Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about this provider

Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form is a 16 to 19 academy in Tamworth, Staffordshire. It is part of the Landau Forte Charitable Trust.

At the time of the inspection, 400 students were enrolled. All students study a combination of academic or vocational subjects at level 3. One hundred and twenty-eight students study a combination of three A-level subjects, choosing from the 20 different subjects that are offered by the academy.

The most popular subjects are history, psychology, business studies, and mathematics. The remaining students are on a combination of either A-level or vocational courses. There were 20 students retaking a GCSE qualification in English or mathemat...ics as part of their study programme.

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

Students enjoy greatly the positive, caring and happy environment at the academy. They behave with very high levels of maturity, are polite and they care about each others' well-being. Students are proud to study at the academy.

They develop their social and professional skills to a high standard as they move through their studies.

Students take pride in the work they produce. They understand how the skills they gain prepare them well for university study and beyond.

Students develop strong independent study skills. Students use a range of effective revision strategies, such as mind maps and flash cards, to help them remember important information for their final examinations.

Students commit to their studies very well.

They attend their lessons promptly and instances of absence are very rare. Those students who previously had low attendance at school receive excellent support from staff to attend their lessons. Students develop highly positive attitudes towards their education.

Students know how to keep themselves safe and healthy. They undertake specific learning to identify the possible signs of neglect or abuse. They develop a good understanding of the risks they could face in their everyday lives and the actions to take to reduce these risks, such as the dangers of knife crime and far-right extremism.

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

Leaders consider carefully the courses they offer. They offer a well-thought-through combination of academic and vocational courses that meet the needs of students in the locality very closely. Leaders use their well-developed understanding of local school curriculums to ensure that the courses they offer build on students' prior experiences and knowledge well.

Teachers plan curriculums sensibly and sequence them coherently. Students build on their prior understanding well over time. They routinely apply their existing knowledge to new and more complex problems.

For example, physics teachers teach the principles of circular motion before students move on to apply this knowledge to predict and explain the motion of a charged particle in an electric field.

Teachers use effective teaching strategies to ensure that students use subject-specific vocabulary fluently. For example, history teachers lead discussions so that students understand the concept of isolationism.

Students apply this term when describing the foreign policy of the United States of America and its subsequent involvement in worldwide political affairs.

Most teachers use a range of teaching techniques that help students to remember what they have learned. For example, sociology teachers use a range of mnemonics that students use confidently to recall the functions of deviance in our society.

Students can recall information well and apply this knowledge in their produced work.

Most teachers provide clear and prompt feedback that is useful to students. Dance teachers give beneficial and insightful feedback to students while they perform.

As a result, students quickly know how to improve their fosse jazz technique and posture in their practical lessons.

Most teachers use assessment effectively to check what students know and can do. Music teachers use short and well-directed questions that support students to recall knowledge from previous lessons quickly and fluently.

Teachers often ask additional extended questions that evaluate students' depth of learning well.

In most circumstances, teachers demonstrate and model solutions to students clearly. This supports students to acquire a stronger understanding of new and complex topics.

For example, psychology teachers show students exemplary essays that explain in detail the different causes of schizophrenia. Students, as a result, are clear of what work of the highest standard looks like and this helps them to produce essays of a high quality.

In a few circumstances, teachers do not identify students' individual starting points well enough.

Teachers in a few subjects do not determine students' wider knowledge and skills at the onset of study and place too much reliance on prior qualification achievement. Teachers do not adapt their teaching to fill students' skills gaps early enough in their studies.

Teachers support students with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively.

For example, staff support students with social, emotional and mental health needs with a range of strategies, including well-thought-through seating plans, study support drop-in sessions, and visits from a therapy dog. These students grow in independence and confidence, and achieve in line with their peers.

Leaders and managers use appropriate careers advice to support students to move on to further education and training.

Students routinely attend talks from industry specialists so that they gain a good insight into the range of job roles in their chosen careers. Leaders ensure that those students who do not wish to move on to university are suitably aware of the benefits of studying an apprenticeship or employment.

Students take part in worthwhile community projects that support them well to become active citizens.

For example, students donate home-made crocheted blankets to a local hospital and members of the student choir perform for local care home residents. However, too few students routinely take part in these opportunities to develop their interests or talents.

Leaders quality assure thoroughly the education they offer.

They know their areas of strength and those that require further development. Leaders have taken recent actions to train teachers and to remedy these known weaknesses. However, these have not yet led to improvements in students' achievement in their final examinations in all subjects.

Governance is effective. Governors scrutinise leaders' actions thoroughly. They know the college well and understand clearly the needs of the local area and of the post-16 sector.

They use this understanding to review the quality of education at the academy and to support leaders to make continuous improvements and manage change effectively.

Teachers ensure that students develop new and worthwhile knowledge, skills and behaviours. Students achieve well in nearly all cases across all areas of their study.

Most of them move on to study at their first-choice university. However, too few of the most able students achieve the highest possible outcomes in their final examinations.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Improve the proportion of students who achieve the highest grades. ? Improve the quality of teaching students receive, ensuring that teachers determine students' starting points promptly at the start of study in all subjects. ? Increase the proportion of students who participate in activities that develop their talents and interests.