Graduate Leaders in Early Years Programme Audit Monitoring Report by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education November 2014
Contents Report of monitoring visit... 1 Section 1: Outcome of the monitoring visit... 1 Section 2: Changes since the 2014 monitoring... 1 Section 3: Update on the EYPS audit/monitoring action plan... 1 Section 4: Candidate/trainee-centred quality assurance... 2 Section 5: Thematic element: Management of contract transfer/exit... 3 Section 6: Outstanding or exceptional practice... 4 Section 7: Background to the monitoring visit... 4
Report of monitoring visit Section 1: Outcome of the monitoring visit Graduate Leaders in Early Years Programme Audit Monitoring: From the evidence provided in the annual return and at the monitoring visit, the audit/monitoring team concludes that the has made commendable progress. Section 2: Changes since the 2014 monitoring 1 All but 16 trainees from the September 2013 cohorts have completed their assessment. These remaining including one Undergraduate Practitioner Pathway (UPP) deferral and 15 Undergraduate Entry Pathway (UEP) trainees who have been undertaking the programme alongside their honours degree course and were originally scheduled to complete after 15 months on the programme by agreement with the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). They are all due to finish by December 2014. The Prime Organisation is following closely the progress of these trainees to ensure that all of them complete their assessments by the end of the calendar year. 2 Senior managers and the majority of core of staff in the project team have remained the same as at the time of previous monitoring visit. The UEP leader had an extended period of sick leave but a member of staff who had previously been the pathway leader fulfilled the role during the absence. Students were kept fully informed during this time and the satisfaction rates of students were maintained. An existing member of the programme staff took over responsibility for supporting placements for the UEP group and feedback from placements is good. 3 The change from EYPS to Early Years Teacher Status has been managed well. Following changes to course and guidance materials made prior to the commencement of the September 2013 cohorts, materials, and assessment and moderation processes were reviewed throughout the year. Internal moderation was used to identify any standards where evidence was weak and the Senior Assessor developed exemplars to be used to support trainees and assessors. 4 The Prime Organisation recruited to target for the September 2013 cohort except for the Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) which recruited to 95 per cent (one candidate short). The Prime Organisation has retained an average of 94 per cent across all pathways and has maintained a successful completion rate of 99.4 per cent across the cohorts assessed in February and July 2014. Support sessions at the end of taught sessions have been an effective way of supporting work-based trainees who only attend one day a week so have less flexibility to see personal tutors. Section 3: Update on the EYPS audit/monitoring action plan 5 The Prime Organisation Project Team has made commendable progress in the implementation and further development of the action plan since the previous visit. The action plan has been updated in August 2014 and forms a standard agenda item for management meetings. The action plan informs the Faculty's High Level Project Plan and is cross-referenced with the Marketing Plan. 6 The Prime Organisation's development and use of an integrated virtual learning environment (VLE), Laser, was deemed to be good practice at the previous audit visit. The Project Team has continued to strengthen the use of the system by trainees, assessors and mentors, with rigorous monitoring and evaluation of its use by the Project Team and through 1
Graduate Leaders in Early Years Programme Audit Monitoring: focus groups. Trainee insecurities have been addressed through earlier familiarisation with the system, and regular reviews to enhance accessibility. Satisfaction ratings relating to the use of Laser is rated as good by over 80 per cent of trainees. 7 The marketing team in the Prime Organisation has worked strategically on recruitment. Additional funding was made available to support recruitment drives. Reviews and evaluations show an improvement in the overall satisfaction ratings of recruitment strategies. 8 The Prime Organisation responsiveness to communication from trainees and stakeholders continues to be an area of strength. The Project Team continues to respond to issues promptly and efficiently with feedback from trainees, employers, placement providers and assessors confirming the effectiveness of their responses. Analysis of feedback from all stakeholders shows 80 per cent satisfaction or above in all aspects surveyed. 9 Actions taken by the Prime Organisation to widen the range of stakeholders on the Steering Group have strengthened partnerships with employer and placement providers, involving them in recruitment, and programme developments. 10 The Prime Organisation has been proactive in extending opportunities for feedback from trainees. In addition to the formal module and course evaluations, the project team has introduced midpoint module evaluations which enable tutors to evaluate the effectiveness of module delivery and adapt it to meet the needs of trainees in a timely manner. 11 The response by trainees to destination data requests has been low. This has been acknowledged by the project team, which has taken steps to follow up candidates/trainees at key intervals after graduating. 12 The audit team is satisfied that the Prime Organisation has carefully evaluated the effectiveness of actions taken following the previous annual monitoring visit, and demonstrated that they have met the success indicators through an appropriate range of strategies. Section 4: Candidate/trainee-centred quality assurance 13 The Prime Organisation continues to manage trainee centred quality assurance competently and has established strategies to ensure that trainee involvement is maximised. Innovations since the previous visit are evidence of its commitment to the principle of trainee-centred quality assurance and include the introduction of focus groups and midpoint module evaluations. 