being
survey distributed to all staff in partnership with the College's recognised trade unions. The survey
results produced an action plan and the leadership team reviewed the progress of the action plan
regularly. Some of the changes that have been implemented as a direct result of staff feedback
include a dedicated staff room at each site, giving staff time away from their desks and students.
There are a suite of well-being activities that are offered to all staff such as an onsite gym, Pilates,
yoga, badminton, table tennis and football clubs. The leadership team has resourced the rolling out
of laptops to enable more flexible working to improve work-life balance of staff.
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Systems have been purchased and implemented to allow better analysing of data and streamlining
processes to reduce paperwork and workload around online tracking via E-Trackr.
After 5 years of improving financial health, the College’s financial health score fell to Requires
Improvement. This decline was mainly caused by two isolated and unrelated events, where
leaders took robust action to mitigate further loss with clear oversight from the Board. Leaders
have worked with independent professional advisers to mitigate losses, and tighten controls and
procedures and this remains a key focus for 2019/20.
12. Self-Assessment of Young People
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Overall effectiveness of the provision: Good Requires
Improvement Good
Key strengths
A diverse and strong curriculum offer to meet the needs of young people Highly effective partnership with employers to develop and support the curriculum
especially in Construction & the Built Environment, Engineering, and Service Industries Excellent development of employability skills Very high standards of behaviour, respect and demonstration of College Values across the
College The quality of teaching, learning and assessment for young people in ESOL and High
Needs is consistently good or better The quality of teaching and learning is generally good for young learners in most curriculum
areas especially within Service Industries and maths Teachers support and prepare learners well for examinations and assessment enabling
improved pass rates and higher grades at Level 3 Teachers’ use of online tracking and monitoring for aspirational grade at level 3 is much
improved Quality of assessment and oral feedback to support young people while on programme is
generally good High quality and relevant external work experience including opportunities for placements in
Europe GCSE high grades in maths for young people are significantly above national rate
Areas for Improvement
Overall achievement rates for young people require further improvement, particularly in
subcontracted provision and in Construction & Engineering
High Grades in GCSE English for young people require improvement
Attendance rates, especially in English and maths classes require improvement
Programmes of Study for young people are based on vocational qualification pathways from entry
level to level 3. The Compulsory Study Programme in line with DFE requirements informs the
curriculum and is made up of six learner components: English, maths, core qualification, work
experience, group tutorial and enrichment and, where necessary, learner support. Group tutorial is
delivered within curriculum and enrichment is developed and delivered alongside from a dedicated
Student Enrichment team.
The 16-18 provision accounts for approximately one fifth of total enrolments. Learners from a
BAME background account for just over 70% of enrolments with 11% self-declaring an additional
learning need or on an EHCP.
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The curriculum is designed to meet the needs and interests of young people attracted to study at
the College. Nearly 70% of young adults who studied with the College in 2018/19 entered without
having previously obtained a GSCE pass. As a consequence, proportionally more foundation and
intermediate level qualifications are offered as a result to build skills and confidence for the cohort
with high levels of disengagement from pre-16 education. There are a range of pathways at Level
1 to develop and maintain interest across vocational routes.
Within curriculum areas, units are chosen by employers, managers and teachers to provide
relevant exposure to vocational and industry expectations. For instance, in Hair & Beauty, local
self-employed hairdressers and barbers lead master classes in unit delivery to upskill leaners to
industry standards alongside visits from L'Oréal.
Classroom study develops the knowledge and understanding required for higher level study and
skills needed for employment well. Teachers plan and devise lessons that engage learners well. In
the majority of taught sessions, especially in young ESOL, Hair & Beauty and Science e-learning
enlivens and consolidates learning well. The purchase and development of a new online system,
E-Trackr, has enabled more young learners to see, set and agree initial target grades and stretch
targets. These are regularly reviewed with their personal tutors to ensure progress and are shared
with parents. Better tracking of learners has been a key strategy this year with at risk learners
swiftly identified and positive interventions put in place to maximise completion and achievement.
As a result, the overall achievement rate is 81.4%, in line with the London GE rate and this is an
increase of +2.3% from 2017/18. Excluding subcontractors the College 16-19 overall achievement
rate is 82.4%, which is in line with the national average.
