CONTENTS
Section Page
PART ONE
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS 2
PART TWO
3. STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES 3
4. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING 4
5. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 8
PART THREE - REPORTS ON CURRICULAR AREAS
6. BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT 11
7. CONSTRUCTION AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 13
8. ENGINEERING 15
9. ESSENTIAL SKILLS 18
10. HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE 21
11. HOSPITALITY AND CATERING 24
12. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION 26
TECHNOLOGY
PART FOUR
13. CONCLUSION 29
A number of quantitative terms are used in the report. In percentages, the terms correspond as follows:
More than 90% - almost/nearly all
75%-90% - most
50%-74% - a majority
30%-49% - a significant minority
10%-29% - a minority
Less than 10% - very few/a small number
The quantitative data used in this report was provided by the college, and its accuracy confirmed by the Director.
PART ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Omagh College (the College) is a small college of further education (FE), located conveniently in the town centre on a 4.5 acre site adjacent to the River Strule. It is the largest provider of vocational courses in the Omagh District and West Tyrone region, which is the main catchment area for the college. The majority of the population live in the surrounding villages and rural communities. The businesses in the area are mostly micro or small enterprises and the small manufacturing base has been adversely affected by major closures in the textiles industry. The main industry is agriculture, which accounts for just over one-half of the small enterprises in the area and is complemented with a strong agri-food sector. Outside agriculture, the main small businesses are in retailing and construction.
1.2 During the last two years, the college has completed an extensive new building programme, part of a £20 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project. The new college building was handed over officially in October 2005. During the construction of the new facility, there was a decant of major parts of the college provision to the old training centre and temporary accommodation in Omagh. Following a planned recant of the new building, all vocational and education training programmes that were provided in different locations across the town, are now offered in the new facility.
1.3 There has been modest growth in the number of full-time student enrolments. Over the past three years, the number increased by 8%, from 582 in 2003/04 to 627 students in 2005/06. The college has been more successful in increasing the number of part-time enrolments, which grew by 28% from 6,193 in 2003/04 to 7,897 in 2004/05. The college has made good progress over the last three years in developing link programmes with local post-primary schools; numbers have increased from 84 to 391 students. It is recognised by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) as a supplier organisation to provide work-based training programmes to approximately 670 Trainees and Modern Apprentices (MAs) under the Jobskills programme. The college is also a member of the Omagh District training consortium.
1.4 Vocational enrolments account for 73% of the total student enrolments in 2003/04. This figure is marginally above the average for the FE sector and represents an appropriate balance of its total provision.
1.5 The focus of the inspection was to evaluate the quality of provision across curriculum areas of business and management, construction, engineering, health and social care, hospitality and catering, and information and communication technology (ICT). In addition, the inspectors evaluated the provision for careers education and guidance, and essential skills. The inspection also evaluated the quality of leadership and management at all levels, and the college’s policies on pastoral care and child protection.
PART TWO
2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS
2.1 The quality of the provision, within the curriculum areas inspected in the college, is very good. The leadership is effective and efficient in ensuring that the students’ needs are met and that they make appropriate progress; the standards achieved are very good and the curriculum takes due regard of local circumstances.
2.2 STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES
The main strengths are the:
· good to excellent standards of work achieved by the students in nearly all of the courses inspected;
· good or better rates of retention in nearly all of the curriculum areas;
· good or excellent success rates in the majority of the courses inspected; and
· procedures to monitor the progress of the students, and the ongoing support and guidance for those students who face difficulties in their work.
The main area for improvement is:
· success rates in essential skills and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) English and mathematics.
2.3 QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
The main strengths are the:
· quality of the provision in business, careers education and guidance, construction, engineering, health and social care, hospitality and catering, and ICT;
· good or better teaching in nearly all of the lessons observed and the excellent quality of one third of the lessons;
· development and embedding of information and learning technologies (ILT) across the curriculum areas;
· assessment and internal verification arrangements in nearly all curriculum areas;
· well-qualified and committed staff;
· use of appropriate work-related learning in nearly all curriculum areas;
· students’ positive views of the college; and
· excellent quality of the college accommodation and specialist equipment and resources.
The main areas for improvement are the:
· quality of the provision in essential skills for full-time students;
· increased full-time provision at level 2 in the majority of the curriculum areas inspected;
· need to formalise pastoral care arrangements to ensure they comply fully with the guidance set out in “The Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults Northern Ireland (NI) Order 2003” and in the recent circulars issued from the DEL; and
· more consistent provision of tutorial support for the students.
2.4 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
The main strengths are the:
· effective leadership of the director and the management team;
· quality of the operational and strategic planning for the curriculum;
· effective quality assurance procedures in most of the curriculum areas inspected;
· leadership and management in nearly all of the curriculum areas;
· internal communications and the effective use of management information to aid decision-making and planning for improvement;
· staff development programme; and
· strong links and partnerships with industry, the local community, and schools as well as international links.
The main area for improvement is the:
· need for more robust quality assurance arrangements for the essential skills and GCSE English and mathematics provision, and for hospitality and catering.
3. STANDARDS AND OUTCOMES
3.1 The standards of the students’ work are good or better in nearly all of the curriculum areas. They are excellent in construction, engineering, and health and social care. The areas for improvement outweigh the strengths in the essential skills of literacy and numeracy.
3.2 Most of the students are highly motivated and respond well to the encouragement and support provided by the tutors. They have good or better vocational skills and are well informed about their progress. The standards of literacy range from satisfactory to good and are good overall. The standards of the students’ oral skills are particularly good in business, construction, health and social care, and ICT. The students’ numeracy skills are mostly good.
