The Brooke House Sixth Form College Ofsted Report

Full report

Information about the provider

• Brooke House Sixth Form College (BSix) is a small sixth form college in the London borough of Hackney. Hackney is one of the most socially and economically deprived boroughs in the country and the unemployment rate is significantly above the rate for London and the United Kingdom. The proportion of students in Hackney who achieve five GCSEs at grade 4 and above, including English and mathematics, is similar to the remainder of London. A high proportion of students who study at BSix do so without a grade 4 or above in English and/or mathematics.
• The college provides vocational and academic 16 to 19 study programmes for around 1,200 students. Most students are aged 16 to 19, and study on programmes at level 3. The highest proportion of enrolments are in science, mathematics, and humanities subjects. The college receives high needs funding for 30 students, most of whom are on 16 to 19 study programmes, with a few studying at foundation level. In addition, the college provides learning for approximately 18 children on behalf of five other London local authorities.

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• Governors need to ensure that leaders and managers rapidly meet the full requirements of the 16 to 19 study programme by ensuring that they:
  • establish a coherent strategy to improve and extend students’ mathematical knowledge and skills
  • establish comprehensive and impartial careers information, advice and guidance that prepare students fully for employment and their next steps, particularly for those students who choose not to go to university and/or do not continue into their second year of study.
• Increase the proportion of students on programmes at level 3, in particular those studying subjects in health and social care, business, and ICT, who achieve high-grade passes by ensuring that teachers:
  • set suitably demanding tasks and learning activities for the most able students
  • monitor closely the impact of their interventions for students who fall behind in learning and take rapid action should these students continue to make slow progress
  • allow students to develop and practise their mathematical knowledge and skills within their vocational subject lessons and provide appropriate help when students are unable to apply their mathematical knowledge and skills effectively.
• Improve students’ attendance and punctuality in lessons.
• Governors and leaders need to ensure that staff improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • managers help staff to put into practice the recent training they have received to provide consistently high-quality teaching, learning and assessment
  • managers and staff use consistently the quality-assurance processes in place that sustain highly effective learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders and managers have made insufficient progress in remedying the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. Students’ attendance remains low and too many students are late for lessons. Leaders have yet to implement a coherent 16 to 19 study programme that prepares students fully for their next steps into employment, and enables them to develop and apply good mathematical knowledge and skills within their vocational subject lessons. Recently strengthened senior and middle management teams have started to secure improvements in teaching, learning and assessment, but it is too early to assess the full impact of more recent improvement strategies.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders’ and managers’ actions resulting from their own self-assessment of teachers’ and students’ performance have been insufficient to ensure that enough students make good progress in their learning. Managers’ assessment of performance is evaluative, but resulting action plans do not detail clearly how to remedy the weaknesses they identified.
• Leaders and managers have yet to establish a coherent strategy to improve and extend students’ mathematical knowledge and skills. Too few students develop good mathematical skills and managers do not evaluate effectively the development of students’ English and mathematical knowledge and skills across all the subjects offered at BSix.
• Managers have not ensured that students who do not intend to go to university, or who leave early, receive high-quality impartial careers information, advice and guidance. They do not receive relevant information about suitable alternatives available to them from the start of their studies to prepare them for their next steps into employment. Information, advice and guidance for students who wish to go to university remain a strong feature of learning at BSix.
• Together with the local authority, local consortia and higher-education partners, senior leaders provide a suitable range of programmes that give effective opportunities to local students to study and improve their life chances. Managers use their partnerships successfully to provide opportunities for students to undertake volunteering projects, work experience and work-related learning and to develop their understanding of local community-based issues. For example, student-project groups work with the local authority and the mayor’s office on plans to provide sustainable homes for low-income families.
• Performance management of staff is effective. Leaders and managers ensure that staff have extensive opportunities to improve their vocational skills and knowledge. Leaders have established a strong focus on improving teachers’ classroom practice through staff training, mentoring and collaborative projects with partner organisations. Staff are now more confident to share existing good practice with their peers and appreciate the opportunities provided to develop their professional practice and improve their teaching skills. A refined observation of learning process, together with professional dialogue following observations of learning, enable more teachers to reflect effectively on their classroom practice and improve the quality of their teaching.
• Governors, leaders and staff at all levels ensure that the college is a welcoming and vibrant place in which to study and learn. When they join the college, students quickly settle and adopt the values of BSix. The governance of the provider

