Cambian Wing College Ofsted Report

Full report

Information about the provider

• Cambian Wing College is an independent specialist college that provides education, care and support for adults with learning disabilities. It has been operating as a college since January 2015 and was previously called The Wing Centre. The college is under the management of the Cambian Group; the principal also oversees the management of three residential houses and reports to the Cambian regional director. At the time of the inspection, there were 45 learners enrolled on programmes. Learners either live at home or in one of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered houses located in the community nearby.
• The majority of the learners are between 16 and 20 years old. All learners have a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome with some associated challenging behaviours and many have mental health conditions. Learning takes place at the main college, at local colleges and at community venues.

What does the provider need to do to improve further?

• Widen learners’ access to and choice of work experience and introduce supported internships so that learners with the right skills and abilities have appropriate opportunities to progress into full- or part-time employment.
• Improve learners’ skills and confidence in using mathematics and English in their daily and working lives by: − monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy to improve the teaching of English and mathematics − ensuring that staff have the confidence and resources to use learning activities which develop learners’ mathematics and English skills − improving learners’ achievement of accredited qualifications, where appropriate.
• Implement a monitoring system for teaching and learning which gives managers a more detailed view of its quality so that they can put appropriate support plans in place that further improve the quality of the provision.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and managers successfully promote a strong vision of high expectations for all learners which staff both share and practise. Managers ensure that sufficient staff are available to encourage and support all learners’ participation in innovative learning programmes and achieve good outcomes.
• Leaders have designed learning programmes well. These are built around three learning strands that aim to empower learners, inspire them and promote their achievement; employability is a key focus. The learning strands are complemented well by good opportunities for learning enrichment activities such as sport and craft work. Learners are able to attend programmes in outdoor education settings, such as those run by charitable trusts including Forest Schools and Bushcraft. As a result of these experiences, learners develop a range of practical skills, learn how to thrive in the natural environment and grow in self-esteem.
• Managers and staff collaborate well with local colleges and employers to plan the content of learning programmes. Staff seek out opportunities and experiences that will support learners to have a greater chance of sustained employment. A quarter of learners attend courses at two local further education colleges and are involved in a wide range of subjects including sports science, performing arts, music technology, painting and decorating, hair and beauty, motor vehicle engineering and art and design.
• The principal manages staff well through regular supervision and effective yearly appraisals, in which objectives are set in line with Cambian business objectives. Staff are well qualified and use their professional experience well to ensure that learners enjoy interesting lessons and activities.
• Managers ensure that learners are provided with good-quality information and advice about career choices and detailed plans for their next steps. An outside agency was commissioned and helped learners to undertake useful research on websites offering different types of jobs and volunteering opportunities.
• Staff make good use of facilities such as workshops and therapy rooms to sustain good-quality provision in a nurturing environment. Managers use a very effective system of information-gathering to monitor learners’ progress closely. Staff also use weekly meetings well to monitor the progress of individual learners and plan interventions to support any learner who needs it. As a result, most learners make rapid progress in relation to their starting points.
• Staff promote British values well and learners understand the dangers of extremism. Learners are polite and treat one another, visitors and staff with respect and consideration.
• Staff have good opportunities for quality training and professional development and many achieve additional qualifications and promotion. Staff are loyal and many have been working at the same centre for several years.
• Managers check regularly on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, but the lesson observation system is not yet thorough enough to give them an accurate view of current practice which can be used to inform future improvement.
• Until very recently, managers had not given the provision of English and mathematics sufficient priority. They had not timetabled a sufficient number of lessons for the development of these skills and teachers were not skilled enough at integrating English, and particularly mathematics, into learners’ main programmes of study. However, the college has a detailed action plan to address these issues; some actions are already underway to ensure that staff are able to improve their skills and raise learners’ achievement in these two subjects.

The governance of the provider

• The principal provides comprehensive reports to the Cambian board on progress, incidents and learners’ achievements; directors use this information well to influence and decide on future plans.
• Directors use their good range of experience well to challenge and support managers to improve learners’ outcomes. Directors check on the quality of the provision carefully and are keen to ensure that the young people reach their full potential. Plans are well advanced to create a new Cambian Wing College governance board that will include the principal and heads of care and education to ensure that the level of challenge and support is further strengthened and that the voice of learners is heard more clearly.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff take the safety of learners very seriously and the college has comprehensive policies in place. Learners feel safe at the college and when attending other colleges; they know whom to contact if they have concerns.
• Risk assessments on work placements and on learners’ activities are effective.
• Staff are well aware of safeguarding procedures and the ‘Prevent’ duty; they respond quickly to any safeguarding concerns. Managers and directors monitor and record incidents and accidents and work well with relevant outside agencies to keep learners safe from harm.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Learners progress well from their starting points and staff prepare them well for what they want to do after leaving college. All staff, including specialist therapists and teaching staff, work closely together to ensure that learners benefit from highly effective therapies and well-coordinated support. Staff teach learners to recognise situations that trigger anxiety and how to avoid or manage them; as a result, learners become calmer, more confident and better able to learn.
• Learners enjoy highly individualised programmes with substantial therapeutic input tailored to their needs and interests. Staff work hard to build, and in some cases rebuild, learners’ confidence and find the right activities to develop learners’ interests and knowledge. Learning programmes provide them with a good range of stimulating learning experiences. Learners appreciate and are stimulated by the very varied activities available to them, which include coarse fishing, group discussions, driving lessons, Spanish lessons, furniture restoration, baking and cycle maintenance.
• A very thorough and extensive assessment period lasting the whole of a learner’s first term ensures that staff accurately identify each learner’s starting points. Importantly, it also gives learners time to adjust to the new environment, reduce their anxiety levels and become ready to engage in learning.
• On-going assessment of learners’ progress is good. Staff assess learners’ progress regularly and accurately. They check how well learners engage with activities, achieve competence in social and daily living skills, and improve their mental and physical health.
• Teaching staff involve learners in well-structured activities with interesting tasks and give encouraging feedback on their progress. Teachers use directed questions well and encourage learners to be patient and to take turns. They encourage work in pairs whenever possible to break down the isolation and fear of others that many learners experience and they are skilled at defusing challenging situations.
• Teachers have a good understanding of autistic spectrum conditions and provide good levels of specialist support. Learners know that they can withdraw from lessons should they need to. This helps them to manage their anxieties and gives them the confidence to remain in lessons.
• Staff use very effective gentle persuasion techniques to encourage learning. One learner was encouraged to complete the last nine questions on an initial assessment test when he was about to abandon it. In a horticulture lesson, a teacher successfully managed to get learners to wear protective gloves for the first time.
• Many staff use humour skilfully so that reluctant learners become involved in learning. Learners are keen to ask questions and staff give full explanations that learners appreciate. Although most questioning is effective, occasionally a teacher assumes that learners have more experience of the world than is actually the case and asks a question which they cannot answer.
• The range and coordination of skilled specialist therapeutic support is excellent at helping learners to improve their communication and manage their anxieties. Therapists use their considerable experience very well to plan activities that effectively remove barriers to learning and enable learners to progress. Learners have a valuable weekly therapy hour with specialist staff, including occupational, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists.
• Parents greatly value the weekly reports that they receive from tutors that provide detailed information about the skills that learners have developed during the week.
• Staff are not skilled enough at integrating English, and particularly mathematics, into learners’ main study programmes, as they do not have the skills or learning resources to do this effectively. A significant minority of learners do not have a confident understanding of English and mathematics to help them in their daily lives. Leaders have recognised and responded to these concerns by implementing the longer assessment and diagnostic phase which ensures that each learner is on the right level of programme.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

