Haringey Sixth Form College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about this provider

Haringey Sixth Form College is an academy for students aged 16 to 19 based on a single site in Tottenham.

At the time of the inspection, the college offered education and training for 1,125 learners. This included 122 learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), who have education, health and care plans and who receive high needs funding. Of these, 65 learners are in the discrete provision and 57 in mainstream provision.

Many learners come to the college from disadvantaged backgrounds or have recently arrived in the country. More than half of the learners speak English as an additional language. A minority of learners enrol with at least 5 GCSE qualifi...cations at grade 4 and above, including mathematics and English.

The college offers a broad range of academic and vocational courses from entry level to level 3, including a small number of A levels. The largest subject areas are English and mathematics GCSEs, a criminology, law and psychology programme and the entry and foundation pre-entry programme for learners with high needs. Other large subject areas include English as a second or foreign language and level 3 in applied science.

What is it like to be a learner with this provider?

Most learners enjoy their studies and have a positive attitude towards their courses. In a small minority of cases, learners do not have a positive enough experience of their education. In these cases, teachers do not teach lessons in a way that helps learners build their skills and knowledge.

In a few programmes, changes in staffing have had a negative impact on learners' experience at the college. Learners taking these programmes have had to spend too much time on self-directed study, with little guidance or feedback on how to improve their work. Learners' educational experience, therefore, can vary too much depending on which course they take.

Learners enjoy a nurturing and inclusive environment. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) learners, as well as female learners, like the inclusive culture at the college, where they are free from discriminatory language and behaviour. LGBT+ learners say that they can be themselves at college.

For learners with complex needs who need physical guidance or help, staff are gentle in their approach. Learners from diverse backgrounds feel valued and respected as individuals.

Learners value the measures that leaders take to improve their well-being.

For example, leaders have invested in counselling for learners who need mental health support. Learners also benefit from the provision of a free lunch every day. Learners are therefore well supported to care for their mental and physical health.

Learners appreciate the effective steps taken by leaders to keep them safe. They know that leaders take threats to their safety seriously. For example, security guards and staff are visible around the college.

Consequently, learners feel safe and trust the staff to protect them.

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

Leaders offer a broad range of courses designed to meet the needs of learners and employers in north London and beyond. The curriculum provides a range of options that enables learners to move on to their next steps of education, employment or training.

Leaders and managers have identified gaps in learners' skills and knowledge and have extended the curriculum in response to include study skills and extra tuition.The quality of curriculum planning varies too much between subjects. In the majority of subjects, leaders and curriculum managers have planned the curriculum logically.

For example, GCSE mathematics teachers cover accessible foundation knowledge, such as the bar model, early in the course. As learners' understanding grows, they move on to applying the model when tackling algebra. Learners in most subjects can build on previous teaching to develop the skills and knowledge they need to tackle more challenging topics.

In other areas, however, leaders and managers have not planned the curriculum well enough. For example, in the combined criminology, psychology and law course, managers have missed opportunities to make curricular links between subjects. The quality of curriculum planning also varies between subjects being, for example, weaker in law.

Learners find it difficult to apply their knowledge across subjects. As a result of the variable quality of curriculum planning, a minority of learners do not have opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills well enough.

Leaders and managers have not planned a sufficiently ambitious curriculum for too many of the learners who follow discrete high needs programmes.

Leaders have organised the curriculum followed by learners in discrete provision by units and qualifications rather than by the individual needs of learners. They have not created an ambitious or sufficiently individualised curriculum to help learners with SEND prepare to live more independent lives as they enter adulthood.

The extent to which teachers are effective at using classroom assessment varies too much between subjects.

In the majority of cases, teachers assess what students have learned or have found more difficult, and they use this information well to adapt their teaching. In these circumstances, teachers make effective use of quick and effective checks on knowledge. For example, teachers in business studies and mathematics use mini whiteboards to test quickly what learners know before moving on.

In these subjects, learners can remember more from previous lessons. They then use that knowledge effectively in the following lessons. However, in too many other cases, teachers do not check learners' understanding effectively.

For example, teachers too often move on to a new task or topic before they are sure that learners have understood crucial underpinning knowledge. Teachers are not supporting learners consistently well to embed the new knowledge and skills that they need.

Leaders and managers recognise the challenges of recruiting suitably qualified teaching staff and of the disruption caused by staff turnover.

