St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Information about this provider

St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College is based in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It has one campus which is located in North Kensington. The college has a Catholic ethos at the centre of its college community.

The college teaches a broad range of academic and vocational courses from level 1 to level 3. Students study towards level 3 qualifications mainly in business, economics, social sciences, sciences, information communication technology, media studies, health and social care, politics, art, geography and sport.

At the time of the inspection, there were 424 students enrolled onto A-level programmes and 631 students enrolled onto vocational programme...s from levels 1 to 3.

There were 73 students who have education, health and care (EHC) plans. There were 253 students retaking GCSE mathematics and 217 students retaking GCSE English.

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

Students thrive in an inclusive learning community that is guided by Catholic values.

They feel valued, respected and listened to. Staff are aspirational for their students, resulting in students who are highly motivated and ambitious.

Students with high needs are taught by staff who provide extensive specialist support to cater extremely well for their needs.

Teachers provide highly individualised one-to-one teaching to help students with high needs make exceptionally rapid progress in developing the skills and knowledge they need to move on to the next stage of their education. They work very effectively with learning support assistants to set suitably challenging targets and they monitor students' progress closely. Most students with high needs achieve their qualifications.

Students benefit from effective teaching. Teachers promote discussion and encourage students to share their views. For example, in A-level history, students develop their evaluative thinking skills when they discuss military operations in the American Civil War.

Most students develop valuable new knowledge and skills.

Students' attendance and punctuality are very good. They enjoy their lessons and are keen to make progress.

In class, they are attentive, participate enthusiastically and focus very well on tasks that their teachers set.

Students feel that the college is safe and supportive. They know to whom they should report any concerns.

They are confident that their concerns would be listened to and acted on swiftly.

Contribution to meeting skills needs

The college makes a reasonable contribution to meeting skills needs.

Leaders and managers have a suitable understanding of the skills needs of the local and regional area.

They work with a range of partners involved in the local skills improvement plan to understand current and emerging needs. They plan their curriculum to cater for these needs.

Leaders and managers do not consistently involve partners in their curriculum design and implementation.

In areas where engagement is more developed, managers work closely with stakeholders to plan activities that directly support the curriculum. For example, performing arts teachers involve a variety of theatre groups in the teaching of specific lessons, including technical production skills. However, links are less well developed in other areas, such as English and geography.

Although plans for stakeholder involvement are in place in these areas, they are in their infancy, and it is too early to assess their impact.Leaders work closely with local secondary headteachers to plan their curriculum. They ensure that secondary school students have access to adequate provision at levels 1 and 2 in addition to level 3 academic and vocational programmes at the college and other schools in their local area.

This helps to ensure that the curriculum meets students' needs.

Leaders work with stakeholders to ensure that students acquire the subject-specific skills they need to progress to university. For example, in history, staff have worked effectively with prestigious universities to plan lessons that help students develop their critical thinking and archiving skills.

As a result, students are well prepared with the academic skills they need to progress on to their next stage.

Leaders work effectively with local education providers to ensure that they offer the most appropriate curriculum. For example, they do not offer a vocational healthcare science T level as a neighbouring college teaches it.

They have put an agreement in place to ensure that they signpost students to the most appropriate provision.

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

Since the previous inspection, leaders and managers have made substantial changes to their curriculum. Students now study their main qualification for four days a week and focus explicitly on developing their wider personal skills for the remaining day.

Through the 'college passport', students complete two work placements, experience volunteering and participate in activities that broaden their appreciation of London culture. Students develop valuable new knowledge, skills and behaviours that help them take their next steps.

Teachers teach key concepts in a logically planned order.

For example, level 3 vocational sports students study the structure and functions of the body at the start of their course. Then they use their knowledge of anatomy and physiology to design coaching programmes that are tailored to an individual's needs. This helps students to develop their knowledge and skills incrementally over time.

Teachers have a comprehensive understanding of students with EHC plans and additional learning needs. They support these students extremely well by, for example, breaking down topics into manageable amounts and using aids, such as coloured paper and adapted visual resources. This contributes to most students achieving their qualifications.

Teachers provide effective support to students to help them improve their work. In targeted one-to-one intervention lessons, teachers provide additional examination-style questions and topic revision to help students correct any misconceptions. For example, students in A-level chemistry practise writing the chemical equation for lattice enthalpy.

This helps them avoid mistakes and correctly calculate the formula for calcium chloride.Teachers skilfully check students' understanding. They use probing questions to make sure that students understand key knowledge before they move on to the next topic.

For example, business teachers check students' understanding of organisational recruitment by using questions to assess their understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of succession planning and talent management. This helps students to learn more and remember more over time.

Most teachers give constructive feedback to students on their work.

They indicate clearly what students do well. They give precise feedback on the steps that students need to take when their work is not up to standard. However, teachers do not consistently correct students' spelling, punctuation and grammar.

In these cases, students frequently repeat the same mistakes.

Leaders and managers make sure that a high proportion of students achieve their qualifications. In A-level social sciences and A-level and vocational business, students achieve their qualifications well.

However, in A-level science, and level 3 vocational media studies, students' achievement is not good enough. Leaders recognise that student achievement is not consistently high across the full range of their provision and have put plans in place to improve this. It is too early to assess the full impact of these plans.

Students receive highly effective careers information. Teachers arrange talks from high-profile external guest speakers, and give specific guidance about university applications, apprenticeships and progression into employment. Through their engagement with industry partners, teachers arrange for students to complete projects that help them develop work-related skills, such as communication and teamwork.

Students progress on to their chosen destinations, with the vast majority going on to university.

Staff provide an extremely broad enrichment curriculum. Students belong to clubs such as weaving, debating, acting, clay jewellery making, salsa dancing and Italian.

They participate in fundraising, volunteering at soup kitchens and baby banks, and a few belong to the student council. Students make new friends and develop their interests and talents exceptionally well.

Leaders and managers work closely with their governors to improve the quality of students' education.

Leaders routinely provide governors with useful information, such as safeguarding updates and improvement action plans. Governors have a good understanding of the college's strengths and areas for development. They use their expertise to hold leaders to account and challenge them to improve the provision.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the provider need to do to improve?

• Implement fully actions to increase the proportion of students who achieve their qualifications. ? Correct students' spelling, punctuation and grammar errors consistently.