Tresham

Quality Improvement Strategy

1. PURPOSE

The College vision is to be an outstanding provider of Further and Higher Education and Training in its community. This strategy outlines the College's approach to ensuring continuing quality improvement.

The College seeks continuous improvements in the quality of all aspects of its work in order to ensure the highest possible standards. The purpose of this of this strategy is to enable such continuous improvement through a process of self-evaluation and action planning.

2. AIM

The College's quality assurance procedures are designed to address areas identified for improvement within the College's provision and enhance strengths. They are underpinned by the following key quality assurance components:

• An annual Self-Assessment and Quality Improvement Plan Cycle
• Progress Review Cycle
• Internal Inspections - Curriculum Area Inspections
• Teaching and Learning Observation Processes
• Learner Voice Strategy
• ‘Adding Value' to the Learner Experience
• Robust Leadership and Management Processes
• Course - Level EDI Health-checks and QIPs
• Assessment and IV Compliance Audits
• Monitoring and Review processes around Minimum Levels of Performance

3. THE ANNUAL SELF-ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW PROCESS

The College undertakes an annual self-assessment of all areas of provision and services, and uses the resulting reports and action plans to identify areas for improvement in the following year.

The base information for generating the college report will be at course team level. All course teams will meet to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their course which culminates in the Course Level SAR. Heads of School will then synthesise all of this information and analysis to generate a School Level SAR which will seek to judge the overall effectiveness of School delivery against key targets and the questions raised in the 2012 Common Inspection Framework (CIF).

The outcomes of the above reviews will then be used by Heads of School to compile an SSA self-assessment report, together with information and evidence that has been collected over the year with regards to the three key areas of the 2012 CIF. Namely:

• outcomes for learners
• the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
• leadership and management

The Curriculum Lead and other associated Heads of Schools will jointly agree a grade (using the CIF criteria) for each SSA. Each School and SSA SAR will then be presented to the SAR Moderation panel. The moderation panel will consist of the Principal, the Deputy Principal for Curriculum and Standards, the Heads of MIS, Teaching and Learning and Performance and Standards. The Principal from another College will also sit on the panel to externally moderate the process and ensure the judgements made are valid, reliable, and evidence- based.

Business Support Managers will also compile self-assessment reports, which will be graded and verified by specific members of the Senior Leadership Team.

Throughout 12-13 a greater emphasis will be placed upon the regular monitoring of ‘live' SAR data throughout the year, via Progress Reviews, in order for managers to take effective remedial action at an early stage of curriculum difficulty, rather than at the end of the year when remedial action may be limited.

4. PROGRESS REVIEW CYCLE

The process of reviewing and monitoring quality improvement plans arising from the self-assessment process will be a key aspect of  strategic planning, and therefore quality improvement plans (QIPs) will be reviewed throughout the year on a termly basis, via a process of Course, School and SSA Progress Reviews. In addition, the top level College QIP will be reviewed and monitored throughout the year by CLG and the Governors.

5. INTERNAL INSPECTION - CURRICULUM AREA INSPECTIONS (CAIs)

Internal Inspection of curriculum areas (Curriculum Area Inspections) will be an integral part of the College's quality assurance process and will serve to verify the accuracy of the curriculum areas' self-assessment reports.

Curriculum Area Inspections will analyse the following:

• The school's three year trend performance data along with a review of their Quality Improvement Action Plan and annual targets, including progression between and within levels;
• Quality Assurance Documentation in line with the College's 2012 standardised indexes, for:
• - School Management file
• - Course Management file
• - Assessment and Verification file
• - Tutorial file
• The School's most recent Teaching and Learning Observation Report and accompanying Quality Improvement Plan;
• Random samples of marked work, assessment decisions and feedback;
• All stakeholder feedback (complaints and praise relative to the school);
• Actions taken to deal with underperforming staff;
• Learning walk data and quality improvement plans;
• Learner tracking systems;
• EDI practice / Curriculum Health-Checks;
• Documentation relating to all at risk learners for the current and previous year, including those learners who failed to achieve;
• Each course's VLE content and usage;
• Each course team's usage of Promonitor, including target setting.

A 'moving picture of the learner experience' will be analysed via:

• Data from the previous three learner voice focus groups; along with a progress review of actions taken and actions planned;
• Previous and current years' Cross College Quantitative Survey Data and quality improvement plans;
• Unit level course surveys;
• Open interviews with randomly chosen learners from each course in order to discuss and analyse all completed class and assessed work.

A grade will be provided to the School following the inspection and analysis of evidence gained during the inspection. Grades will reflect the 2012 Common Inspection framework.