The College has developed a partnership with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) to
develop a set of employer competencies to support learners with the employability skills and
experiences required by local and national employers. Learners’ work ready skills and technical
skills are developed and consolidated very well from time spent in salons, workshops and
laboratories. Guest speakers in many vocational areas bring the world of work into College to
provide greater understanding of real work expectations. For example, in Science Level 3,
learners benefit from attendance at the University of East London science facilities to enable them
to undertake experiments linked to their choice in project related work. In Construction, the
managers from Higgins Construction from the Woolwich Reach Development visited the College to
deliver two real life work ‘challenges’ for construction site-based tasks. During work experience
learners develop essential job ready skills and support local communities well; for example
learners work with Richard House Hospice to make environment more welcoming through
construction tasks and maintaining the hospice garden as well as offering free beauty treatments
for the parents of children using the Hospice.
Improved teaching and management strategies around exam preparation have had a positive
impact for your adults studying on RQF BTEC qualifications including an increase in learners
taking exams, improved level 3 BTEC external exam pass rates in 2018/19 to 92.8% (+5.8% on
2017/18) for 16-19 year old learners, and improved achievement rates across all level 3 courses to
83.9% in 2018/19 - an improvement of + 14.8%. This has enabled more Level 3 learners to
progress into higher education.
Entry level achievement rates for 16-19 year olds remain high with an overall achievement rate of
91% (+1.4% on 2017/18). At Level 1 vocational achievement rates for 16-19 year olds are at
83.5% (-1.5% on 2017/18) and at Level 2 vocational achievement rates for 16-19 year olds are
below the national rate at 80.4% (-3.8% on 2017/18) and this is an area for improvement in
2019/20. The Foundation School achievement rate remains above the national achievement rate
at 86.5% for this age cohort and the small Year 12 GCSE cohort of 62 starters have GCSE exam
results which remain high within the area with an achievement rate of 96.8% and 80.9% high
grades.
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Achievement rates in Service Industry School for 16-19 year olds are now high with an overall
vocational achievement rate of 88.3% (+6.1% on 2017/18). Pass rates in the school of Science
are high at 93.5% (+2.2% on 2017/18). Achievement rates in the School of Engineering &
Construction and the subcontractors DSS and A1 Sports require further improvement.
High grades for re-takes in GCSE maths for young people remain significantly above the national
rate at 20.1% (+4.9% above the published GFE average of 15% for 16-19 year olds in 2017/18).
Overall College GCSE English high grades pass rate for study programmes are at 20.1% for
2018/19 which is lower than the national average of 23.4% for GFE for 16-19 year olds.
Overall Functional Skills achievement rate for English and maths for young adults is now above the
national rate at 68.8% which is +2% above the national rate for GFE 2017/18). Achievement rates
on Functional Skills English at Level 1 for 16-18 year olds are at 66.5% (+21.1% on GFE 16-18
NART rate) and for Functional Skills English at Level 2 at 54.8% (+9.8% national GFE 16-18
NART) and entry level at 77.3% (equal to the GFE 16-18 NART). Achievement rates on Functional
Skills maths at Level 1 for 16-18 year olds are at 53.1% (+1.5% GFE 16-18 NART) and for
Functional Skills maths at Level 2 66.8% (+27.4% GFE 16-18 NART) and entry level at 87.2%
(+1.5% GFE 16-18 NART). Further work in 2019/20 is required to consolidate and improve
Functional Skills English and maths with the introduction of the reformed syllabus.
Attendance for the 16-19 study programme cohort overall is at 86% and needs to further improve.
Attendance is strong in some areas especially within SEND with 96.5%, A1 sports with 92% and
young ESOL 89%. Learners who attend well do so on time – punctuality is at 97.2% and the use of
late slips supports management interventions and reinforces expectations to challenge and change
learners’ behaviour to be “work ready”.
Learners benefit from training experiences within College such as kitchens, salons and workshops
to current industry standards as well as engaging with employers in workshops, trips, guest
speakers, projects and industry weeks .They engage with the community and showcase their skills
in events such as hair and beauty and fashion students with the annual cancer survivors day at St
Thomas’ Hospital and for example, the catering and hospitality students preparing and serving
food for 600 guests at Stratford Town Hall.