14 The Project Team continues to be responsive to issues raised by trainees through a variety of formal and informal means as appropriate. While formal methods are effective in gathering data, informal strategies provide opportunities for more immediate response. 15 Discussion with key staff at the visit confirmed the effectiveness of institutional directed mechanisms of trainee involvement in quality assurance. Additionally, the Project Team is being proactive in disseminating outcomes of evaluations by previous cohorts to demonstrate that the feedback loop is closed. In addition to the formal end of course and module evaluations, all module leaders have introduced informal midpoint evaluation which affords trainees and tutors the opportunity to reflect on progress and to identify future needs. 16 The Prime Organisation values the role of student representatives and has taken steps to engage them further in the quality assurance process. Student representatives meet termly with the Project Team to discuss issues and to monitor progress of changes. Student representatives have also been involved in the development of the August 2014 action plan. 2
Graduate Leaders in Early Years Programme Audit Monitoring: Additionally the Deputy Dean for Student Experience invites all student representatives to participate in a regular forum to discuss current issues. In this way, student concerns are raised at Faculty Student Experience meetings. Student representatives also attend termly course boards and meet with external examiners. Mechanisms exist for the student representatives to give feedback from these meetings to trainees. 17 The Prime Organisation holds termly focus groups in order to involve trainees across all pathways in the review, development and action planning of programmes. This is an effective way of involving trainees in quality assurance and planning for the programme. To increase participation by trainees they can also contribute by email and telephone. Section 5: Thematic element: Management of contract transfer/exit 18 The Prime Organisation has adopted a rigorous approach to the management of the contract transfer. Management of the transfer is made easier as the Prime Organisation has no Delivery Partners to consider. 19 Responsibilities for the management of the change are shared effectively between the School of Education Administration Manager and the Early Years Teacher Status Project manager overseen by the Executive Dean. The remaining trainees on the programme are being effectively supported to completion as described in paragraph 1 above. The Prime Organisation keeps in contact with completed trainees and has created a post-qualification professional development programme as described in paragraph 26. 20 The Early Years Teacher Status Project Plan demonstrates a strategic approach to the management of the transfer from the old to the new contract. The plan includes management and governance issues including the timing for the final assessment and the transfer of data. The Prime Organisation has prepared an operational plan for the Early Years Teacher Status programme for 2014-5, which details actions that need to be completed before the end of the old contract and those that relate to the establishment of the new contract. The plan includes the final assessment and moderation window for the old contract which will ensure all trainees have completed before the end of 2014. Staff confirm that progress on both plans is satisfactory with no outstanding issues. 21 The Prime Organisation plans to prepare its final programme evaluation report to NCTL later in the academic year. 22 Data relating to trainees is held by the Prime Organisation in accordance with the University policies on data management which conform to current legislation. Financial data is similarly held securely and retained in line with University policies. 23 The Prime Organisation has prepared a comprehensive Information Asset Register which identifies all information relating to the EYTS programme, where it is located, and how long it should be retained in accordance with University policy. 24 In accordance with University policy all website materials are kept centrally for a period of seven years, other information is kept for varying periods from current use only to permanently. Information, including hard and electronic copies, held by assessors and other members of staff is included within the Information Asset Register and individual staff contracts include the requirement to comply with University data policies. 25 All intellectual property rights relating to the programme material produced by the Prime Organisation belong to the. Programme materials will be retained in accordance with University policies. 3
Graduate Leaders in Early Years Programme Audit Monitoring: Section 6: Outstanding or exceptional practice 26 The Prime Organisation has developed a post-qualification programme for newly qualified trainees which makes a substantial contribution to the trainees' professional formation. Former trainees are invited to School of Education special events, Partnership evenings and Continuing Professional Development events. The Prime Organisation also keeps former trainees informed of developments in the sector by means of social media. 27 In addition to the University required end of module student feedback, the Prime Organisation collects the views of students at the mid points of the delivery of each module. Methods used to collect the feedback vary as the pathway leader determines the most appropriate means for their trainees. This early collection of student views allows the Prime Organisation to make changes to delivery for the current cohorts. Section 7: Background to the monitoring visit 28 The monitoring visit serves as a short check on the Prime Organisation's continuing management of standards, the management and enhancement of the quality of learning opportunities, and the information it produces about learning opportunities. In addition, it provides an opportunity for QAA to advise the Prime Organisation of any matters that have the potential to be of particular interest in the next monitoring visit or audit. 29 The monitoring visit was carried out by Mr Peter Hymans (Lead Auditor) and Mrs Carole Share (Auditor) on 11 November 2014. 4
QAA1028 - R4294 - Dec 14 The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2014 Southgate House, Southgate Street, Gloucester GL1 1UB Tel: 01452 557 000 Email: enquiries@qaa.ac.uk Website: www.qaa.ac.uk Registered charity numbers 1062746 and SC037786