Christ The King Sixth Form College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about this provider

Christ the King (CTK) is a Catholic sixth-form college situated on three campuses in Lewisham, Brockley and Sidcup. The college offers education programmes for 2,020 young people, mostly at level 3. These include vocational/technical qualifications and A levels in a wide range of subjects, the largest being business and economics, health and social care, and sociology.

The college also offers T levels in health and science, and management and administration. The college teaches a small amount of provision at levels 1 and 2. Forty-six students are in receipt of high needs funding.

Students are recruited from over 200 schools in London.

What is it like to be a lear...ner with this provider?

Students flourish at the college because of the extensive opportunities for them to contribute positively to their community. Students have access to a broad and rich curriculum beyond their course of study.

Leaders go above and beyond to ensure that students take part in experiences that further build their skills. Activities such as boxing and trampolining, and the opportunity to take additional qualifications, allow students to discover and develop their talents and wider interests. Students are exceptionally well prepared to become responsible citizens.

Students enjoy being part of an inclusive culture in which they all feel welcome. They appreciate one another's differences and celebrate the diversity of their community. Staff maximise opportunities to promote equality of opportunity.

For example, English teachers choose texts that promote inclusivity. Leaders and teachers deliver assemblies that deepen students' understanding of social issues. For example, during Black History Month, they focus on successful Black women in Lewisham.

Most students, including those with high needs, feel safe in the college. They find the constant staff and security officer presence reassuring. Students know who to contact if they have concerns about their own or their peers' welfare.

Students feel confident to report their concerns to staff because they know that staff care about their welfare.

Students are able to remember and apply the new knowledge, skills and behaviours they learn, as teachers provide useful opportunities for them to practise and recall what they have been taught in lessons. For example, teachers of A-level psychology refer students to word lists and key psychological terminology.

They also use activities to get students to recall what they learned in previous lessons or topics.

Students respect one another because staff teach them to understand about healthy relationships. Students understand what toxic behaviours look like in relationships.

Students develop a good understanding of morality, spirituality and ethics through the religious education programme. They can also access additional pastoral support through the popular chaplaincy service.

Contribution to meeting skills needs

The college makes a reasonable contribution to meeting skills needs.

Leaders and managers work positively with external partners to identify skills needs in the local area and beyond. Governors and local boards bring a wealth of vocational and professional experience to their roles. They understand the skills agenda, as well as the role the college plays in accordance to it.

Leaders have conducted their own research to supplement that of local subregional partnerships. As a result, they have a strong understanding of their role in ensuring that the college meets local, regional and national skills needs.Leaders and managers work effectively with local authorities and colleges.

This enables them to plan the curriculum to avoid competition and duplication of the provision. They have developed the curriculum well to meet current and future skills needs. For example, leaders have developed the engineering curriculum with a focus on electronics to reflect the technologies used in industry.

Leaders and managers have established effective industry partnerships. They work with partners to ensure that teaching resources reflect those used in industry. For example, leaders and managers have worked with Greenwich University to equip the virtual hospital ward so that health T-level students learn in a realistic environment.

Leaders and managers work alongside civil and education partners to build students' wider skills and knowledge. This helps students to prepare well to gain places at university. For example, CTK host the Lewisham University Challenge, as well as a range of borough-wide events and activities open to all students.

Students who aspire to universities with demanding entry requirements receive good support to gain admission, such as through university visits and workshops on interview skills. The number of students gaining admission to these universities is increasing.

In biology, engineering, T-level health, and arts and media, staff involve external stakeholders very effectively in the planning and teaching of the curriculum.

However, this is not consistent across the majority of subjects. Consequently, in these areas, students' work is not informed enough by current industry expertise.

What does the provider do well and what does it need to do better?

Governors, leaders and staff understand their students exceptionally well, including the challenges they face in their lives.

They aspire for young people to succeed by putting in place a high-quality tutorial and ethics programme. This covers topics such as careers awareness, including through sessions with external speakers and by running corporate insight days. Within the programme, teachers also teach students about fundamental British values and how they apply in work and industry.

Students have an excellent awareness of the options available to them at the end of their courses. As such, they can approach their future lives with confidence.

Across the provision, teachers develop challenging learning programmes.

They select content that links closely to higher-level courses and careers. For example, the majority of students studying the BTEC National Diploma in sports progress on to sports rehabilitation degrees, so teachers select content that focuses on the rehabilitation of sports injuries. As a result, students are successfully prepared for their next steps.

Teachers deliver subject content in a logical order. For example, in T-level health, teachers start the course by teaching students about the formulas used to measure changes in vital measurements. Students learn to recognise abnormalities and why they occur.

They then move on to taking real measurements, evaluating why the measurements may be outside of normal ranges. As a result, students progress from foundation topics to learn more complex knowledge.

Teachers have good subject knowledge.

They draw on this knowledge well to explain concepts clearly in lessons. For example, in A-level biology, teachers clearly explain diffusion in the liver, using clear diagrams on the interactive whiteboard. They also use simple analogies to help students to understand abstract concepts.

As a result, students develop new knowledge and understand what they are being taught.

On the majority of courses, teachers use assessment effectively to check what students have learned. They also identify where students have gaps in their knowledge and use this information when teaching subsequent lessons.

For example, in A-level sociology, through their assessment of the knowledge of second year students, they identified a need to focus their revision topics related to demographics and sociological theories.

Most teachers prepare students reasonably well for their examinations. They explain to students what they need to do to improve their work.

As such, students pass their assessments and produce work at the expected standard. For example, in GCSE English, teachers help students to improve the structure and accuracy of their writing when answering practice questions. Most students who complete their courses achieve their qualifications.

However, on a few level 3 courses, too many students leave their programmes before the end, and too few achieve high grades.Leaders have put in place plans to improve this, but it is too soon to see the impact.

Across too many level 3 programmes, GCSE mathematics and provision for students with high needs, teachers do not check thoroughly enough what students already know and can do at the start of their courses.

For example, in GCSE mathematics, teachers do not identify the gaps and misconceptions that students have in their knowledge from the start of the course. They do not tailor what they teach early enough in students' courses to meet their individual needs.

Staff ensure that the vast majority of students complete high-quality, work-related learning.

Teachers support students to develop professional behaviours before starting work placements. For example, they teach students in business how to communicate effectively with colleagues and customers. Students complete useful tasks during their placements, and these support their learning well.

Leaders and managers have put in place effective professional development for teachers. Leaders use the outcomes from quality assurance and learning walks well to plan individual programmes to improve teachers' practice. For example, they provide training and coaching in techniques such as questioning.

As a result, teachers continuously work to improve their teaching skills.

Leaders have identified that the attendance of students is an area for development. They have started to put in place improvement plans.

However, it is too soon to see the impact of these strategies. Attendance remains too low on a minority of courses.Students with high needs receive effective support from their learning support assistants.

The support allows them to develop good independence. As a result, students with high needs achieve in line with their peers, and the vast majority progress to positive next steps or courses at a higher level at the end of their course.

Governors have a good mix of useful skills and experiences that they can draw upon in their roles.

As a result, the board challenges and supports leaders effectively to focus on making improvements to the provision. For example, they played a key role in developing curriculum specialisms across the three college sites.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Continue to focus on improving students' attendance to lessons so that a high proportion of students have good attendance. ? Make sure that teachers consistently assess what students know and can do at the start of their courses and use information from these assessments to plan how they teach and support their students. ? Provide more effective support and targeted teaching so that a higher proportion of level 3 students achieve their qualifications with high grades.