Learners demonstrate good work-ready behaviours, they dress appropriately with good levels of
personal appearance and standards in PPE in salons, kitchens and workshops, meeting industry
standards. Learners are well behaved and respectful of other learners and staff around the College
and any incidents of poor behaviour are managed well. They maintain good standards of health
and safety in work placement and in College situations.
The importance of work experience to the programme of study has been reinforced this year as
one of the means of ensuring that learners are work ready; 94% of all eligible learners on
programmes of study completed a period of work experience during the year at organisations
including approximately 100 students completing a two-week work experience via the Erasmus
programme in Spain and Paris.
Learners’ progression and careers aspirations are developed well through a wide range of
participate in career planning and industry guest speakers with such organisations as Barclays
Workskills, Canary Wharf, Higgins Construction, Hilton Hotels, Credit Suisse, the NHS, local SMEs
and local charities including Richard House hospice.
Citizenship, British Values and Equality & Diversity is embedded in classroom delivery and
assessment via planned Schemes of Work as well as the range of extra-curriculum enrichment
activities that all young students are encouraged to participate in such as, charity events and
projects and a wide range of sports and fitness to support health and well-being alongside a
curriculum delivered group tutorial.
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13. Aspect: Self-assessment of Adults
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Overall effectiveness of the provision: Good Good Good
Key strengths
College offer for adult learners is inclusive and diverse enabling wide engagement and participation for local community and employers
Partnership engagement for adult learning with employers and local agencies is good
The quality of teaching, learning and assessment for adults is good resulting in high achievement rates
In a large majority of adult learning programmes e-learning and digital skills are developed well
Quality of assessment and oral feedback to support students while on programme is good Overall Achievement rates for adults remain very high Progression into higher education for learners from adult HE Access courses are very good Adult learners benefit from a range of courses that rebuild their confidence after significant
time away from education and support progression On vocational workshop-based courses, learners develop work skills well preparing them
for next steps in work Learners gain improved levels of self-confidence developing their personal, social and
employability skills well while with the College
Areas of Improvement
Achievement rates on individual Access to HE courses require further improvement
Achievement rates for adults studying Functional Skills English and maths require improvement
Improve GCSE high grades in English and maths
Adult provision in the College is located at the main sites at East Ham and Stratford and in five
community venues across the borough. A very large majority of provision is in Subject Sector 14:
Preparation for Life and Work (86% of starts).
The ESOL provision in the College is a significant part of the Preparation for Life and Work subject
Sector and accounts for approximately two-thirds of adult enrolments representing the diverse
community the College serves.
Managers shape and plan the future of the College curriculum across the main sites and community offer well. They use pertinent information effectively to plan the curriculum, including feedback from partners and employers and local labour market information. As a result, secure evidence informs leaders’ decision-making on what new courses to run and which to close. For instance, partnership arrangements for the delivery of adult ESOL employability courses across five community sites is strong. A memorandum of understanding between Newham Adult Learning Service (NALS) and regular meetings at local level deliver a responsive and comprehensive curriculum to meet local community needs. Learner satisfaction rates are high in these local venues as a result. A dedicated team within the Apprentices and Partnership Innovation section Centre for Innovation and Partnerships manages and delivers a range of short and local employability focussed programmes for English Language and digital skills development via Job Centre Plus and with Newham Works and local employers, such as London City Airport.
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Teachers’ feedback is accurate and supportive and this is evidenced by External Verification (EQA) reports from awarding bodies. In the summer survey feedback 93% of adult learners stated they had feedback helping them to improve.
Teachers are diligent in monitoring the progress of learners towards their qualifications and personal goals and as a result the large majority of learners make the expected progress and this enables them to pass their qualification and develop skills for progression. In the summer survey 91% of adults stated they were “developing skills I need for my job/take my next step” or 95% had learnt new things while on programme.
Teaching and Learning is consistently good in adult classes leading to high achievement rates overall (92.7%). In Access to HE teachers plan and deliver high quality sessions to develop good standards in academic study skills supporting high levels of progression into university.
In the adult ESOL provision across the College and in the community, the use of consistent and constructive engagement is positive in setting high expectations for learners in raising awareness of real-life work expectations for attendance and punctuality preparing them well for the world of work.