The Head of Performance and Standards will report their findings directly to the Head of School within one calendar month of the inspection and agree upon a Curriculum Area Quality Improvement Plan.

6. TEACHING AND LEARNING OBSERVATION PROCESSES

The College has detailed procedures for the observation of teaching and learning, which reflect the requirements of the 2012 Common Inspection Framework. The procedures are supportive and based firmly on the College's commitment to continuous improvement with action planning to address any identified issues, forming an essential part of the feedback process. Observations are carried out by the observation team which includes all Heads of Schools; Programme Co-ordinators; Curriculum Leaders; and the Heads of Teaching and Learning and Performance and Standards.

In addition to the graded observations, regular peer observations will be a feature in all curriculum areas and staff will be encouraged to explore new and innovative teaching and learning strategies. These peer observations are generally valued by staff and include peer observations across curriculum areas. There are teaching and learning observation windows where teachers can expect to be observed. Teachers who achieve an unsatisfactory or inadequate grade will be supported, then re-observed. This is to ensure teaching, learning and assessment standards will be good or outstanding across the College, at all levels and all ages.

Teaching, learning and assessment is the core business of the College and will  provide the key focus of the College's staff training and development programme. Staff development will be targeted to ensure that individual / School / whole College training and development needs are met; and in line with the College's objectives and strategic aims.

The dissemination and transfer of good practice and innovative techniques will form an essential part of the staff development programme. Good practice from outside the College will be identified through reports by organisations, such as LSIS (Learning Skills and Improvement Service) and Ofsted, who both disseminate good practice.

In line with revisions to the Common Inspection Framework the College will develop stronger links between grading of teaching and the management of performance through the College's Performance Management Framework to demonstrate professional effectiveness. The appraisal and performance management record for each member of teaching and assessing staff will place an even stronger emphasis on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.

The Head of Teaching and Learning has specific responsibility for continuous improvements in teaching standards across the College leading to improved self-assessment grade profiles.

The College will set targets at all levels to improve the grade profile of teaching resulting from observations. Targets for 2012-2013 are 85% Good or better. See 12-13 QIP for more detailed TLA improvements.

7. STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK STRATEGY

The College will further develop its system of listening and responding to Stakeholder Feedback, through the rigorous and systematic collation of:

• Learner Voice Feedback
• Parental Feedback
• Employer Feedback
• Staff Feedback.

Learner Voice arrangements remains a central and integral aspect of its quality assurance arrangements, ensuring that by involving learners, individually and collectively, it systematically collects and responds to learner views to strengthen teaching and learning and responsiveness to individual need. Together with its learner representatives, the College will review the effectiveness and impact of its learner voice arrangements upon the quality of the learner experience.

Key mechanisms for doing this within the Curriculum areas are:

• School Focus Groups held at least on a termly basis; which should in all circumstances lead to TLA quality improvement plans

Cross college mechanisms will include:

• Unit level surveys and open interviews with learners as part of the CAI process;
• Cross-College Surveys to occur on a termly basis;
• Employer Surveys;
• Parental Surveys;
• Annual Staff survey.

In addition the College operates a direct system of Stakeholder Feedback, entitled ‘Talkback', which ensures that all stakeholder complaints are dealt with in a timely and effective manner through the Performance and Standards Unit. All stakeholder feedback (complaints and suggestions) will be analysed by Protected Characteristics; and used to compile a Stakeholder Feedback Report which will be sent to the College Senior Leadership Group for analysis and action planning.

8. ADDING VALUE TO THE LEARNER EXPERIENCE

Cross College processes will be put in place to measure how each School ‘adds value' to the Learner Experience. LAT and ALPs are used to measures learner achievement on entry to graded programmes and enable tutors to set targets for learners' levels of achievement on completion of their course. The College will be able to demonstrate that it has had a positive impact on the levels of learner achievement. These processes will enable the College to measure its performance against other colleges in the sector, to reflect on current performance and stimulate quality improvements For non-graded courses, the College will devise its own localised set of Distance Travelled (DT) measures.

9. ROBUST LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

The College's procedures for quality assuring the effectiveness of leadership and management are designed to meet the requirements of the Common Inspection Framework. Emphasis will be placed on how well managers set a clear direction leading to high quality education and learning, and the effectiveness of steps taken to secure improvements. Within the context of improving quality and standards, the self-assessment process considers how well resources are deployed to achieve value for money.

Through their own quality assurance procedures, governors assess how well they set the strategic direction of the College, determine its educational character and monitor performance to bring about improvements. Governors will seek to ensure equality of opportunity for all and that the College's resources are effectively and efficiently utilised.

