Leyton Sixth Form College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about this provider

Leyton Sixth Form College is located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.Around half of the students enrolled live within the borough.

The remaining students live in neighbouring London boroughs. There are currently 2,283 students studying across all subjects. Twenty-eight learners receive high needs funding.

The college offers a broad range of vocational and academic courses at levels 1, 2 and 3, the largest being in business, health and social care, sociology, psychology, mathematics and the sciences. The college teaches a new T-level programme in early years to a small group of students.

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

Stu...dents, including those with high needs, make good progress because staff use effective teaching strategies.

Staff help students to recall what they have been taught. For example, in biology, teachers encourage students to explain biological processes to each other, such as explaining the role of messenger ribonucleic acid in cell division. Students do this without using their notes, helping them to rehearse their recall.

Students feel safe and know how to contact the safeguarding team. Students appreciate the strong presence and visibility of security staff around the college. Students say that staff are approachable, and they would feel comfortable in talking with them or the safeguarding and counselling teams if they have worries or concerns.

Students are keen to achieve their full potential because they know that staff believe in their ability to do so. Teachers create a culture where students work hard independently. Students are diligent in completing weekly homework or assignment tasks set by teachers.

Students respect and celebrate one another's differences because staff foster a culture promoting respect for all. For example, in GCSE English, teachers choose set texts that highlight positive Black role models in sport and explore themes such as anti-racism.

Students benefit from a range of opportunities, in addition to their courses, to develop their talents and interests further.

Leaders and managers have developed a good range of extra-curricular clubs and activities, including for students with high needs. These include a range of accredited awards, such as in arts, as well as in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students can also participate in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.

While many students take advantage of these opportunities, participation is not consistently high.

Contribution to meeting skills needs

The college makes a reasonable contribution to meeting skills needs.

Leaders and managers work effectively with key stakeholders to help them understand the skills needed in the region.

They use research from strategic partners to shape the curriculum to meet these needs. Research by Local London, the sub-regional partnership, shows that teamwork is a vital skill for all students to develop, regardless of their academic or vocational pathway. Leaders now prioritise the development of these skills.

For example, they enter students into the 'innovate challenge,' run by Transport for London. In this competition, students work together in teams to develop innovative ideas to improve the capital's transport network.

Leaders work well with local post-16 providers in the borough.

They collaborate on the curriculum offer and decide who is best placed to teach what. They are also actively involved in key regional developments. This is because they have established relationships with Local London and are part of the sub-regional local skills innovation fund (LSIF) programme.

Through their LSIF membership, leaders have secured funding to create a videoconferencing learning space at the college. This space will allow students to learn specialised additional content taught by other providers.

Stakeholders help to design and teach the curriculum.

However, this does not happen in all subjects. In a few courses, such as information and communications technology, managers work closely with universities to choose topics to prepare students for higher education in the subject. However, in early years, sports, and languages, stakeholders are not sufficiently involved in planning the curriculum.

As a result, in these areas, the curriculum staff have not used information from industry or higher education providers sufficiently to design the curriculum.

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

Leaders and managers have maintained the good quality of the provision since the previous inspection. They know what the college does well and where improvements need to be made.

This includes the small number of curriculum areas where too few students achieve their qualifications. Governors oversee the progress of leaders and managers effectively in carrying out their improvement plans. They offer appropriate challenge and support to leaders and managers.

Teachers and leaders order the teaching of course content effectively. They first teach students the fundamental subject knowledge and skills. Learners gradually apply and revisit their fundamental knowledge in more complex contexts.

For instance, in A-level fine art, staff teach students the skills to progress from precise drawing in direct observation to conveying conceptual ideas. As a result, students gain knowledge and subject-specific skills over time. They also learn when and how to apply their knowledge and skills in different tasks.

Leaders have created a valuable and highly effective careers programme. Well-qualified careers staff and teachers provide unbiased advice to students throughout their time at college. Students gain a good understanding of the range of career options and paths available to them after they complete their courses.

Students are clear what they need to achieve to reach their chosen destinations. Most students progress to positive next steps, including on to apprenticeships and into higher education. Staff focus positively on raising the proportion of learners who progress to the most competitive universities.

Across courses, most teachers provide students with useful feedback that guides them in how to improve their work. Teachers make it clear how students can aim for higher grades. In vocational business courses, teachers make effective use of work-sharing online applications, and they monitor students' work in real time.

This means that teachers provide timely feedback, and students are clear about how to improve their work. Most students produce work of a good standard.Staff create a calm and purposeful atmosphere in lessons and around the college.

They set clear expectations of behaviour. All staff, including teachers and security staff, challenge students when they see behaviour that does not meet the college's high standards. Learners focus well on learning activities in class.

They treat staff and one another with respect.

Leaders make sure that teachers visit industries related to their subject. For instance, in T-level early years, teachers visit primary schools to learn more about teaching mathematics and phonics.

This helps them to stay current with important changes in their field, enabling them to draw on their experiences when they teach.

Leaders provide staff, including early career teachers, with excellent professional development. For instance, sociology staff enhance their subject knowledge on academia days when they research topics they teach.

For example, they research slavery from a Marxist perspective through visiting a slavery museum. In addition, teachers receive training on effective teaching strategies to help students remember more. Consequently, staff continuously improve their teaching skills.

Teachers adapt resources effectively to make the curriculum accessible for learners with high needs. For example, when teachers set learners free-writing tasks about their daily routines, they provide those who need more support with worksheets that include sentence prompts. This helps learners to achieve their tasks and develop their writing skills without feeling overwhelmed.

Learning support staff provide helpful and effective support to learners who need extra help in lessons. Staff are kind and considerate towards students' needs. They help learners to read, clarify word meanings, and stay focused on their activities.

As a result, learners can complete their work successfully.

Staff do not review the progress of students with education, health and care (EHC) plans often enough. This means students do not consistently have planned opportunities to work towards their outcomes and receive feedback on their progress.

It is not always clear how much progress learners make within an academic year.

Staff place a high priority on students attending college punctually. While attendance is generally high, students' punctuality to lessons is less positive.

In a few instances, students arrive considerably late to lessons. This can cause minor disruption to teaching.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Increase the proportion of students who complete their qualifications in the few courses where achievement is too low. Improve the monitoring of progress for learners who have EHC plans to make sure they have well-planned opportunities to work towards their outcomes. ? Make sure that a higher proportion of students attend their lessons on time.