The overall achievement rate in Functional Skills English for adult learners requires improvement.
Overall achievement rate is 50% (-29.3% 79.3% GFE NART adult FS). At Level 1 FS English
achievement rates are high at 76.4% (+9.1% GFE NART of 67.3%) but below national rates at L2
(58.8%) and entry level (39.6%) and for 19+ adults on GCSE English high grade are at 25% (-
16.3% adult high grades GFE).
The overall achievement rate in Functional Skills maths for adult learners requires improvement.
Overall achievement rate is 52.1%. At Level 1 FS maths achievement rates are high at 79.1%
(+10.6% GFE NART of 68.5%) but below national rates at L2 (55.6%) and entry level (33.1%) and
for 19+ adult learners on GCSE maths high grades are at 33.3% (+0.1% adult high grades national
GFE).
Behaviour and attitudes for adult learners are good. Attendance is generally above the College KPI of 88% on most courses and the recorded punctuality rate is high across College for most 19+ courses. A small minority of students do not arrive at their lessons on time, but these are managed well by teachers so learning is caught up on and consolidated in classroom activities. Attendance for adult learners is particularly good in adult ESOL in the College and associated community venues. The attendance rate on adult Access to HE requires particular improvement in 2019-20.
The College is a diverse and inclusive place to study welcoming a wide variety of learners from the local community it serves. Adult learners come from a range of ethnic heritages, feel safe at the College and most achieve well. Learners at all College sites are respectful and courteous. Staff and learners foster friendly and respectful working relationships in lessons and in common areas.
Adult learners develop good work ready skills such as safe work practices in the motor vehicle and engineering workshops. Industry level standards for Health and Safety and work are also shown through adherence to a strict uniform or dress code where relevant for example in Hospitality and Catering, Hair and Beauty.
Standards of students’ work and skills are very high in fashion and hair beauty salons. In these areas students are able to apply and demonstrate work ready industry skills preparing them well for next steps. Learners’ application of digital skills are much improved after time on short courses linked to Job Centre Plus referrals.
Learners develop self-confidence and fluency while on ESOL classes and benefit from a wide range of trips and enrichment events. These not only develop students’ ability to communicate but they encourage social inclusion, confidence and develop active citizens. In higher level courses learners academic study skills, including presentation giving are developed well to prepare adult learners for next steps in work and university.
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14. Self-Assessment of High Needs
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Overall effectiveness of the provision: Good Good Good
Key strengths
Highly inclusive and individualised curriculum offer to meet needs of learners negotiated with external agencies, parents/carers and employers
Planning of delivery of supported internship with employers is good leading to improved employment prospects and progression opportunities
Teachers use an appropriate range of strategies well to assess learners’ knowledge and understanding, and to gauge individual learner’s progress.
Teachers provide appropriate feedback, which helps to promote learning, develop confidence and increase learners’ engagement.
Individualised learning is good overall with highly effective tracking, recording and monitoring of personal progress
Learners work well to develop their language and communication skills and improve their confidence in using numbers in practical applications
Learners attend very well, develop self-confidence, communication skills and independence while on programme
Achievement rates are very high overall Management of parental, carer, employer and external agency engagement is strong
Areas of Improvement
The number of learners progressing to employment from supported internships needs
further improvement
Functional skills English and maths pass rates for high needs learners require further
improvement
The College offers a set of bespoke courses for individuals based on Educational Health Care
Plans and Supported Internships. There were 125 High Needs Learners in 2018/19 and a further
51 learners on supported internships offered via a variety of employer links including Asda, the
John Lewis Partnership, NHS Barts Trust and Newham Project Search. The College works with
learners predominantly from Newham but some learners attend from Barking, Redbridge and
Tower Hamlets.
Progression to employment from supported internships is improving from 15% in 2017/18 to just
under 30% in 2018/19.
This is significantly above the national average employment rate of just 7% for people with
moderate to severe learning difficulties (National Indicator Set). The new partnership with John
Lewis has been highly successful and 50% of learners on the John Lewis supported internship
programme progressed to permanent employment.
