Ofsted round-up – This week: Inspections of councils from across the UK

Newcastle Upon Tyne Council

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

Achievement and standards Good: Grade 2

Quality of provision Good: Grade 2

Leadership and management Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Good: Grade 2

Sector subject areas:

Health, public services and care Good: Grade 2

Languages, literature and culture Satisfactory: Grade 3

Preparation for life and work Good: Grade 2

Family learning Good: Grade 2

Newcastle upon Tyne City Council is a large metropolitan local authority in the northeast. The council set up Newcastle City Learning (NCL) in August 2006 following a full service restructure, after the previous inspection, to directly deliver most of the council’s learning and skills provision across 16 sector subject areas. Tyne and Wear LSC funds NCL to deliver adult and community learning for adult learner responsive provision, adult safeguard provision and work-based learning employer responsive provision in apprenticeships, Train to Gain, Entry to Employment (E2E) and European social funded employability provision, under a single contract.

Ofsted found that the overall effectiveness of the provision is good with work-based learners developing skills, knowledge and confidence. The quality of learning was found to be good with teaching generally planned well and most tutors using a wide range of effective teaching and learning strategies to motivate learners. Ofsted has found that good strategic leadership and direction is developed collectively with the head of service and senior staff, and is communicated well to staff.

NCL’s capacity to improve is good and since the inspection, NCL has effectively tackled all of the key weaknesses and maintained its key strengths. Strategic direction and leadership of the service is now good. The self-assessment process is inclusive of staff, learners’, employers’ and wider partners’ views. The self-assessment report is very thorough. Key strengths include good outcomes in work-based learning, good development skills, knowledge and confidence, good teaching and learning, extensive provision that responds effectively to community and employer needs, good strategic leadership and direction, good curriculum management and particularly effective partnership working.

Ofsted found that achievements and standards are good with most success rates improving significantly over the last three years. Apprenticeship overall success rates were consistently high over the period at around 90%. Timely success rates have improved significantly from 33%; almost all apprenticeships are now timely. Good progression rates for E2E learners have been maintained since the previous inspection, although achievements are still low at 39%.

Nottinghamshire County Council

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

Achievement and standards Good: Grade 2

Quality of provision Good: Grade 2

Leadership and management Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

Sector subject areas:

Health, public services and care Good: Grade 2

Independent living and leisure skills Good: Grade 2

Community learning Satisfactory: Grade 3

Employability training Good: Grade 2

Family learning Good: Grade 2

Nottinghamshire adult and community learning service (ACLS) is part of the county council’s Libraries, Archives and Information group. Courses in family learning and 14 sector subject areas are delivered in venues throughout the county. There are 1,744 learners on courses; a total of 6,073 learners have taken part in ACLS courses in 2008/09. The other site delivers vocational E2E programmes and apprenticeships in health, public services and care. Both teams are funded by Nottinghamshire LSC, with additional funding provided by the county council.

The overall effectiveness of both adult and community learning and work-based learning provision is good. The departments responsible for adult and community learning and work-based learning have both demonstrated a good capacity to improve. The predominantly good grades awarded at this inspection generally match those from the previous inspections even though the organisations themselves and the nature and mode of delivery of the provision have changed substantially.

The self-assessment process was found to be good, with good involvement from both staff and stakeholders. Quality improvement plans satisfactorily address areas for improvement identified through self-assessment. Key strengths include clear strategic vision and leadership, good management of a wide range of subcontractors in adult and community learning provision to address issues of social deprivation and access to learning across the country, well managed and targeted E2E provision to meet the needs of the most vulnerable group of young adults, comprehensive and robust arrangements for quality improvement and development in ACLS, excellent partnership arrangements to ensure programmes are locally based, flexible and responsive to the learning needs of specific groups and communities and good staff development.

Isle of Wight Council

Summary of grades awarded:

Effectiveness of provision Good: Grade 2

Capacity to improve Good: Grade 2

Achievement and standards Outstanding: Grade 1

Quality of provision Good: Grade 2

Leadership and management Good: Grade 2

Equality of opportunity Contributory grade: Good: Grade 2

Sector subject areas:

Arts, media and publishing Good: Grade 2

Family learning Outstanding: Grade 1

The service contracts with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to provide family literacy, language and numeracy programmes, together with neighbourhood learning in deprived community (NLDC) programmes. The service sees the arts as an important route to achieving its aims.

Ofsted has found that the service’s capacity to improve is good with most of the identified areas for improvement at the previous inspection in 2005 have been successfully resolved. The grade awarded to visual and performing arts has improved from satisfactory to good and family learning remains outstanding. Success and achievement rates are very high and the service has developed excellent working relationships with many partners to benefit learners.

The self-assessment process is sound and the service makes good use of learner, staff and partner feedback. The self-assessment report closely reflected the judgements in the inspection and has provided a good basis for an appropriate action plan. Key strengths include outstanding achievements of learners and standards of work, good teaching and learning, innovative and particularly responsive programmes, good leadership, good operational management, excellent partnership working and good promotion of equality and diversity.

In 2007/08 success rates were 99% on accredited wider family learning programmes and 100% on the remainder of accredited learning programmes. Achievement on non-accredited programmes averaged 94%. Retention on these programmes was outstanding, at 99% in wider family learning and very high at an average of 94% in the arts. Ofsted has reported that the standard of learners’ work is extremely high, and in many cases, excellent.

Natalie Hailes