• Learners feel safe and are safe. Over time, and with skilled specialist support, they respond well to the challenge of being treated as young adults. They contribute positively to the atmosphere of mutual respect which is evident throughout the college.
• Almost all learners make sustained progress from their starting points and a significant minority easily exceed their own and others’ expectations. Often this is by finding an activity that truly engages them, such as fishing, bushcraft or sport, getting a part-time job, learning to travel independently, making an important friendship or overcoming depression.
• Learners gradually develop self-awareness and self-assurance to manage their own behaviour and to communicate better. They use their improved social skills to create friendships and prepare themselves for life after college. Their fear of unknown people reduces and their interest in others awakes.
• Learners explore the meaning of British values and equality and diversity well through discussion in lessons and tutorials; learners show respect and dignity towards other learners and to staff.
• Learners who make use of the internet know how to keep themselves safe online and when using social media. They know that any concerns they may have about safety are responded to promptly
• Teachers have not been successful in ensuring that a small minority of learners understand the importance of acquiring English and mathematics skills or how these will benefit their daily lives, in further study or employment.
• Too few work experience opportunities are available and the college has not yet introduced supported internships. Consequently, only a few learners currently have any external work experience. Those who do develop good skills for employment through a variety of enterprise activities, including furniture restoration and sales. Learners who experience work placements appreciate the opportunity to improve their skills and learn new ones in a practical environment; employers are generally impressed with their enthusiasm.

Outcomes for learners Good

• The large majority of learners make good progress compared to their starting points. Learners develop positive attitudes to learning and achieve well. They learn how to look after themselves, occupy themselves productively and become less reliant on others.
• Learners gain in confidence and make steady progress in acquiring independence skills such as travelling unaccompanied or driving. All learners have an independent living skills programme and they learn successfully how to shop using a budget and prepare healthy food. Parents are extremely positive about the college and many report better than expected progress in learners’ maturity, independence and attitudes to learning.
• The large majority of learners achieve their main learning aim. The majority of learners go on to other mainstream education, with a few taking up employment. Previous learners have gained employment in a range of sectors, including administration, horticulture, retail and blacksmithing.
• Learners enjoy their learning and enrichment activities and develop an understanding of the world of employment. Staff provided a good range of interesting activities on ‘Workday Fridays’, where learners take part in a number of business enterprises. Learners gain skills in refurbishing furniture and card making, and they contribute to running a commercial retail operation selling cakes and snacks.
• Learners are well motivated and current learners are achieving challenging targets based on their individual needs and ambitions. Learners who undertake work placements develop good employability skills and become well regarded by their employers.
• Learners improve their self-awareness, and learn how to maintain a healthy weight and how to manage their emotions. Learners benefit from varied and frequent tutorials that cover a wide range of topics such as preferred learning styles, anger management and eating healthily. Learners enjoy holistic therapeutic support in head massage, physical development programmes, fitness assessments and dietary support that improves their physical and mental health.
• Learners’ achievement of qualifications in mathematics and English at level 2 and GCSE is poor.

Provider details

Unique reference number 132082 Type of provider Independent specialist college Age range of learners Approximate number of all learners over the previous full contract year 16+ 46 Principal/CEO Kim Welsh Telephone number 01202 2635630 Website www.cambiangroup.com

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+ 17 8 11 5 3 2 N/A N/A Intermediate Advanced Higher 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ 16–18 19+ N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 16–19 N/A 19+ N/A Total N/A Number of traineeships Number of learners aged 14 to 16 Number of learners for which the provider receives high-needs funding N/A 46 Funding received from: Education Funding Agency At the time of inspection, the provider contracts with the following main subcontractors: Bournemouth and Poole College Brockenhurst College

Information about this inspection

The inspection team was assisted by the principal, as nominee. Inspectors took account of the provider's most recent self-assessment report and development plans. 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

Penny Mathers, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Pippa Wainwright Ofsted Inspector