Management of the area is very effective and leads to good levels of external partnership
monitoring and programme delivery. There are very good relationships with support agencies and
with local authorities that ensure a smooth transition to College for high need learners and a well-
planned curriculum offer in inclusive learning.
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Local authority partners are consulted throughout the planning stage, along with transitioning
schools and parents. The process also involves support agency staff who are fully briefed about
learner needs to ensure accurate and personalised support is offered. Ongoing support is
discussed and reflected upon with different strategies through case conferences and individual
meetings. Targets are regularly communicated along with long term outcomes, which further
strengthen the personal success for students.
After consultations with the local authority, a transition officer and feeder schools, high needs
learners are allocated based on how best to support their needs. Learners are prepared well for
transition into College life with an introductory tour, meetings with parents/carers and an initial
assessment. All learners have a thorough diagnostic assessment which results in the production of
detailed profile/support plan shared with all teaching staff and learning support assistants to help
support learning. Target setting and reviewing is used well to share appropriate information and
targets with all staff and learners.
Detailed targets focus both on long term aims as well as shorter term milestones to support learner
independence well, in line with EHCP needs. Regular assessment of on-going support needs
throughout the year and appropriate interventions enable the large majority of learners to achieve
their set outcomes very well. As a result, overall achievement rates for high needs learners are
strong within the SEND department (98.3% in 2018/19 +1.3% compared to 2017/18).
All learners have a detailed induction on both Safeguarding and Prevent at the start of the
academic year. Class Representatives meetings are also used effectively to remind learners about
procedure and policy. Posters are made a point of discussion in sessions to further develop
understanding and highlighting the relevant point of contact.
Work experience engagement is used both in-house and externally as appropriate to the individual
learner to develop employability skills. All high needs learners engaged with external work
experience or where more appropriate undertook a range of activities, both externally and
internally, providing useful knowledge and practical experience around employability skills. These
opportunities focussed on independent living skills and entrepreneurial skills. For example,
learners benefit from taking part in Enterprise such as working on the College allotment and in the
College Farm Shop selling local produce.
Opportunities to develop contextualised English communication skills are good within the area and
learners also apply maths skills in practical situations, such as home cooking skills. Students
develop transferable skills that they use at home and in the workplace. For example, they cook at
home where previously they had not, can use money when shopping and, in a minority of cases,
can travel independently.
15. Self-Assessment of Apprenticeships
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Overall effectiveness of the provision: Good Good Good
Key strengths
Highly effective partnerships with key employers to deliver apprentices
Delivery and implementation of new Apprenticeship standards is good Apprenticeship offer aligns well with College strategic vision and local and regional
economic needs Subcontracted provision for local SME via non-levy is planned and managed well
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The quality of training and assessment is good overall, enabling high overall and timely achievement rates
The quality of online target setting and reviewing by College assessors/trainers is good keeping apprentices and employers informed
Trainers’ planning and preparation for end point assessment is clear and effective, enabling high grade passes for apprentices
Trainers’ oral and online feedback is supportive and developmental enabling good and timely progress while on programme
The development of apprentices' knowledge and skills around Prevent, Safeguarding and British Values is planned and delivered well
Teachers support and develop apprentices’ maths and English skills well Achievement rates remain significantly above the national rate Standards of Apprentices’ work is high
Areas of Improvement
The consistency of use of the error correction code to support consolidation of Apprentices’
English written skills is an area for ongoing development
Timely achievement rates for 16-18 and 19-24 year olds require improvement
Strategies to improve the quality and achievement of apprentices have been very effective, leading to a continued trend of improvement significantly above national average. This has included tighter control and quality assurance of subcontractors and an increase in direct delivery by the College.
The College overall Apprenticeship achievement rate remains high. The achievements for overall
apprenticeships in-year is at 78%, which is above the national rate of 67.7 by +10.3%. Timely
overall achievement is at 63.9%, which is above the national timely rate of 59.4% by +4.5%.
Timely achievement for 16-18 and 19-24 year olds require improvement to exceed national rates.
Standards in achievements for subcontracted Apprenticeships are generally good.
High approval and recommendations from employers have led to repeat business and as a result employer satisfaction has greatly increased to 82% for “I would recommend this college to other” FE Choices Employer Survey, which is a +32% improvement compared to 2017/18).
