The 14-month wait for an outstanding independent learning provider (ILP) under Ofsted’s current common inspection framework is over.
The education watchdog visited Twickenham-based Hawk Training (pictured below) late in September and on November 1 issued it with a glowing, grade one inspection result.
It was the first ILP to achieve the feat under Ofsted’s latest inspection regime after 134 visits.
Hawk, a 1,300-apprenticeship provider, was rated as good in 2008, but this time won outstanding ratings overall and also for its leadership and management, and — key to its overall grade one result — teaching, learning and assessment. It was also rated as good for its learner outcomes.
“Highly-skilled and enthusiastic staff serve as outstanding role models for learners,” it said in the report, which added: “Leadership and management are outstanding, leading to significant improvements in the quality of provision.”
Its managing director, Terry Barnett, said: “We’ve worked very, very hard other the last two years to get up the teaching and learning and assessment. We work very hard for all our people to get a certificate in teaching and learning and assessment.”
He added: “At the end of the day, it’s all about hard graft. It’s about getting your head down, making sure your organisation is a quality organisation, working with quality people.
“I think one of the good things that always stood me in good stead, is always try and do business with nice people. You can’t always do it, but if you can it helps a lot.
“I think we’re fiercely proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve developed.”
Hawk, established in 1988, delivers training in early years and playwork, business and administration, and team leading and management to a range of employers, including the government and Xerox.
Among its areas of praise from Ofsted were “considerable investment…in improvements to accommodation, information technology and resources for learning”.
The report continued: “Tutors use their modern ICT equipment, a broad range of software and additional learning resources well to enhance the learning experience for apprentices in the workplace.”
Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, visited the firm on the day its Ofsted report was released. He said: “Meeting the Hawk team, it is easy to see why the provision has been graded as outstanding.
“The facilities, the attitude and commitment of the staff are second to none and it is good to see that this has been recognised by Ofsted.
“Hawk Training is a real example of how work-based learning can deliver high quality, flexible programmes across a wide range of employers.
“We are delighted that Hawk Training has agreed to share some of their experiences at an AELP conference on December 10, when we will hear the feedback from the Chief Inspector’s annual report.”
Of Ofsted’s 135 ILP inspections under its current inspection regime, in which providers must achieve outstanding for teaching and learning to stand a chance of getting the same grade overall, a dozen inadequate ratings have been dished out.
There have also been 55 grade three, or requires improvement, judgments along with 67 at grade two, or good, plus Hawk’s grade one.
“We hope that more providers will achieve outstanding and good ratings from Ofsted, but the new inspection framework is only a year old and we will continue to work with Ofsted to ensure that the key elements of work-based delivery are fully recognised within the framework,” said Mr Segal.
“Examples like Hawk Training can only help improve the understanding of what a work-based learning provider can deliver for employers and learners.”
From the control room to swivel chairs, FE Week on tour
With the ink on Hawk’s outstanding inspection report barely dry, FE Week editor Nick Linford and deputy editor Chris Henwood paid the Twickenham provider a visit.
Set on the fourth floor of a grey, 10-floor office block next to Twickenham train station, one thing that Hawk Training seems to do well — apart from delivering work-based learning, of course — is understatement.
The relatively non-descript home of this very special outfit is bookended by a Travelodge at one end and a sports bar at the other.
There’s no suggestion to the passer-by that within these walls is the first independent learning provider to have been graded outstanding in more than a year.
And, having enjoyed a one-hour tour of the firm’s premises, where I got to sample first-hand the warm hospitality of Terry Barnett’s close-knit team of directors and managers, I am the first to broach the ‘grade one’ issue.
Clearly proud of their achievement, they were equally humbled by it and, in all honesty, seemed a little unprepared for the resultant attention it was always going to bring.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing — this is a provider, education and training is their business and that’s what they’re good at. Very good, in fact.
From the moment I set foot in the slick Hawk offices and typed my details into a touchscreen pad that then took my photo, before I was presented with a name badge sticker (complete with my mugshot), it was clear that there had been serious investment here — as mentioned in the Ofsted inspection report.
Looking beyond the ultra-clean and modern facilities, it was attention to detail and investment in IT hardware that Terry was keen to show off.
One room was full of ‘Node’ classroom chairs from America (pictured above right) that swivelled relentlessly to accommodate left or right-handed learners, and also offered their own little storage space under the seat.
In another room, the latest high-definition cameras were remotely turning and zooming in and out to record a lesson, for the benefit of absent learners, from the ‘control room’ (pictured above left).
And the use of technology extended beyond the classroom, as the Skills Funding Agency has given Hawk permission to use electronic signatures, which means the few bits of paperwork on show are simply learner certificates ready to send out.
In fact, visually everything was almost too perfect. For example, it was hard not to giggle at the carefully spaced bottles of juice in the boardroom fridge — but that’s no grounds for criticism.
Ultimately, it’s not possible from my visit to comment on the quality of teaching, Ofsted (the experts) have done that, but if training providers and colleges want to see what can be achieved with a serious amount of investment in facilities and IT, then certainly head down to Twickenham.
The Ofsted reports for the whole learning and skills sector show the highs and lows thrown up by inspection. Hawk, like many independent learning providers who are in training for the right reasons, reinvest in their business so that it has an impact directly on learners rather than ‘bonuses’. Current work-based inspections are focussing on the more average providers, there are many very good ones out there who will get grade 1s when their time comes. In my 20 years of inspecting the majority of the real highs I have seen have been work-based learning. Like the visitors to Hawk in the above article, you get a sense of something special, that attention to detail and relentless focus on improving what you do.
Also published today are Stockport College, who have sadly gone from a previous Ofsted grade 1 to a 4. The highlight for me today was the overall grade 1 given to John Ruskin College based on the outskirts of Croydon. Tim Eyton-Jones the Principal, and his staff, have taken a failing traditional Sixth Form College that was in real danger of being closed down under the South London LSC, transformed the mission and curriculum to also give a more vocational mix, and made them outstanding. Hopefully that positive journey will be highlighted as much as the negative reverse ones that also occur. Further education will almost certainly be given a drubbing in the next few weeks but it still does a remarkable job in improving the lives of thousands of people every year, who have often been let down by the compulsory education system. That is not just the positive spin of someone who has been proud to spend his life in further education. One line stood out for me in the report on John Ruskin ‘only 7% of learners have GCSE passes at grades A* to C in English and mathematics when they enrol’. It says everything about the ‘can do’ attitude that the staff of a college can give their students to succeed, but it is unlikely to feature strongly in the text of an annual report next year.