The Governors' regularly and systematically consider reports on the quality and standards of provision, in particular learner achievement, retention and success, by gender, age, level and length of programme and recommends appropriate action. Governors will also set / agree targets for achievement, retention and success; and consider the Self-Assessment Report, the Self- Assessment Report Quality Improvement Plan and the processes leading to the publication of these documents.

10. PROMOTING EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

The College's commitment to improve quality and standards is underpinned by its Single Equality Scheme and a range of EDI quality improvement plans. In accordance with its statutory duty, the College publishes information annually detailing its work relating to equality and diversity and the progress made towards the achievement of its agreed equality objectives.

These broadly seek to improve overall College-wide EDI practices and procedures; and achieve the four, headline College Equality Objectives which aim to the eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation: advance equality of opportunity for all staff and learners; narrow / eradicate gaps in performance data between groups; foster good relations, and celebrate diversity and difference in all that we do.

The SES and subsequent QIPs will drive improved EDI performance for all layers of the organization. As such, the following EDI Action Groups will all develop their own EDI Action Plans, which will be aimed at achieving the College's Equality Objectives and relate to the overall College EDI QIP;

                    Tresham's 2012/13 EDI Action Groups

Curriculum and Business Support EDI Health-checks and QIPs will also conducted. The results of these health-checks and EDI QIPs will feed in to a College-wide EDI Performance report / SES Update, developed in order to ensure EDI performance, processes and procedures are effectively monitored, reviewed and improved at Course, School and College-wide level.

Key EDI areas of course-level, self-assessment include;

• Course planning and documentation
• Celebration of cultural, ethnic, religious and sexual diversity
• Meeting the individual needs of each and every learner
• Data Monitoring and narrowing of key educational outcomes between those learners who come from a protected characteristic group and those who do not
• T, L & A Resources
• Everyday T, L and A Practices
• Tackling structural inequalities, tensions and discrimination
• Listening and acting upon the Learner Voice
• Monitoring and reviewing the needs and outcomes of learners requiring ALS

Careful comparative analysis of course team, school and college-wide EDI performance data will help to identify areas of underperformance by particular teams and schools, They may then receive specific training, designed to meet their particular needs, which should result in clear quality improvements.

The College will further progress the embedding of equality and diversity within curriculum and service provision and take actions to increase non-stereotypical participation.

In addition a dedicated EDI email address will be available for all learners and staff to use if they have any specific EDI concerns that they feel are not being addressed. A College-wide EDI Newsletter will also be piloted, in order to try and effectively share all of the excellent EDI practice which goes on at Tresham

11. ASSESSMENT AND IQA COMPLIANCE AUDITS

The Performance and Standards team will further carry out regular, no-notice checks on Internal quality assurance (IQA) and assessment documentation. Weekly checks will be made to ensure that assignment briefs have been appropriately written and IQA'd. Random samples of marked learner work will be checked in order to ensure that feedback is fair, constructive, developmental and timely; and meets Awarding Organisation standards. Particular notice will be paid to the quality of feedback regarding Literacy and Numeracy. Attention will also be paid to the extent to which IQA arrangements match those outlined in the Assessment and IQA plan and schedule.

12. SETTING, MONITORING AND REVIEWING MINIMUM LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE

(a) 16-18 and 19+ Learner Responsive Courses

Long programmes under the MLP come under the scrutiny of the College's Performance and Standards team to ensure that improvements are being made and that any required support or intervention by the Quality or Teaching Standards Unit is in place.

All long courses with a minimum of ten learners will fall in to this category if they achieve success rates less than 5% above its' accompanying BM. As such, they will be notified of their status and receive a Notice to Improve.

Such courses will be monitored and reviewed on a half termly basis by the Head of Performance and Standards; who will then report all findings to the Deputy Principal for Curriculum and Standards.

13. SHARING OF GOOD PRACTICE

A range of new and innovative attempts will be piloted to try and share the many outstanding areas of excellent practice that go on across the College. All Team, School, CMG and CLG Meetings will have a standing item on their agendas for ‘sharing good practice' which will be posted to the Performance and Standards Unit and placed on the Quality Toolkit. In addition, dedicated areas will be set up on the Toolkit to share the very best possible practice in relation to all aspects of the Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Quality processes. The contact details of all members of staff who achieve a Grade 1 in TLA Observations will be placed on the Toolkit, accompanied by  details of each staff members particular professional strengths, in order for other members of staff in arrange peer observations.