The College Apprenticeships provision for 2018/19 consisted of a range of apprenticeships
delivered both by the College and by subcontractors, for both levy and non-levy employers in key
subject areas in Health and Social Care, Business Administration, Engineering and Manufacturing
Technologies and Retail Operations in line with regional demand. The largest subcontractor was
Havilah which offers non-levy provision to meet high local and regional demand for
Apprenticeships Frameworks in Health and Social Care and Business Administration for local
SMEs. A small number of IT specialist Apprenticeships were subcontracted within the College
group to Digital Skills Solutions.
Just over a third of apprenticeships provision was delivered by subcontractors previously with
Learn Direct and who the College took on midway through their apprenticeship programmes in
2017/18 to support the learners following the collapse of Learn Direct.
In 2018/19 the College moved to deliver Apprenticeship Standards and to focus on specialisms in line with the College Strategic Plan and local and regional needs, particularly Engineering and Health and Social Care, delivering growth in direct provision. The College has been successful at establishing and delivering the new Apprenticeship standards, for example, in its direct delivery of Maintenance Operative and Engineering Technicians (MOET). The Apprenticeship delivery is aligned well to the College strategic priorities and of the local and regional economy. The College works with key levy employers to deliver this standard, including the Houses of Parliament Estates, London City Airport, Tate and Lyle, Redbridge Council, Juniper (Newham Council’s cleaning and catering company).
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The Mechanical Operations and Engineering Technician and Team Leader Supervisor Standards are strong resulting in 25 starts on new Standards.
The College works with over 130 employers, including small SMEs and large organisations and
has developed effective strategic partnerships with a number of employers to support learners to
obtain and progress within employment. An example is the development of employer academies
with Aspers Casino, Juniper Ventures and Stratford Original to offer commercial training, staff
induction and a full apprenticeship programme, generating commercial income and providing a
pipeline of apprenticeship opportunities.
The College has been successful in developing partnerships with key employers to support the
growth of apprentices such as Houses of Parliament Estates, London City Airport, Tate and Lyle,
Barts NHS Trust and Eurostar.
Apprentices progress well as a result of good use of online monitoring systems by College trainers
and assessors. Feedback is developmental and supportive and includes online notes and
information for employers and enabling learners to achieve their targets and goals and develop
work skills resulting in high achievement and good levels of “distinction” in End Point Assessment
to date. Assessors set clear and time-bound targets during apprentices’ reviews. Consequently,
the majority of apprentices make good progress. During reviews, assessors provide good guidance
to apprentices to help them prepare for their next steps.
Apprentices are supported well to develop knowledge of Safeguarding, Prevent and British Values
with the use of online training modules from ETF approved Side-by-Side delivery as part of their
first steps in training and as a result feel safe and know how to report concerns. This is reinforced
by the QDP Learner Survey which indicated that 97% of apprentices responded positively to the
question “I feel safe in my workplace”.
Maths skills are developed very well; Apprentices develop the good mathematical skills they need
for work. For example, in Engineering and Construction apprentices calculate accurately materials
to enable them to complete tasks to the required work standard. The development of English skills
is not as consistently embedded and this is an area for greater focus in 2019/20.
Apprentices’ work standards are good and their skills development is complemented well through
added value qualifications to match sector needs, such as Paediatric Care and First Aid
qualifications for Health and Social Care sector. Apprentices benefit from delivery and participation
in additional work-related events; For example, open events and free workshops at the Fashion
and Textile Museum for Fashion apprentices, to network and gain ideas for gathering sector
subject awareness and work expectations from Poplar Fashion District employers. The vast
majority of apprentices, remain in sustained employment at the end of their apprenticeship.
Newly appointed and existing trainers/assessors have good subject knowledge that reflects
industry standards on Apprenticeships Frameworks and Standards. This leads to a high level of
apprenticeship enthusiasm and engagement in their training and technical skills development. For
example, new assessor and trainers in Engineering are supported well by managers to maintain
and develop their competence and vocational skills including online training for professional
updating.
The College has taken the decision to stop subcontracting and has been successfully growing its direct delivery provision in key strategic growth areas in line with the College’s strategic plan. From 2019/20 all apprentices will be direct delivery.