They have accurately identified weaknesses in teaching. They are focusing their attention well on teacher recruitment and improving the quality of teaching but have not achieved better teaching in all areas of the curriculum. Teachers appreciate the professional development they have to improve their subject knowledge and practice.

However, it is too soon to see the impact of these changes. The quality of teaching is not consistently good enough.

Staff within the discrete high needs provision undertake a range of relevant training.

For example, leaders and managers organise good-quality staff training in speech and language therapy and classroom strategies. However, leaders and managers do not yet provide good enough training for mainstream teachers working with pupils with SEND.

Managers and teachers create positive learning environments.

Teachers have high expectations for learners' behaviour. Learners behave well and focus on their studies. However, for a minority of learners, punctuality to lessons is poor.

On a few occasions, lateness disrupts the start of lessons. On these occasions, teachers do not use college sanctions consistently well to address lateness. This negatively impacts both the learners in the room and the latecomers.

Leaders and managers have had a sharp focus on improving attendance. Trustees, leaders and managers understand the challenges faced by many learners in the local area. They have resourced and implemented good strategies to support learners to overcome some of the barriers that prevent learners from attending college on time.

Leaders and managers have developed a well-structured personal development programme. Tutors prepare learners well for life as young adults in modern Britain. Tutors teach thoughtfully planned sessions on a range of topics, which they make interesting and relevant to the lives of their learners.

Learners enjoy these tutorials, which broaden their knowledge of the wider world. They discuss challenging issues, such as how to spot a friend at risk of being drawn into extremism, with maturity and respect.

Leaders and managers have developed a comprehensive careers advice and guidance programme.

Learners benefit from good-quality tutorials, lessons, careers fairs, employer visits and visiting speakers. Teachers include subject-specific careers guidance in their curriculum. For example, biology students benefit from lectures taught by university biomedical scientists.

Most learners understand the full range of options available to them when they leave college.

As a result of ongoing COVID-19 impacts, only a minority of learners benefit from external work experience. Those who cannot access external placements complete interesting work-related activities at college.

For example, media students completed a five-day magazine project, recreating a production house in the college. Students worked with journalists and creative professionals. Learners involved in these work-related activities developed useful skills and professional contacts related to their career aspirations.

Leaders have put in place a broad offer of additional sports, clubs and societies. Learners who attend these sessions enjoy them and gain valuable social and teamwork skills. For example, learners engage enthusiastically in lunchtime volleyball and badminton clubs and appreciate the opportunity to make new friends and keep fit.

Leaders do not promote the activities well enough, which results in too many learners being unaware of the opportunities available to them.

Trustees have a broad range of appropriate skills. Leaders have recently strengthened the governing board with new trustees who have expertise in local employment growth areas such as media and filmmaking.

Trustees have accurately identified most of the strengths and weaknesses of the quality of education. For example, trustees and leaders have a clear plan for addressing key strategic priorities, such as attendance and the quality of teaching. However, trustees and leaders have not acted swiftly enough to identify and remedy the decline in high needs provision since the previous inspection.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and managers have established rigorous safeguarding arrangements that enable staff to protect learners from harm. Safeguarding leaders are keenly aware of local risks that might particularly affect the learners in their care.

For example, staff monitor and support learners at risk of being groomed into county lines activity effectively. Leaders ensure that all staff recruited into the college have suitable training for their roles. For example, all managers have safer recruitment training alongside their statutory safeguarding training.

Staff and learners hold the safeguarding team in high regard. Learners appreciate the positive culture of safeguarding at the college. Learners, including female learners, LGBT+ learners and those learners with high needs, feel safe in all areas of the college.

They know which staff members to go to with any concerns they have. Learners feel confident to report safeguarding issues, in the knowledge that staff will take their concerns seriously and deal with them effectively.

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Leaders and managers need to identify more precisely weaknesses in the quality of education for learners with high needs in both discrete and mainstream provision.

They must implement effective strategies to ensure that learners with high needs benefit from a well-planned curriculum and effective teaching. ? Leaders and managers should continue to implement plans to ensure that all learners benefit from consistent, high-quality teaching. This should include training teachers and tutors in the accurate assessment of what learners know and understand during lessons.

• Leaders should ensure that staff continue to implement strategies to increase attendance and punctuality to meet college targets. ? Leaders and managers should promote and encourage learner engagement with planned enrichment activities. Staff should ensure that learners take up opportunities that will help them to broaden their interests.