3.3 Good or excellent retention rates are a significant strength for nearly all of the courses inspected. Average retention rates over the last three years, range from 69% to 100%, but are mostly good or better. The college has implemented, with success, robust procedures to monitor the progress of students and to take appropriate action to support those students facing difficulties in their work.
3.4 Over the past three years, the average success rate for those students who completed their courses is good or better in the majority (64%) of courses. It is consistently good in construction and engineering. The success rates, however, are poor in the provision in the essential skills and for repeat GCSE English and mathematics. Across most of the curriculum areas, progression to higher education and employment for full-time students is good for those students who complete their courses.
4. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
4.1 The quality of the provision offered by the college is good or better in almost all of the curriculum areas inspected. The provision in careers education and guidance, construction, engineering and health and social care has significant strengths. With the exception of essential skills, all of the remaining areas have more strengths than areas for improvement.
4.2 The college provides a satisfactory range of vocational courses to meet the needs of students and the wider community. In most of the curriculum areas, an appropriate range of full and part-time courses is offered. With the exception of hospitality and catering, all of the curriculum areas inspected have appropriate provision of part-time higher education courses. The levels of student enrolments on these courses are healthy except for the foundation degree programmes in web technology, and in engineering, which are currently low. The full-time courses at level 3 is mainly Edexcel national diplomas, which provide good progression opportunities to higher education and direct employment. The provision of full-time level2 programmes, however, is underdeveloped in the majority of the curriculum areas inspected. Full-time student enrolments in a number of curriculum areas have declined over recent years, most notably in hospitality and catering and engineering. The college is working hard with local post-primary schools to develop vocational link programmes under the Vocational Enhancement Programme (VEP), and this coupled with the excellent new college building, should help address recruitment problems. Although the college offers essential skills and GCSE English and mathematics classes for full-time students, it is not mandatory for the students without a grade C GCSE to enrol in these subjects. As a result, participation rates and attendance in these lessons are poor.
4.3 The curriculum is well designed across most areas of the college, and the students are offered a good range of additional vocational qualifications to enhance their opportunities to extend their learning and to develop relevant additional skills. The inclusion of the key skill of ICT, however, for full-time students in ICT is inappropriate, and consideration should be given to offering these students, industry standard qualifications, which the college provides on a part-time basis.
4.4 The good or better quality of teaching and learning is a feature across nearly all of the curriculum areas inspected. Of the 92 lessons observed, 32% had significant strengths, and in a further 64%, strengths outweighed areas for improvement. In a small number (4%) of the lessons observed, areas for improvement outweighed strengths. There are significant strengths in the quality of teaching and learning in construction, engineering and in health and social care.
4.5 With very few exceptions, lessons are well-planned with clear learning objectives that are communicated effectively to the students. Exposition is clear and the lecturers make good use of a wide range of teaching methods including, stimulating group work and differentiated learning activities that often elicit good oral responses from the students. Many of the lecturers make effective use of a range of challenging learning materials. In most of the lessons, the lecturers make appropriate reference to current practice in industry. In the very small number of lessons that are less effective, the work is over directed by the lecturers, and there is undue duplication across the vocational units taken by the students.
4.6 The development and embedding of ILT across the curriculum has significant strengths. The ILT Steering Committee, is well led and has a clear strategic vision for the development of ILT to support and enhance the quality of teaching and learning throughout the college. The steering committee members have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. They work effectively together to improve staff competence and confidence in the use of ILT, and to ensure that appropriate resources are available to meet the demands of the curriculum. The ILT champions provide good support for staff in their own schools and identify effectively individual training needs; training events for staff are scheduled at frequent intervals in response to the identified needs.
4.7 The e-learning officer and the ILT support officer develop high quality materials to support each training event. As a consequence, almost all members of staff are embedding ILT into their strategies for teaching and learning. The use of ILT is well developed in construction, engineering and in health and social care. The Steering Committee regularly and effectively reviews and evaluates the impact of ILT on teaching and learning across the curriculum areas and the findings are used appropriately to inform future planning. The quality and range of ILT resources are good. Each room is equipped with a computer and a ceiling mounted data projector. Specialist computer suites are well-designed and equipped and have appropriate furniture and lighting. The building is fully enabled for wireless technology and each room can facilitate video conferencing. However, the college has too few electronic whiteboards, and these are used effectively in only a small number of curriculum areas.
4.8 Most full-time students are given appropriate opportunities for work-related learning and have a period of work-experience during their course. Some of the placements are of a high quality, notably in construction and in health and social care, where staff have excellent links with industry. The provision of work experience in hospitality and catering is inadequate. The use of real projects for local businesses is a feature of the good practice in construction and ICT. For most curriculum areas, effective use is made of a range of visiting speakers, industrial visits, and careers events to develop further the students’ understanding of current practice, and career pathways. The arrangements in construction are excellent, particularly the use of guest speakers from Europe with specialist expertise in renewable energies.
4.9 The assessment of students’ work and the internal verification procedures are well-organised in nearly all of the curriculum areas. The assignments provide students with good opportunities to develop and apply their research and problem solving skills. There are weaknesses, however, in the assessment arrangements, the recording of student progress and the procedures for internal verification in hospitality and catering. Marking for improvement, and the promotion of secretarial accuracy in the use of English are variable across the curriculum areas. The practice is good in business, health and social care, and ICT, but is not well developed in hospitality and catering.