• Governors have not challenged leaders strongly enough to bring about rapid improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and in student outcomes. They have an effective understanding of the main strengths of the college, but place insufficient importance on the significant long-standing weaknesses that exist. For example, they have not evaluated the reason why too many students fail to attend their lessons, or fail to continue into the second year of a two-year programme of study at level 3.
• Governors are experienced in their roles and work effectively with the principal to maintain the college’s ethos of providing learning locally for those students who have limited opportunities to study at level 3. Governors are committed to strengthening further the role of BSix within the local community.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Students feel very safe while at college. They have a good understanding of all aspects of safeguarding, including the ‘Prevent’ duty. Students know how to keep themselves and their peers safe when travelling to and from the college and while studying there.
• Teachers and staff provide effective pastoral help for vulnerable students. Teachers’ close working with external agencies enables the most vulnerable students to be safe. Staff identify accurately those students with mental health problems. They help and enable them to develop strategies to manage their anxieties effectively.
• Leaders and mangers ensure the relevant safeguarding policies and procedures, including those for recruiting staff who are safe to work with students, are in place. They use these effectively to keep students safe at college and establish a strong culture of vigilance and safety. Effective training for governors and staff at all levels ensures that they are prepared appropriately for the safeguarding roles they undertake.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Leaders’ and managers’ recent actions and effective staff training have ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved, although it is not yet good. More teachers motivate students to take an active part in their learning, particularly in subjects such as music technology, art and design, and ESOL.
• Teachers do not make good use of their knowledge of students’ starting points to plan and teach activities that are demanding of the most able students. Too many students do not make good enough progress in their learning. In business, ICT, health and social care, and in a minority of science and politics lessons, many students complete tasks quickly and then have to wait while the other students catch up. Those students that previously achieved high grades in their GCSEs while at school make slow progress.
• Teachers do not monitor closely the impact of their interventions for students who fall behind in learning, or take rapid action should these students continue to make slow progress. Students’ action plans have insufficient impact and often do not detail clearly how they can improve or what additional actions teachers will take.
• Too few teachers ensure that students develop a positive approach to managing their own learning. Too many students fail to complete and submit their assignment work for marking within the time specified by teachers, and a significant proportion have many pieces of work outstanding.
• The majority of students receive helpful feedback from their teachers on how to improve their work to achieve higher marks. For example, in sports-coaching lessons teachers encourage students to use their own experience of coaching to identify the skills they are developing. In GCSE mathematics lessons, teachers give students clear information on where they make mistakes and remind them of the correct techniques to use to obtain the correct answer.
• Teachers provide effective guidance that prepares students appropriately for external tests and assignments. Teachers pay close attention to how students interpret and answer questions, enabling them to develop effective strategies to manage their time in examinations.
• Most teachers check effectively what students have learned in lessons before moving onto the next stage of learning. They use an appropriate range of strategies, including questioning techniques, to deepen students’ subject knowledge and to check their understanding. For example, in a public services lesson, the teacher used questioning effectively to explore students’ opinions on different types of legislative acts and their impact in terms of maintaining public order.
• Students develop effective English knowledge and skills in relation to the vocational subjects they study. Teachers set high standards for the presentation of students’ work and assignments, correcting any spelling and/or grammatical errors assiduously. In many subjects, such as art and design, and humanities, students use technical vocabulary appropriately and develop their oral communication skills successfully.
• Staff use appropriate methods to assess the individual help students need to complete their learning. Individual help provided to students in lessons enables them to integrate, learn effectively and make good progress in their studies. Those students for whom the college receives high-needs funding benefit from specialist help. For example, they receive speech and language therapy, help to travel on public transport independently and learn how to make the necessary adaptations for living an independent adult life.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

