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Wakefield College praised by Ofsted as it achieves “Good” across all inspection areas

Thursday, 17 January, 2019

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Corporate Ofsted

Wakefield College Principal Sam Wright with students Charley Williams, Viktoria Kovacs, Patrycja Kopaozewska and Samuel Bill.

Staff, students and Governors at Wakefield College are celebrating following a successful Ofsted Inspection visit before Christmas. The College achieved a rating of ‘Good’ for overall effectiveness and in each of the four separate areas:

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment - Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare - Good

Outcomes for learners - Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management - Good

A team of 9 inspectors spent four days at the College’s three campuses last month when they spoke to staff, students, governors and key College partners.

The Inspectors observed lessons across all campuses to judge the quality of teaching, they considered the college’s results, its success in preparing students for employment or further study and they evaluated the effectiveness of leadership and management.

The overwhelmingly positive report included praise for many aspects of the College including:

• “Students thrive in a supportive, welcoming atmosphere.”
• “Students and apprentices feel safe and are safe.”
• “Students benefit from well-resourced learning environments that help them to increase their self-esteem and develop their knowledge and skills well.”
• “Students who have high needs benefit from a broad curriculum that effectively helps them to achieve ambitious goals. Students of all ages who have high needs achieve their qualifications well.”
• “Students and apprentices behave well. They demonstrate high levels of respect and courtesy to each other, staff and visitors to the college.”
• “Students develop a robust understanding of their subjects that is nevertheless flexible enough to accommodate new facts and findings. This stands them in good stead for further study at a higher level and for future employment.”
• “Students are well-prepared for their next steps in education” (A Levels)
• “Apprenticeship programmes are highly responsive to the specific needs of different employers.”
• “The large majority of apprentices remain in employment at the end of their programmes. Many progress to promoted positions or to more advanced apprenticeships.”
• “Teachers are well qualified, with high levels of expertise in their academic and vocational areas.”
• “Teachers use their extensive and wide-ranging industrial experience well to plan and deliver lessons that motivate students and ensure that they acquire up-to-date skills that equip them well for the world of work.”
• “Governors, leaders and managers successfully promote an inclusive vision throughout the college that focuses on social mobility for all.”

Wakefield College Principal, Sam Wright said, “I am delighted to announce that following our recent inspection by Ofsted, Wakefield College has been rated as a ‘Good’ college. I’d like to say a huge thank you to the students, staff and governors for all their hard work and commitment which has helped the inspectors arrive at this decision, as well as the overwhelming show of support we received during the inspection from our partners across the District. The inspection outcome demonstrates that our journey to Outstanding is well underway and gives us renewed confidence that we are doing the right things to get there.

We are especially pleased that the Inspection Team recognised the high-quality teaching and learning we provide and the good progress that our students make. We’re also pleased the Inspectors recognised that the College is fully engaged with businesses and industry through work placements and other initiatives to ensure our students have the best possible chance of a secure future in the career of their choice, and to play our part in strengthening the District’s economy.

And finally, we are justifiably proud of our inclusivity, meaning regardless of our students’ starting points, we will do our very best for them.

This success, coupled with the exciting ongoing re-development of our facilities, are transforming the experience of our students at the College, and comes at the end of the College celebrating 150 years of delivering high quality education and training in the District last year.

We know there are things to continue to work on and we will not rest on our laurels. I hope that, like me, students, stakeholders and residents across the District will take pride in this outcome for our local College and will continue to support us to deliver a high-quality learning experience for all of our students.”

Paul Campbell, Chair of Governors, commented: “The outcome is a great achievement for the College which reflects the hard work and dedication of the Principal, Senior Leadership Team, College Staff and students since the last inspection. I am proud to be a Governor of the College and to be associated with its success.”

The next College open event is at the Wakefield City Campus on Wednesday 27th February and the College is still welcoming applications from prospective students.

The full report is available at https://www.wakefield.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-information/ofsted-report