• Students’ attendance at too many lessons remains low and is very low in GCSE English and mathematics lessons. Their punctuality is poor in many lessons, particularly at the beginning of the day and often after lunchtime breaks.
• Too few students develop good mathematical knowledge and skills or are able to use their knowledge and skills appropriately within their vocational subject lessons. Where teachers do provide an opportunity in lessons for students to practise their skills, in particular applying mathematical skills to aid their research analysis, many are unable to do so accurately. For example, in a lesson observed many students were unable to establish the average percentage of children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella from the statistical sample provided.
• Students not intending to go to university do not benefit from effective careers information, advice and guidance. Too few have a good understanding of the alternative options available to them in training, apprenticeships or paid employment. Staff do not provide sufficient guidance on alternative pathways early enough for the many students who do not continue into the second year of their academic or vocational programme of study.
• Students’ behaviour in class and around the college is very good. They are kind, respectful and courteous to their peers, visitors and staff.
• Most students benefit from opportunities to put into practice within a workplace setting the skills and knowledge they gain at college. In the majority of subjects, students benefit from talks and presentations from guest speakers from industry and external visits that enrich and extend their learning. For example, music students meet with successful women performers to raise their understanding of the wide range of good-quality music industry jobs available to women. Childcare students observe disciplinary hearings at the General Nursing and Midwifery Council to consolidate their understanding of professional ethics. Students for whom the college receives high-needs funding undertake successfully supported internships with local employers.
• Students understand how to keep themselves fit and healthy. A well-planned tutorial curriculum enables them to develop positive strategies to improve their own physical well-being and emotional resilience. Students feel safe and know how to protect themselves from potential threats when working online, using the internet for social messaging and research, and from those who would promote radicalisation and/or extremist views.
• A-level students benefit from extremely effective higher-education partnerships that give them a good insight into university life. Teachers play close attention to mentoring and encouraging students in their university applications, and enable most to gain places at their first choice university.
• Leaders, managers, teachers and staff at all levels value the views and opinions of students. Good training, mentoring and guidance for student ambassadors, student union representatives and student advocates ensure that students play an active and important role in the life of the college. Students have a good understanding of the formal and informal processes available to them to share their views about improving their study experience at BSix.
• Teachers develop students’ English skills successfully. The quality of students’ written work is high. They present their work confidently, and debate and discuss their ideas very effectively with teachers and their peers. Students quickly adopt and use appropriate technical language. Students in ESOL lessons are articulate and they pronounce new words and phrases clearly and accurately.
• Students have a good understanding of living in a modern cosmopolitan society. They benefit from good opportunities to learn about the values and beliefs of other students’ cultural heritage. For example, the college diversity calendar incorporates cultural days dedicated to the many countries where students’ families originated, as well as a rich mix of significant annual events such as Holocaust Memorial Day, International Women’s Day, multi-faith days and Citizen UK.

Outcomes for learners

Requires improvement

• The proportion of students who achieve their qualifications continues to improve but is not yet good. Most students are aged 16 to 19 and study towards academic and vocational programmes at level 3. The proportion of these students who complete their qualifications is still too low, and the proportion of students working towards qualifications at level 2 who achieve is not yet good. The very small proportion of students aged over 19 at levels 2 and 3 are successful and almost all gain their qualifications.
• On A-level programmes, the proportion of students who achieve their qualifications continues to improve but is not yet good. In particular, those students who previously gained high grades in their GCSEs at school do not continue to do so at Bsix. On A-level programmes and vocational programmes at level 3, not enough students continue into their second year of study, particularly in science and mathematical subjects. A substantial proportion do not continue into training, education, apprenticeships or employment.
• Too few students achieve their functional skills qualifications in English and mathematics. The proportion of students who achieve high-grade passes in GCSE English and mathematics, while improving, remains low.
• The majority of current students make the progress expected of them in their studies. Students studying subjects including public services, health and social care, business, and ICT continue to make slow progress. Students in vocational subjects at level 1, those on ESOL programmes and students studying on vocational programmes at level 3 in art and design, and music technology make good progress.
• Students develop a wide range of useful skills and develop self-assurance in their ability to apply their knowledge and skills to practical tasks and activities. For example, in a science lesson students worked confidently to undertake an experiment in microbiology to identify, stain and manipulate microbes. In music, students use editing technology confidently to help them improve the quality of their practical work.
• Children in the care of the local authority, those on free school meals and those for whom the college receives high-needs funding receive effective help to remain in education and most achieve successfully.
• A high proportion of students on A-level programmes continue their studies in higher education, often at prestigious universities. Very few students begin an apprenticeship on completion of their studies.

Provider details

Unique reference number 133608 Type of provider Sixth form college Age range of learners Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year 16+ 1,374 Principal Ken Warman Telephone number 020 8525 7150 Website www.bsix.ac.uk

Provider information at the time of the inspection

Main course or learning programme level Level 1 or below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 or above Total number of learners (excluding apprenticeships) Number of apprentices by apprenticeship level and age 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 125 9 249 15 726 74 - - Intermediate Advanced Higher 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ - - - - - - 16–19 - 19+ - Total - Number of traineeships Number of learners aged 14 to 16 Number of learners for which the provider receives high-needs funding At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors:

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Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the director of learning, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the college’s most recent self-assessment report and development plans, and the previous inspection report. Inspectors used group and individual interviews, telephone calls and online questionnaires to gather the views of learners and employers; these views are reflected within the report. They observed learning sessions, assessments and progress reviews. The inspection took into account all relevant provision at the provider.

Inspection team

Jules Steele, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Jane Hughes Lynda Brown Paul McGivern

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector